A New York City program that Mayor Zohran Mamdani says will combat antisemitism involves a partnership with aggressively anti-Israel activists.
The city’s “historic” plan to stop hate crimes will include increased funding for Partners Against the Hate, an initiative launched in 2021 with six leading advocacy groups, Mamdani’s office said Tuesday. One of them is Arab American Association of New York, or AAANY, which had Palestinian firebrand and Mamdani supporter Linda Sarsour as its leader for over a decade. It also cheered on a violent 2024 encampment demonstration at Columbia University and other pro-Gaza protests following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, even when they led to arrests, its social media posts show.
Mamdani faces growing pressure to address antisemitism as city police report increasing hate crimes targeting mostly Jews since his January inauguration. The self-described socialist mayor faced rebuke throughout his 2025 campaign over anti-Israel advocacy, which was driven in part by Sarsour, his close political ally.
Mamdani’s office and AAANY did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.
The group already received $3.3 million from New York City between 2017 and 2024, according to an analysis of records by watch …