CEO Jim Berk Calls on Mayor Mamdani to not Politicize 10/7

Statement from Jim Berk, CEO of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Mayor Mamdani, what was the real intention of your statement?

It couldn’t have been simply to express sincere condolences and remembrance for October 7, 2023, when over 1,100 people were intentionally murdered and 251 others were taken hostage in the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. If that had been the intention, you would not have used this solemn anniversary to create a false equivalency and advance an entirely different political agenda.

As we have said many times before, if you want to have a conversation about Israel, Gaza, or American foreign policy, then let’s have it. But not on October 7th.

A mayor who represents all New Yorkers should not use a solemn day of mourning to deepen divisions in the city he leads. Do not exploit and weaponize Jewish grief to advance a political agenda on the very day meant to remember those who were murdered and taken hostage.

Show us you are better than this.