Zohran Mamdani calls out double standards on Israel-Gaza coverage; slams BBC

Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani criticized public broadcaster BBC for biased reporting on the ongoing Middle East conflict. He condemned the use of selective language in its coverage of the Israel-Gaza war, questioning why the outlet uses terms like “Iran-backed Houthis” or “Hamas-run hospital,” but avoids labels such as “US-backed IDF” or referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an “indicted war criminal.”Mamdani questioned the broadcaster's choice of language, calling out its failure to apply similar labels to Israeli leaders and military forces as it does to other groups in the region.“Why does the BBC always include context like ‘Iran-backed Houthis’ and ‘Hamas-run hospital’ but never ‘US-backed IDF’ or ‘indicted-war-criminal Benjamin Netanyahu’?” Mamdani questioned in a post on X.Mamdani, a New York Assembly member and a vocal advocate for Palestinian rights, has long drawn attention for his positions on Israel and Palestine. A supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, he has referred to Israel's military operations in Gaza as “genocide” and has introduced proposals to cut ties with firms operating in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.In a past interview on Fox5’s “Good Day New York,” Mamdani courted controversy when he said he did not support Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, arguing that no state should have a religious hierarchy.“Because I’m not comfortable supporting any state that has a hierarchy of citizenship on the basis of religion or anything else,” Mamdani said. "In the way we have in this country, equality should be enshrined in every country in the world.”Mamdani’s remarks and political stance have not gone unnoticed. US President Donald Trump has frequently targeted him, most recently after Mamdani won the Democratic primary in New York City.In a post on Truth Social, Trump called Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” and mocked him for looking "terrible." He further claimed that he would be bad for New York City.Speaking on a Fox News interview, Trump said Mamdani is a communist and he openly admits it. "He's a communist and I think it's very bad for New York. I don't know if he's going to get in but he's a pure communist and I think he admits it," he said.Mamdani’s viral post criticizing the BBC has sparked online debate, with some social media users defending his stance and others accusing him of selective outrage.One netizen questioned, "Why does Zohran Mamdani never address the Russian genocide in Ukraine and war criminal Putin?" Another user agreeing with Mamdani wrote,"You are asking hard questions."