While Mamdani has said the expression is not one he personally chooses to use, critics have accused him of condoning antisemitism because the mayoral candidate has declined to disavow the phrase, saying he hears the language as “a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.”

Mamdani came under fire for not condemning the phrase at the tail end of the primary election, and he has faced accusations that this stance bolstered Jewish hate and was antisemitic, including