Mahmood Mamdani says Palestine helped motivate son Zohran's mayoral run

"In early November, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral election in a landslide, a victory that sent shockwaves across United States politics and galvanised the country's political left. It was a dramatic turnaround for a campaign that less than a year earlier had been polling at 1 percent support. Among those who were most surprised was Zohran's own father, Mahmood Mamdani."

"Mahmood, an anthropology professor and postcolonial scholar at Columbia University, framed his son's electoral success as evidence of a shifting political landscape. Zohran, for instance, campaigned heavily on questions of affordability and refused to back away from his criticisms of Israel's abuses against Palestinians, long considered a taboo subject in US politics. He is the first Muslim person to become mayor of the country's largest city by population, as well as its first mayor of South Asian descent."

Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral election in early November in a landslide after rising from one percent support less than a year earlier. He campaigned heavily on affordability and refused to back away from criticisms of Israel's abuses against Palestinians, long considered a taboo subject in US politics. He became the first Muslim mayor of the country's largest city and the first mayor of South Asian descent. He dominated the Democratic primary with 56 percent against Andrew Cuomo and defeated Cuomo again in November with more than 50 percent to Cuomo's 41 percent. His parents expressed surprise at his victory.

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