In a resurfaced video from a 2002 lecture, Zoran Mamdani’s father, Mahmoud Mamdani, made controversial comparisons between Israel and apartheid-era South Africa, asserting that Holocaust survivors have taken on the role of “today’s perpetrators.”
This footage, recorded on November 16, 2002, at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, shows the Columbia University professor describing both Israel and South Africa as colonial powers that oppress indigenous populations.
Mamdani suggested that white Afrikaners might contemplate how black South Africans, who have endured oppression, would treat them if given authority.
“The same ghost must be haunting the survivors of the Holocaust in Israel. Yesterday’s victims have become today’s perpetrators,” he said, referring to the treatment of Palestinians.
A scholar in colonialism and anti-colonialism, Mahmoud Mamdani also invoked Hitler during his discussions, noting, “The European bourgeoisie cannot forgive that Hitler applied colonial practices in Europe just like he did to the Arabs of Algeria, the Coolies of India, and the blacks of Africa.” He framed the Holocaust as a culmination of imperial practices.
He argued that the Israeli state, backed by the U.S., operates “with impunity” and lacks accountability, claiming, “One nation defies nearly every UN resolution that pertains to it, and that is Israel.”
This perspective mirrors sentiments expressed by various anti-Israel activists during the ongoing conflict in Gaza that escalated after Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Reports of anti-Semitism surged during this period, with many Jews facing discrimination in public spaces, including on campus and in places of worship.
The Canary Mission, a group tracking anti-Semitic and anti-Israel sentiments, has highlighted Mahmoud Mamdani’s past remarks, made not long after the September 11, 2001, attacks. They labeled him as one of academia’s most prominent anti-Semitic voices, claiming he spreads numerous inaccuracies.
“Without his son’s recognition, this hateful rhetoric might have remained obscure, impacting students year after year,” the organization stated.
In the meantime, Zoran Mamdani, identified as a democratic socialist, has intensified his criticism of Israel, advocating for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement. He has publicly referred to Israel as an apartheid state and has stated he would seek to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes if he visited New York City.
The newspaper has reached out to both Mahmoud and Zoran Mamdani for their comments.
