Here are some questions for reporters to ask New York City’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani at his next news conference. They might help clarify his statement on Oct. 7, 2023, which hijacked the memory of the murders of innocent Israelis so he could bang the drum for his favorite cause.
Perhaps he was simply misunderstood. These questions would help us get a better sense of how the Mayor really feels. Here goes:
“Mayor Mamdani, your wife has used social media to approve of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Jewish civilians, including women, children, and babies. Would you have allowed her to serve as a human shield at Hamas military installments during the Gaza War?”
MAMDANI WROTE AN OCT. 7 STATEMENT. HE ERASED THE JEWS
The question is pertinent because Hamas stationed its military inside densely populated civilian areas, including alongside or inside schools, hospitals, and religious institutions. Hamas also “suggested” to Gazans that they ignore Israeli warnings to evacuate areas about to come under attack. They made those “suggestions” because they cynically desired civilians to get killed, tilting the world’s feelings against Israel.
So the question is whether the mayor would have encouraged his wife to sacrifice herself in the same manner that Hamas sacrificed its civilians. If not, then the two of them are just as cynical about the deaths of Palestinian noncombatants as Hamas itself.
Next question: “Mr. Mayor, you’ve expressed deep concern for the welfare of the Palestinians living in Gaza. Do you have any comment about the great financial wealth of their leadership?”
The Palestinian people have lived in forced poverty for generations while their leaders have accumulated generational wealth. The leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is said to be worth between $100 million and $600 million. Many of Hamas’s leaders don’t even live in Gaza. They mostly live in wealthy Gulf nations like Qatar. Several are billionaires. The U.S. government estimates that Hamas controls more than $500 million in investments.
Hamas leader Yahyah Sinwar was reportedly a multi-millionaire. When he was killed in the war, he was carrying $11,000. The average monthly pre-war income in Gaza was under $500, which meant that a Gazan would have to work for 22 years (and spend nothing) to accumulate that much cash. His wife was seen carrying a Birkin bag, a coveted Hermes handbag that costs $22,000, when she was headed into a tunnel during the war. A typical Gazan would have to work for 44 years (and spend nothing) to afford a bag like that.
This is nothing new. In 2003, the International Monetary Fund identified $900 million in the personal possession of PLO founder Yassir Arafat. Little of the wealth of these leaders or organizations has ever trickled down to the citizenry of Gaza, where the pre-October 7 unemployment was as high as 64%. It would be great to have the mayor explain why none of this fabulous wealth has been used to improve the lives of Gaza residents.
“Mr. Mayor, you have expressed sympathy for the Israelis taken hostage. Are you planning to honor the Gazans who voluntarily stepped forward to tell journalists, U.N. workers, or IDF members where any of the hostages were being held?”
OK, this is a trick question. No such people have ever been identified.
“Mr. Mayor, some members of the gay community in New York have advocated strenuously on behalf of Gaza during the war. Have you advocated for gay rights with Gaza’s leaders, or are you comfortable with the fact that queer people are thrown from the rooftops of buildings because of their sexual identity?”
Admittedly, a leading question. There is plenty of evidence of lethal behavior toward LGBT people on the part of Gaza’s leadership, but there is no evidence that Mayor Mamdani has ever sought to shift attitudes or behaviors toward gays anywhere in the Middle East.
“Mr. Mayor, millions of Palestinians live in poverty in refugee camps. Have you urged Arab nations throughout the Middle East to take them in?”
MAMDANI’S OCT. 7 STATEMENT ISN’T PRO-PALESTINIAN. IT’S PRO-HAMAS
Admittedly, the problems surrounding Palestinian refugees are difficult, perhaps too difficult even for the Mayor of New York to resolve, despite his ongoing interest in international affairs. But perhaps he might have a word with the leaders of the almost two dozen Arab-majority countries around the world. He could seek to persuade them to give housing, jobs, and education to the refugees while their legal situation is adjudicated. Who knows? He might even win the Nobel Peace Prize before his friend, President Donald Trump.
In short, “Free Gaza” is a statement that everyone can get behind. Gaza needs to be freed from its corrupt leadership if its people are ever to have a chance of a better life.
Michael Levin is a two-time New York Times bestselling author. His next novel, 2028, A Political Thriller, will be published by Morgan James in April 2027.