V.I. Marlowe 🇵🇸⛓️‍💥

🧵No Politician is Above Critique Our Demand for Tangible Action from Mayor Mamdani On Wednesday, October 7, 2026, working-class students and community members took to the streets to protest three years of accelerated genocide against the Palestinian people. What followed was a frenzied effort to stifle our outcry and an attempt to paint the united, Palestinian-led front as "fringe," "psy-ops," "not representative of the electoral base," or "ultra-left." But while Mayor Zohran Mamdani engages in acts of political theater, our demands have been simple and consistent: we call for a stop to the sale of stolen Palestinian land, disbandment of the Strategic Response Group (SRG) that terrorizes our community, removal of Zionist Jessica Tisch as Commissioner, and CUNY's divestment from war and settler-colonial funding. We reject those who say that we are unrealistic and impatient, and that Mayor Mamdani is doing all he can. Let us be clear: no politician is above critique. Mayor Mamdani achieved his success because of our movements; without our communities, he has no base. We reject analysis that values words — no matter how eloquent or sleekly deployed — over tangible action. Our campaigns and demands are designed with a clear goal in mind: to starve the genocidal Zionist entity of its material base in the imperial core, including by targeting the torrent of money, weapons, and settlers that flows from New York City. It is in that spirit that we applauded then-Assembly Member Mamdani in pushing for the Not on Our Dime Act in 2021. And it is in that spirit that we protest his unacknowledged and inexplicable failure to take concrete action now. Until the mayor uses his formidable powers to follow through on the movement's demands, we will not celebrate symbolic wins. We commend the Mayor for rejecting AIPAC money. However, when he unveils a $26 Million "Anti-Semitism Strategy" — which feeds on AJC statistics tying anti-semitism to pro-Palestine speech, and guarantees escalated policing by the NYPD — his words ring hollow. As Mayor of New York, Mamdani occupies a seat that is by design complicit in suffering and violence. His seat was red before he even sat in it. The Mayor has been clear about the limits of his power, and what he cannot do. However, he has failed to answer as we and other New Yorkers call on him, time and again, to respond to the demands that are indisputably within his control. 1) Mayor Mamdani CAN apply pressure to stop the illegal sale of stolen Palestinian land. It is within the Mayor's power to call on the New York State Attorney General to investigate, audit, and stop illegal Palestinian land sale events that violate state, federal, and international law. 2) Mayor Mamdani CAN hold houses of worship and organizations accountable for violations. It is within the Mayor's power to revoke the local tax-exempt status of non-profit organizations that participate in illegal Palestinian land sales. 3) Mayor Mamdani CAN disband the Strategic Response Group (SRG) and remove Zionist Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. The Mayor has primary command over the NYPD. SRG arrested hundreds who protested Netanyahu's visit, has repeatedly collaborated with ICE—most recently in the Bronx last Thursday—and continues to brutalize protesters at illegal Palestinian land sales.The Mayor must act on his promises and disband this force immediately. Since the so-called "War on Terror," our communities have been criminalized, coerced, and fear-mongered into believing that the only way to gain power is via electoral positions. Twenty-five years later, we reject this. We will no longer accept concessions and normalization when genocide and war wages on in our home countries. We no longer accept the racist, Islamophobic notions of the "Good Muslim" or "Good Arab." We will no longer be forced to accept that the only way we will win is by having the most "left, Palestine-friendly mayor" in the history of New York City. 1/4