Is Mamdani just hot air like Obama? No.

I understand the hesitation and skepticism, but Mamdani is not Obama and he's not AOC.

Jun 30, 2025

The comparison between Zohran Mamdani, Obama, and AOC is everywhere. Mere hours before publishing this article

Ryan Grim

did an interview on the Majority Report entitled “Is Mamdani AOC 2.0?” Here I will address the political dynamic in the frame of the single campaign issue of Israel and Palestine. My focus on the issue is merely to establish Mamdani as being consistent or not with his progressive rhetoric and marketing. If there was ever an issue to shy away from this is demonstrably the one most elected “progressives” get wrong. All the more when challenged by AIPAC and special interests.

I am skeptical of electoral reform. All of my articles thus far have been critical of the Democrats. However, I believe Mamdani has given us enough to justify our trust. Obama and AOC were relatively unaccomplished before they entered the limelight. It’s worth pointing out that Mamdani does not fit that bill. You do not have to “wait and see” to the same degree.

Family and upbringing

I don’t believe pedigree determines anything, however Mamdani’s family has clear political lines,

His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a Harvard-educated academic serving as a Professor of Anthropology and Herbert Lehman Professor of Government at Columbia University. His topics of interest include colonialism, and racial capitalism. He was interviewed by Mondoweiss in 2014. There are certainly elements of this interview that I would dismiss as fanciful liberalism but there is no mistaking Mahmood’s dedication to anti-Zionism and a single state solution,
The lesson for Palestine and Israel, is that historic Palestine can be a homeland for Jews but not for Jews only. Jews can have a homeland in historic Palestine. but not a state.
Like Zohran, his father was also politically active. In April 2007 he reflected on his own experiences as a student activist in the Ugandan Sunday Vision having been arrested in civil rights bussing campaigns while on a student visa. His tenure as a professor is also peppered with support for BDS and Palestine.
His mother, Mira Nair, is a famed director and a vocal proponent of BDS.
- In 2013, citing BDS, she turned down an invitation to be guest of honor at the Haifa Film Festival, this was covered in Haaretz too.
- She signed onto a letter to get the Israeli and loud-Zionist Gal Godet removed as presenter of the Academy Awards.
- Nair has an exhaustive list of her own accomplishments at Faces of Palestine.

I would caution anyone using pedigree to support an assessment of a candidate. But suffice it to say the Mamdani family has been pretty consistent on the topic of Palestine and anti-colonialism.

College: BDS, and SJP

Before entering electoral politics on the left those with passion and commitment should have a resume of organizing and mobilizing. Mamdani doesn’t stand out in this, but he certainly checks the box. While enrolled at Bowdoin College around 2014, Mamdani founded a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. During this time,

American Studies Association (ASA) endorsed BDS.
Predictably, Mamdani pushed for Bowdoin College to endorse BDS.
On December 24, 2013, Bowdoin College President Barry Mills penned a statement distancing itself from ASA and the boycott.
In response to Mills statement,
- Memdani penned the response by SJP on January 10, 2014.
- And, circulated a petition which is still available online. This petition would grow to 50+ students, and 2 professors by January 24.

All that to say, Mamdani was active in college. After college, in 2017, he played a role in the NYC Assemblyman campaign of Khader El-Yateem for District 43, alongside Linda Sarsour. El-Yateem supported BDS in his run.

Mamdani’s history

To contextualize Mamdani’s actions we have to review his tenure as an Assemblyman for New York City’s 34th district. In NYC Assemblyman are elected for two years. Mamdani won three elections in 2020, 2022, and 2024. Elections are held in November; and, Mamdani can be assumed to have been campaigning in October and in November. Mamdani assumed office on January 1, 2021, having announced his candidacy in October 2019, and having won his first election in 2020.

Fresh into his first term, on May 11, 2021, Mamdani was seen leading BDS chants in front of the Israeli consulate. He is quoted as having said
We have elected officials paid for trips to Israel […] They are going there paid for by your tax dollars. […] they show up at the Israel Day parade and they say, `We stand in solidarity,' […] We want to let them know that there are three letters that we have as an answer to what is happening in Palestine. It’s BDS.
Consistent with his values he showed up on the streets and confronted elected officials in front of the Israeli embassy. He called on others to “put pressure on every single elected official.” Showing up with the people to be wind in the sails is not merely talk. It’s action. You can see the video here,
On June 3, 2021, Mamdani was giving an interview with Muslim Democratic Club of New York (MDC-NY) on BDS. The majority of the linked video is a panel discussion but Mamdani speaks for the first five minutes and recalls a story talking to Jerry of Ben and Jerry about BDS. He says he wanted to see them pull out of the occupied territories and grocery stores operating in Israeli settlements. He spoke not just for his constituents but for himself. He pushes for BDS to be a demand for support by progressive Muslims. If true, using his influence to pressure CEOs at panel discussions is certainly not merely words. The very act of getting a chance to speak to Jerry of Ben & Jerry’s likely required dropping his earned title as NYC Assemblyman.
This interview with MDC-NY is interesting because Mamdani postures himself in the role of the electoral vanguard. The background here is that often Muslims endorse other Muslims that are silent on BDS. He use BDS, and rightfully so, to divide the pool of candidates that should receive support from Muslims by stating that the members should “demand that you must [support BDS], and if not that is not enough.” Speaking of Palestine he says at 4:09, “it can not be considered an optional struggle, it has to be considered one that is make or break for us to […] believe in candidates.”
In November 2, 2021, Mamdani signed onto a demand letter addressed to Biden condemning Israeli’s crackdown against human rights groups, including Defense for Children International – Palestine, Al Haq, Addameer, Bisan Center for Research and Development, Union of Agricultural Work Committees, and Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees. Only State Senator Jabari Brisport, and Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes also signed the letter.
In May 31, 2023, Mamdani tweeted support of Fatima Mousa Mohammad who made remarks at CUNY which were slandered by the Board of Trustees and Chancellor as antisemitic.
The day after the October 7 attacks, Mamdani tweeted a call for an end to Israeli apartheid and an end to the occupation. Mamdani omitted any mention of Hamas and choose to focus the root causes.
On October 13, 2023, Mamdani was arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.
In November of 2023, Mamdani pressured President Biden for a ceasefire, and followed it up with a five day hunger strike.
On November 30, 2023, Mamdani uses the word “genocide” for the first time to describe the situation in Gaza. AOC wouldn’t utilize the term until late March 2024. His use of the term would increase sharply with Israel’s brutality, and he would go on to using the term on cable news.
In March of 2024, Mamdani ran in charity event for UNRWA called the Gaza 5k.

Legislative Accomplishments

Mamdani both withdrew support that was previously given to Israel by his predecessor, and used his position to try advance the cause.

In the 2025-2026, Assemblyman Mamdani sponsored Assembly Bill A6101 named “Not on our dime!: Ending New York funding of Israeli settler violence act.” It was described as,
prohibit not-for-profit corporations from engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity; allows for recovery of a civil penalty by the state attorney general; creates a private right of action for violations.
Unfortunately, this bill failed in committee. But we can’t fault Mamdani for that. While I would have liked it to have a similar bill introduced in the prior two terms
Refused to sign a letter “Congratulating State of Israel on the Anniversary of its establishment and reaffirming the bonds of friendship, cooperation, and shared values between the people of the State of New York and Israel.” This bill proclaims Israel has a commitment or strives for peace. He’s refused to sign many times: K00509 in 2025, K02195 in 2024, K00354 in 2023, K00823 in 2022. K00209 in 2021.

The Obama Juxtaposition

College: In 1979-1981, Obama was reportedly an anti-apartheid activist at Occidental College. It was in this movement, Obama would reportedly give his first speech. I wouldn’t challenge Obama’s bona fides with regard to apartheid. Mamdani has followed a similar parallel with the liberation of Palestine.
Family: Obama’s father, however radical and based, was only in his life for one month when he was 10 years old, and he died when Obama was 21. It’s clear Mamdani’s immediate family has a history fighting for the recognition of Palestine and Palestinian liberation.
While elected:
- Mamdani organized people outside of the NYC Assembly. He joined organizations to lend his support. He worked in his capacity as a local Assemblyman to push a legislative agenda that had international elements that he clearly organized and supported other organizations, like JVP.
- Obama did nothing except support the most blasé liberal agenda. It’s clear that Obama, once elected, showed little desire to join the working class where it was, and no desire to lead it or support it in struggle.

Conclusion

Even when it comes to words, Mamdani is different. Words come in two flavors: descriptive, and prescriptive. Obama was a master of the descriptive words “every person deserves a right to healthcare.” But with Mamdani, we see prescriptive words. Mamdani is explicitly telling you to withdraw support of candidates that ignore Palestine, and even more ambitiously that refuse to support BDS. Prescriptive words are acts of organization. Descriptive words fall short of that.

With #ForceTheVote the people demanded AOC withdraw support from Pelosi pending a floor vote on Medicare for All. The demand was for Pelosi to simply vote the principles she spoke. Mamdani doesn’t merely have a track record consistent with rhetoric; he similarly demands that people withdraw support from politicians that deviate from the agenda. He answers the demand placed upon him, and reinforces the demand placed upon others. This is two orders of magnitude away from AOC.

You could write an exhaustive analysis like this on any topic, and on any politician. But if your topic is opposing genocide, Mamdani is nothing like AOC, and Obama. This is a conclusion I share with Norm Finkelstein. He’s already proven on this topic. On Palestine, he represents the most progressive positions of any elected official. I’m not sure what more you could ask of a NYC Assemblyman. Until given a reason otherwise, I would trust his record. His actions are a satisfactory justification.

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