Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to combat antisemitism indirectly furthers funding to an Arab-American group critical of U.S.–Israel relations.
As part of $30 million in investments to push back persecution of the Jewish community, the strategy includes a $6.4 million grant to the Partners Against Hate (PATH). To carry out its mission to “enhance awareness and reporting of hate crimes,” PATH partners with a group of six other groups — including the Arab American Association of New York (AAANY), which was formerly led by disgraced Women’s March co-founder and notorious anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour.
The link between New York City and AAANY comes as Mamdani struggles to overcome skepticism among Jewish communities that its first Muslim mayoral administration has done enough to adequately combat rising levels of antisemitism in the Big Apple.
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Antisemitic acts make up the greatest slice of the city’s tracking for hate crimes in 2026, accounting for roughly 9% of the picture, according to NYPD reporting. In the first eight months of 2026, the city has recorded a hate crime uptick of 16% over last year’s levels.
Recorded hate crimes in the “homosexual” category, for instance, make up 29 incidents, and those against Muslims make up another 21. Hate crimes against Jews have reached 181.
One hundred thirty-one of those are felony offenses.
The surge prompted Mamdani to unveil his $30 million plan earlier this month, calling it a key step towards combatting hate towards Jewish communities.
“My administration has a responsibility to ensure New York City remains a place where Jewish New Yorkers can live their lives peacefully and safely, where they can walk down the street, enter their houses of worship and build their lives knowing that this city will stand with them,” Mamdani said in a strategy document.
Notably, the indirect partnership between New York City and AAANY, the Arab-American group, is not new.
AAANY’s link to PATH was listed in a 2021 press release from then-Mayor Bill de Blasio. In those remarks, de Blasio listed out the organizations that would partner with PATH to combat racial crimes through a $3 million grant distributed among its partners.
“The anchor organizations will work closely with the [Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes] and other city agencies to ensure a comprehensive, community-based approach to preventing hate crime,” the press release states.
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“In New York City, we do not tolerate hate, violence, or bigotry in any form. As we drive a recovery for all of us, we must lift up the community leaders standing up against America’s hate epidemic. We are taking action to make sure the hate in our beloved city is eliminated — once and for all,” de Blasio said at the time.
In the years since, however, AAANY has come under scrutiny for its advocacy against the state of Israel, a position that, in the view of some critics, goes outside the scope of its mission to combat racial prejudice. Since 2021, AAANY has reportedly given over $223,000 to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, New York (CAIR-NY). The national CAIR organization has long been the subject of controversy over its alleged ties to Hamas. In 2007, federal prosecutors named the organization an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case, the largest terrorism financing prosecution in U.S. history.
Alongside recognizing Israel’s war as a form of genocide, AAANY has pushed for the U.S. to distance itself from Israel.
During Mamdani’s time as a state legislator, the group rallied around his “Not On Our Dime” bill. That legislation sought to restrict New York nonprofit donations from going to Israeli settlement activity, citing what it called a “violation of the Geneva Conventions.”
The group’s executive director, Marwa Janini, has similarly pressed for the city to oppose the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, citing humanitarian concerns.
“I visited Cairo to pack food aid for Gaza and support Palestinian refugees. Despite their resilience in the face of the unimaginable loss and hardships they are facing, it is evident that merely sending aid to Gaza is not enough. The NYC City Council must pass a ceasefire resolution to end this U.S.-funded genocide and bring hope and stability to Gaza,” Janini said in a statement.
Longstanding critics of AAANY have argued that the organization has tried to delegitimize the state of Israel.
In 2017, AAANY received backlash from groups like the Anti-Defamation League, a group that combats antisemitism, when Linda Sarsour, who was one of its executive directors, espoused a similar position.
“We profoundly reject Linda Sarsour’s positions that delegitimize Israel. We have vigorously opposed efforts like the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which she supports, and we oppose her stance that one cannot be simultaneously a feminist and pro-Israel,” the Anti-Defamation League wrote.
Sarsour was previously pushed out of the Women’s March, alongside a couple of other co-founders, for allegations of antisemitism and their embrace of notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan.
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Sarsour is a longtime political ally of Mamdani. In 2020, she endorsed his bid for the New York Assembly, calling him her “favorite guy,” and was a major backer of his mayoral campaign.
The New York Mayor’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on whether it is concerned that ties to AAANY may undermine efforts to combat antisemitism.
Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.