New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani dined at a Palestinian restaurant chain blasted for being “openly genocidal” against Jews on the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel.
Hizzoner ate dinner at Ayat Hinds Hall on the Upper West Side — part of a chain whose sister restaurant in Brooklyn was blasted for featuring a menu section entitled “From the River to the Sea,” in the wake of the 2023 attacks.
The restaurant is named after Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian child who was killed by IDF forces in Gaza in Jan. 2024, and also pays homage to the anti-Israel protesters at Columbia University, who renamed Hamilton Hall “Hind’s Hall” when they took over the building.
In Dec. 2023, the Middle Eastern eatery made headlines when its menu was blasted by critics for being “openly genocidal” despite owners Abdul Elenani and Ayat Masoud insisting they were not calling for the eradication of Israel.
“From the river to the sea” is deemed an antisemitic call for the destruction of the Jewish state by the Anti-Defamation League, and is a favorite chant for anti-Israel activists.
Elenani told the Post at the time that the slogan had been on the menu for months before the Oct. 7 attacks and that since then he had been receiving daily death threats.
He said he supported a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine and condemned the violence on both sides.
It wasn’t clear who Mamdani was dining with, but the meal was a respite from the barrage of heckles and boos he received from anti-Israeli protesters who believed he turned his back on the Palestinian cause.
“Zohran you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” the outraged protesters yelled in unison at the stone-faced mayor at a vigil to honor Jewish victims killed by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 and the Palestinians killed in the subsequent war.
As soon as the mayor stepped outside of the restaurant Wednesday night, the insults continued.
One masked activist who had been waiting for the mayor outside ran up to his car and shouted: “Stop being a f—king traitor.”
Another activist called Mamdani a “boot licker” and demanded he “stand up for people [facing] genocide.”
Hizzoner’s security team had to hold the irate protesters back.
