Jewish actress Debra Messing took to social media on Wednesday night to accuse New York City’s Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani of celebrating 9/11 and siding with terrorists.
“I have nothing against Socialism, don’t know where you got that. I voted against Mamdani because he celebrated 9/11. Let that sink in. I love my country. My reasoning is not Islamophobia. I’ve chosen to live in the most beautifully diverse city in the world,” Messing wrote on Instagram.
“The same people who did 9/11 did Oct. 7. I just don’t want a mayor who sides with terrorists. Oh and he wants to defund the police. And he has no experience. I’ll stop here.”
Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist and state assemblyman, would become New York City’s first Muslim mayor if elected in November. He declared victory Tuesday night after former governor Andrew Cuomo conceded the Democratic primary race. Infamously, Mamdani has said he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited the city over “war crimes” in Gaza, and has refused to recognize the Jewish State.
According to the Huffington Post, Messing’s accusation that Mamdani “celebrated 9/11” comes from a rap song he wrote in 2017, in which he praised the now-defunct Islamic charity Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. The five leaders of the group were convicted in 2009 of “providing material support to Hamas,” which the U.S. recognizes as a foreign terrorist organization.
Messing has emerged as one of Hollywood’s most vocal pro-Israel advocates since the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre. Hours after the attacks, she wrote on social media: “An unprovoked massacre. This is not a two sided conflict. This is a coordinated terrorist attack. The only thing that should be in your mind and heart today is compassion and prayers for Israel.”
But for Messing, words of support weren’t enough. In December 2023 she traveled to Israel to meet with representatives of the Israeli Defense Force, families of hostages and survivors of the Nova music festival and entertainment industry leaders. Earlier this year, Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, named Messing to its list of “18 American Zionist Women You Should Know” for 2024.
The “Everybody Loves Raymond” star is also executive producing “October 8,” a documentary exploring the rise of antisemitic violence, protests on college campuses and the spread of misinformation across social media following the Hamas attacks.
“I have been an activist for 25 years and I have marched and stood behind every leader of every marginalized community that has been seeking equity and inclusion,” Messing once described her pro-Israel position to CNN. “The thing that I have had to mourn the most is the fact that when I look to my right and my left, the people who I supported were not with me.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt as proud of being a Jew,” she added. “It really has awakened in me a pride and a strength I think that was lying dormant, and I think I was too scared to reveal.”
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