Following a series of powerful actions last week, including a CUNY student-led rally challenging Mayor Zohran Mamdani on October 7, New York City’s Palestine movement notched a significant victory last weekend: Israeli settler recruiting agency Nefesh B’Nefesh moved its illegal October 11 settler recruiter event out of NYC, from Queens to Long Island, less than 24 hours before the event. This detour occurred after Pal-Awda NY/NJ announced a protest at the original site, as part of its Stolen Palestinian Land campaign.
Since 2024, we have mobilized the Palestine solidarity movement to disrupt Zionist land sale events. Over the years, we have witnessed organizers cancel events after announcements of our protests, move land sales online to avoid disruptions, and resort to increasingly inaccessible locations for fear of community accountability. Ultimately, however, the power to shut down these illegal Palestinian land sales once and for all rests with our elected officials. Specifically, we call on Mayor Mamdani to take action.
Settler recruitment fairs, like stolen Palestinian land sale events held by Israeli real estate companies, actively contribute to Israeli colonization of Palestine by funneling North Americans to enact ethnic cleansing through the expropriation of Palestinian land. These illegal events, which are usually severely vetted and exclusive to Jewish attendees who can prove their relationship with Zionist congregations, blatantly violate U.S., state, and city civil rights and fair housing laws, in addition to international law.
Mayor Mamdani has built his political reputation and success with the support of our movements. As an Assembly Member in 2021, he campaigned on ending illegal settlement on Palestinian land by introducing the “Not On Our Dime” Act. While on the campaign trail, Mamdani garnered support by promising to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu, promising to disband the NYPD’s infamous Strategic Response Group (SRG), and acknowledging that stolen Palestinian land sales violate international law. Now, however, disregarding the very base that powered his rise to City Hall, Mamdani has opted for symbolic gestures.
Olive trees planted at Gracie Mansion and bold anti-Netanyahu videos on social media must not distract us from noticing the Mayor’s failure to use the power we gave him. This symbolism rings hollow as he increases funding for anti-Palestinian groups that claim anti-Zionism is antisemitic, and sanctions the NYPD’s targeting of pro-Palestine protesters.
While Mayor Mamdani and his supporters excuse his inaction by highlighting what is out of his purview, there are clear actions the Mayor can and should take to stop the sale of stolen Palestinian land in New York City. Sales and recruitment events restricted by religious background are illegal under the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1965, the Fair Housing Act of 1968, and comparable New York state and city laws, passed to ensure these rights are enforced.
In 2024, the PAL Law Commission, our sister organization, submitted a formal demand letter to the New York State Attorney General Letitia James, calling for action against these violations. Although AG James is a state official, she and the Mayor are political allies, and as the Mayor of New York, his word carries political weight. To this end, we call on Mayor Mamdani to:
1. Urge New York Attorney General Letitia James to open an investigation and pursue all violations of illegal Palestinian land sales and settler events.
2. Remove the local property tax exempt status of synagogues or other property tax exempt institutions which host illegal stolen Palestinian land sales or settler recruiting events.
3. Fire Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and disband the Strategic Response Group (SRG), which targets and brutalizes protesters.
The pressure on the Mayor is growing. Last week alone, our communities were outraged to witness the NYPD’s collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers who shot a New Yorker in a car with his 5-year-old child in the Bronx.
As protesters rallied to protect their community members against ICE’s violent presence, Mamdani’s NYPD — led by Zionist billionaire heiress Jessica Tisch — attacked New Yorkers in defense of federal immigration officers. Tisch, who has directed the NYPD to engage in racist, destructive “Broken Windows” practices, began her policing career developing surveillance tools used to harass and terrorize Muslims in New York City and beyond.
Upon assuming his role, Mayor Mamdani broke decades of precedent by refusing to appoint his own police commissioner, and has continued to defend his alliance with Tisch, recently confirming he has “no plans” to remove her. As for the infamous SRG that viciously suppresses protests, Mayor Mamdani had promised, on several occasions, to dismantle the unit, while still approving its deployment to protests.
Mayor Mamdani will not be able to paper over the ever-sharpening contradictions that have already begun to expose cracks in his base, which shares a not insignificant crossover with the global mobilization for Palestine in the years since October 7. Thanks to the principled organizing from our community, Zionist organizations like Nefesh B’Nefesh and My Israel Home can no longer sell stolen Palestinian land or recruit settlers to serve in the genocidal IOF without facing protests at every turn. As they are forced to tighten their vetting, move their events out of NYC—which for decades has been one of Israel’s greatest sources of material support—or cancel them entirely, the consensus around the illegality of these activities is only growing.
Mayor Mamdani rode this very movement to Gracie Mansion. Yet, we are witnessing in real time the chasm between the promise to arrest a genocidal prime minister and the use of NYPD to protect settler-colonial Palestinian land sales. It is long past time that he delivered on the promises that won his astounding and unprecedented victory over a three-term governor from a political dynasty. As the genocide in Gaza continues unfettered and state-sponsored settler violence rages exponentially in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, now is the time for serious action. Mayor Mamdani must act to stop the illegal stolen Palestinian land sales and disband the SRG and Tisch’s out of control reign. He has the power, it would rejuvenate his political base—and most importantly, it is the right thing to do. Until those elected to positions of power deliver accountability and act on the demands of our community, we, and the people of New York City, will continue to fight back.
