For the first time in its history.. New York Mayor boycotts the 2026 Israel Solidarity March

New York City is preparing to organize its annual Israel Solidarity March on Fifth Avenue, a tradition that began about 62 years ago as the city's largest demonstration of sympathy. However, the 2026 edition is witnessing a dramatic shift with Mayor Zohran Mamdani's official announcement of his boycott of the event, marking the first time in history that the city's mayor will be absent from this Zionist march.

The organizers of the march expressed clear concern about the expected decline in participant numbers this year compared to previous years, and tried to justify this reluctance by the rise of anti-Semitism. But political readings indicate that the real reason lies in the inability of many, including large segments of the Jewish community, to salute a state steeped in the blood of civilians.

This march comes at a time when Israel is facing accusations of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, where statistics indicate that more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed. Continuing to organize solidarity celebrations amidst this widespread destruction reflects a state of moral blindness among traditional Zionist institutions that ignore the tragedy of millions of displaced people.

An Israeli ministerial delegation, including figures from the far-right, among them ministers belonging to the Ben-Gvir and Smotrich parties known for their racist stances, is scheduled to participate in the march. These ministers openly compete to make statements calling for the erasure of Gaza and its transformation into Jewish settlements, making participation in the march a blessing for these genocidal tendencies.

Human rights sources have questioned the moral utility of saluting a state that has caused tens of thousands of children to become disabled and orphaned, in addition to destroying southern Lebanon and displacing its residents. Israel in 2026 is no longer the state that can be celebrated in the streets of New York, but has become, in the eyes of large segments of the world, a pariah and rogue state.

The boycott announced by Mamdani, as a human rights advocate, represents a strong slap to the propaganda that tries to beautify the image of the occupation in the United States. It is illogical to raise Israeli flags in Manhattan while 2.3 million people live in tents for the third consecutive year without the most basic necessities of life, such as water or electricity.

The holding of this march under the current circumstances is a blatant disregard for international law and the moral values that Western democracies claim to protect. Instead of solidarity with the military force that continues bombing and destruction, a city like New York should have organized solidarity marches with the oppressed and victims in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Ultimately, it seems that the waters of the Hudson River are no longer able to wash away the innocent blood shed in the Middle East, and American awareness is beginning to change significantly towards the Palestinian issue. The mayor's absence from the official platform of the march is a clear indication that the era of automatic flattery of Israel has begun to wane, even in its historically most supportive cities.

Your salute to these ministers will be a salute to explicit and public genocide, and everyone with a living conscience must boycott this event now.