Zahran Mamdani: What do we know about the closest Muslim democratic candidate to the position of mayor of New York City?

Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, and moved with his family to New York when he was seven years old. He joined the Bronx Secondary School of Science, and later obtained a certificate in African studies from Budwin College, as he participated in the establishment of the “Students for Justice in Palestine” branch on the campus.

The progressive politician, who belongs to the millennium generation, may become the first Muslim mayor and of South Asian origin in the city, and he did not hesitate to declare his roots in this population diversity. He posted one of his entire videos in Urdu, including footage of Bollywood films, and in another video that spanned Spanish.

Mamdani met his wife, Rama Douji, a 27-year-old Syrian artist who lives in Brooklyn, by applying the Hinge dating.

His mother Mira Nair, a prestigious film director, and his academic father, Mahmoud Mamdani, who is studying at the University of Colombia. Both his parents are Harvard University graduates.

Mamdani presents himself as a people’s candidate and a public politician.

Documents in his introductory file at the Legislative Assembly stated: “With the fluctuations of life and its branches between cinema, rap and writing, the organizational work has always been what prevents him from falling prey to despair, and instead pushes it to action and initiative.”

Before entering the policy battle, he worked as a consultant in the housing sector, as he helped home owners with low incomes in the Queens region to face the risk of evacuation.

He made his faith as a Muslim a clear part of his election campaign, as he used to visit the mosques regularly, and he also published a propaganda clip in the Urdu language dealing with the crisis of high cost of living in the city.

He said in the mass gathering last spring: “We realize that appearing publicly as Muslims also means sacrificing the safety that we enjoy while we are in secret.”

“There is currently no candidate for the mayor’s position that embodies the overall issues that are often concerned with me other than Zahran,” Gagbert Singh, Political Director of the Social Justice Organization “Dram”, told the BBC.

Mamdani said that voters in the American city are the highest in terms of the cost of living want the Democrats to focus their efforts to improve the ability to bear the costs of living.

He said in statements to the BBC: “This is a city that suffers from a quarter of its poverty, and there are about 500,000 children who sleep hungry every night. Ultimately, the city remains threatened with a loss that makes it unique and distinctive.”

The following suggested:

Free service for buses throughout the city.

Freezing rents and tightening accountability for negligent owners.

Establishing a series of city -owned grocery stores focusing on providing affordable prices.

Comprehensive and free care for children from six weeks to five years.

Double the production of housing stable lease and built with trade union hands – three times.

Mamdani’s plan also includes restructuring the mayor’s office to ensure that real estate owners are held accountable, as well as expanding permanent housing at an affordable cost.

In his election campaign, Mamdani linked the promotion of these policies with some practical practices that many attracted and spread widely, among them that he dived into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean in reference to the demand for freezing rents, and also ate a bourito meal as breakfast on one of the Ramadan days on the subway to highlight the absence of food security. Days before the preliminary elections, he walked along the island of Manhattan, stopping to take (selfies) or character with the voters.

Although he insisted that he can make the city more able to afford costs, his critics question these ambitious promises.

The New York Times has not announced its support for any candidate in the preliminary elections for the position of mayor of the city, and was criticized for all candidates. The newspaper’s editorial board said that Mamdani’s agenda “is not in line with the city’s challenges” and “often ignores the inevitable concessions imposed by the responsibilities of government.”

Como, who is competing for the nomination of the Democratic Party, and others, is trying to depict Mamdani as lacking experience and that he is “extremist” to an extent that does not fit with a city with a budget of $ 115 billion and works in its public sector more than 300,000 employees.

Supported by major financiers and commemorative moderators, including Bill Clinton, Como stressed the importance of experience, saying: “Experience, efficiency, knowledge of how to perform the task, and know how to deal with Trump, with Washington, and with the legislative body in the state – these are all essentials. I believe in learning while performing work, but not when it comes to the position of New York mayor.”

But Trip Yang, a political strategic analyst, believes that “experience” is necessarily a decisive element in this political age. Regardless of Mamdani’s victory or not, Yang believes that his campaign achieved the impossible.

Yang said: “Zahran derives his strength from tens of thousands of volunteers, and hundreds of thousands of unique donors. It is rare to see a campaign of local introductory elections in New York with this amount of popular enthusiasm and mass work.”

“He understands us, and he belongs to us, he is one of us … from our society, the community of immigrants, as you know,” said Lukani Ray, one of Mamdani’s supporters.

During an electoral conference held by Mamdani’s campaign in the recent period in a garden of Jackson Heights – one of the most diverse societies in the country – the children were running and playing on the sheep, while lunar sellers of Latin origin were selling ice cream and snacks.

This scene embodied the city perfectly in several ways – which many Democrats consider the greatest characteristic of New York. But the city is not without ethnic and political tensions. Mamdani has stated that he was receiving anti -Islam threats on a daily basis, some of which targeted his family. According to the police, hate crimes are being investigated against the backdrop of these threats.

The candidate for the position of New York mayor told the BBC that racism embodies what is dysfunctional in American policy, criticizing the Democratic Party “that allowed Donald Trump’s re -election” and “failed to defend the rights of the working class regardless of their identity or origins.”

It is also likely that the positions of the candidates on the war on Gaza were present in the minds of the voters.

Mamdani’s strong support for the Palestinians and his sharp criticism of Israel exceeds most democratic institutions. A member of the Legislative Council submitted a bill to end the tax exemption for charities in New York linked to Israeli settlements that violate international human rights law.

He also stated that “he believes that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, and that it is a state of racist separation, and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested.” For its part, Israel strongly rejects these accusations of genocide and racial chapter.

Mamdani was exposed to media pressure on more than one occasion during press interviews to reveal whether he supports Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. In statements made this month, he said: “I am not comfortable with the idea of ​​supporting any country that evaluates its citizens based on religion or any other discriminatory standard. I believe that equality, as it is guaranteed in this country, must be a basic principle in every country around the world … this is my conviction.”

For its part, Israel confirms that all citizens of various religions have equal rights under the law.

Mamdani also said that he recognizes the right of Israel to exist as a state, explaining in an interview with the “Litt Show” program last Monday: “As is the case of all countries, I believe that it has the right to exist, and that it also has a responsibility to respect international law.”

He added that there is no place to anti -Semitism in New York City, noting that if he is elected, he will work to increase the funding for combating hate crimes.

On the other hand, Komo described himself as “strongly supportive of Israel and proud of it.”

In many aspects, the issues faced by Democrats in New York reflect the same challenges that the party will face in the upcoming elections. The preliminary elections are likely to be subject to a broader national scale later, as an indication of the party’s directions and how to deal with Trump in the future.