New York City’s Democratic mayoral nominee, Zohran Mamdani, visited a Brooklyn mosque led by an imam who has publicly called for the destruction of Israel and praised Hamas fighters. In a social media post dated January 17, Mamdani shared a photo of himself speaking at the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge alongside Sheikh Muhammad Al-Barr, the mosque’s hate-filled imam. “It was a privilege to join Jummah prayers at the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge today,” Mamdani wrote on X. The visit came just months after Al-Barr, during an August sermon at the same mosque, prayed in Arabic for the annihilation of Israel and praised Hamas fighters. “Oh Allah, annihilate those who occupied their lands, and those who betrayed and deserted them, and those who spilled their blood,” Al-Barr said, according to a translation of the sermon. He went on to hail the “mujahideen in Gaza” as more effective than Arab armies in the 1967 and 1973 wars against Israel. The comments drew alarm from watchdog groups and Jewish leaders, who have expressed concern over Mamdani’s embrace of extremist figures and rhetoric. Mamdani has previously said he does not support the idea of Israel as a Jewish state, citing concerns about “a hierarchy of citizenship.” The Islamic Society of Bay Ridge has a long history of involvement in local politics and activism, but Imam Al-Barr’s comments have sparked renewed criticism in recent months for their incendiary tone amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)