Mamdani condemns Israel for intercepting latest Gaza flotilla

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⛵️ Mamdani condemns Israeli interception of Gaza flotilla

• Mayor Zohran Mamdani weighed in on reports yesterday that Israeli forces had intercepted a number of boats from a flotilla carrying aid for Gaza, writing that it had “unlawfully” detained more than 175 people in international waters, “including several New Yorkers.”

• “My team has been in direct contact with State and Federal partners as we work to confirm the whereabouts and conditions of these New Yorkers,” he wrote. “This is a brazen violation of international law. Those detained must be released.”

• The boats are part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, an international effort to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza strip. Mamdani has long been a vocal critic of Israel, a stance that has caused tension between him and segments of the city’s Jewish community.

👑 Queen Camilla receives book by slain rabbi

• At a New York Public Library event during the British royals’ visit to the city, Queen Camilla was given a book written by journalist Nikki Goldstein and Rabbi Eli Schlanger, the Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi who was slain during the Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre in Australia.

• “She listened very keenly, and was appreciative to receive it,” Lisa Sharkey, the publisher of Harper Influence who delivered the gift, told Chabad.org.

• The book, “Conversations With My Rabbi: Timeless Teachings for a Fractured World,” was based on conversations between Goldstein and Schlanger. It was near completion at the time of Schlanger’s death, and is due to be published later this month.

🎮 Mario Kart for Congress

• At a video game bar in Washington Heights, three recent congressional candidates, each of them vocally pro-Palestinian and with large online followings, came together for a night of Mario Kart on Wednesday.

• What brought them there was the candidacy of Darializa Avila Chevalier, a former Columbia University encampment organizer who’s now running for office in upper Manhattan and the Bronx.

• The Mario Kart fundraiser featured appearances from former “Squad” member Jamaal Bowman, who was voted out in 2024, and two would-be “Squad” members in Kat Abughazaleh, who lost in Illinois, and Cameron Kasky, who dropped out of the NY-12 race.

• Now, they are coalescing around Avila Chevalier as a new chance to add a staunchly pro-Palestinian progressive to the U.S. House of Representatives.

🚨 Rabbis arrested protesting ICE

• A group of rabbis were arrested on Thursday evening while protesting outside of 26 Federal Plaza, a Lower Manhattan immigration courthouse where a number of immigrants detained by ICE are being held.

• Our Joseph Strauss reported on the demonstration, named “Jews Demand: ICE Out!,” which drew hundreds of New Yorkers who condemned the federal agency, and was led by a swath of rabbis who denounced ICE through the lens of Judaism.

• The protest, organized by progressive Jewish groups Bend the Arc and T’ruah, comes as the intensity of opposition has receded even as the agency continues to arrest and move to deport migrants at a rapid clip. It was notable for including a wide range of Jewish organizations that do not always work together, particularly as debates over Israel have divided Jewish progressives.