In an exclusive revelation by Fox News, Mahmood Mamdani, the father of socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, has been identified as a member of the advisory council of an organization that is openly anti-Israel.
The organization, known as the Gaza Tribunal, supports boycotts and sanctions against Israel, frequently accuses the Israeli government of "genocide", and has shown sympathy for suicide bombers.
The Gaza Tribunal, established in London in 2024, states its primary objective as "to awaken civil society to its responsibility and opportunity to stop Israels genocide in Gaza," as per its official website. The website also lists Mahmood Mamdani as a member of the groups "advisory policy council" and confirms his attendance at the groups official launch in London last year.
Richard Falk, the President of the tribunal, has publicly declared the groups support of BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) in an online post, stating, "the aim of the Tribunal is or [sic] legitimize and encourage civil society solidarity initiatives around the world such as BDS."
BDS is an international campaign aimed at delegitimizing the State of Israel by isolating the country economically through consumer boycotts, business and government withdrawal of investment, and legal sanctions, as defined by Influence Watch.
Zohran Mamdani, the mayoral candidate, has also endorsed BDS as recently as May, when he declined to comment on whether Israel has a right to exist and stated his support of BDS "is consistent with my core of my politics, which is non-violence."
Mahmood Mamdani, who is also the Herbert Lehman Professor of Government at Columbia University, has recently faced backlash on social media due to a resurfaced excerpt from his 2004 book Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror. In this excerpt, he expressed sympathy for suicide bombers, stating, "Suicide bombing needs to be understood as a feature of modern political violence rather than stigmatized as a mark of barbarism," and "We need to recognize the suicide bomber, first and foremost, as a category of soldier."
The Gaza Tribunal's founder and members have strong ties to anti-Israel movements, with at least one member being deported from the United States due to terror ties. Falk, the President of the tribunal, has a long history of expressing anti-Israel views. He has been repeatedly accused of using his "Special Rapporteur" United Nations position to "spread unsubstantiated allegations against Israel," according to Canary Mission, a watchdog organization that works to expose antisemitism. Falk has made several controversial statements over the years, including comparing Israel's government to the Nazis and accusing them of instigating a "Palestinian Holocaust."
Falk has also called for a boycott of corporations that do business with Israel, stating they "should be boycotted until they bring their operations into line with international human rights and humanitarian law and standards." This statement was met with strong criticism from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which warned the UN that Falk "has repeatedly abused his position as special rapporteur to unleash unrestrained hatred and disdain for Israel."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Falk defended his stance, stating that he advocates for "nonviolent solidarity initiatives with the Palestinian struggle for their basic rights, including BDS." He added that he believes "Israel's occupation policies in Gaza and the West Bank have persecuted Palestinians on their own homeland," and that this pattern of displacement is indicative of settler colonial political projects that rely on "an apartheid-like domination and exploitation of the native population."
Falk is not the only member of the tribunal with anti-Israel ties. Dr. Hatem Bazian, the chairman of American Muslims for Palestine and the co-founder of Students for Justice in Palestine, was also present at the tribunal's launch. Bazian has been a controversial figure due to his inflammatory rhetoric about Israel and Jews. He has faced backlash for antisemitic posts on social media, which drew criticism from several student groups.
Sami Al-Arian, a former University of South Florida professor who admitted to conspiring to aid the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group in 2006, was also present at the Gaza Tribunal launch meeting. He recently posted that he was "very honored and proud" to have contributed to the Gaza Tribunal's "The Sarajevo Declaration," which accuses Israel of "genocide, and its decades-long policies and practices of settler colonialism, ethno-supremacism, apartheid, racial segregation, persecution, unlawful settlements, the denial of the right to return, collective punishment, mass detention, torture and cruel and inhuman treatment."
Jeremy Corbyn, socialist former UK Labour Party leader, who has been labeled as antisemitic due to various anti-Israel statements, is also a member of the Gaza Tribunal Advisory Council. In 2020, an investigation into antisemitism by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found Corbyn's Labour Party had broken the law in the way it handled complaints of antisemitism when Corbyn was in charge.
Zohran Mamdani's stance on Israel has been a widely discussed topic so far during the mayoral campaign. He sparked controversy by refusing to condemn the phrase "globalize the intifada," which has become a rallying cry for anti-Israel protesters in the United States. Mamdani, who was the co-founder of Bowdoin College's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, expressed support for an academic boycott of Israel in the school's paper.
Mamdani has been widely criticized by Jewish groups in New York City over his past positions and comments as he tries to position himself to win the general election in November against current Mayor Eric Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who are both running as independents.
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