'No excuse for victim blaming': Mamdani under fire from Democrats over Oct 7 message

File photo: New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani attends a vigil marking the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks on Israel Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani’s statement marking the third anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel has drawn criticism from both sides of the US political divide. Democrats and Jewish groups accusing him of shifting attention from the victims of the attack to Israel’s war in Gaza, while some on the pro-Palestinian left say he did not go far enough.Mamdani’s statement began by calling October 7, 2023, a “profoundly painful” day and condemning Hamas’ “horrific war crimes”, including the killing of about 1,200 people in Israel and the taking of more than 250 hostages.“We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss,” he said.But Mamdani then turned to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, calling it a “devastating, ongoing genocide” and citing more than 74,000 deaths recorded by the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry.“Many New Yorkers are reckoning with this unbearable grief, and we mourn alongside them — all while knowing that our tax d...