Zohran Mamdani's father: Suicide bombers are just soldiers

New York City’s mayoral race has taken a grim turn with Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, emerging as a frontrunner. Yet, the words of his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a Columbia University professor, cast a chilling shadow. In his 2004 book, the elder Mamdani called suicide bombers “soldiers” engaged in “modern political violence,” a stance that sanitizes the horror of dismembered bodies and shattered lives. Unearthed by critics on X, this grotesque defense of terrorism, coming from the father of a man seeking to lead a city scarred by 9/11, is an affront to every New Yorker who knows the true cost of such acts.

Mahmood’s argument that suicide bombers should be seen as rational actors, not barbaric zealots, isn’t just academic drivel; it’s a betrayal of the city’s resilience. His claim, quoted recently online, that these killers “subordinate life to objectives higher than life” dismisses the carnage of blown-apart families as mere political strategy. This from a man advising the Gaza Tribunal, a group accusing Israel of “genocide” while championing BDS, a movement Zohran also backs without condemning calls to “globalize the intifada.” The alignment is unmistakable and alarming, suggesting a worldview that excuses violence rather than confronting it.

Zohran’s silence on his father’s rhetoric is deafening. His campaign’s refusal to address these views, paired with his own praise for groups linked to terror funding, raises red flags. New York, still healing from the ashes of Ground Zero, cannot entrust its future to a candidate whose closest intellectual influence normalizes the ideology behind suicide vests. On X, voters vent their fury, with one user warning, “This is who we’re considering for mayor? Wake up, NYC!” The anger is warranted—Zohran’s progressive pledges of free transit and rent caps lose their shine when his father’s words evoke the specter of terror.

Mahmood’s history of provocative claims, like comparing Hitler to Lincoln, only deepens the unease. His son’s failure to disavow these ideas risks legitimizing a dangerous mindset in a city that demands unwavering rejection of violence.

Zohran must publicly reject his father’s apologia or face the reality that New Yorkers, haunted by memories of devastation, will not tolerate a mayor whose lineage dallies with such moral rot.

The city deserves leadership that honors its scars, not one that rationalizes the wounds.

Sources: Newsweek, Fox News, The Times of India, The Washington Examiner