AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The Islamophobic campaign targeting Zohran Mamdani, New York’s mayor-elect, intensified with the circulation of an AI-generated fake advertisement. In response, leaders of multiple faiths held large gatherings to express their support.
The Islamophobic campaign against Mamdani, a Democrat and New York’s mayor-elect, escalated in the days leading up to the election. The attacks included the release of an AI-generated advertisement that used demeaning stereotypes portraying Muslims and Black New Yorkers as criminals and threats. The move was described as part of months-long targeted messaging and disinformation aimed at undermining Mamdani’s credibility and casting doubt on his religious identity.
According to the Center for the Study of Online Hate, more than 6,600 social media posts were published about Mamdani, nearly 40 percent of which contained explicitly Islamophobic content. Another 15 percent employed Islamophobic narratives depicting Muslims as a threat to Western civilization.
In response to the attacks, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and Sikh leaders in New York organized joint gatherings, drawing thousands in public demonstrations supporting Mamdani. In one of his speeches, Mamdani stressed that being Muslim in New York has long been accompanied by discrimination, adding that he will not accept such conditions as normal.
Meanwhile, interfaith solidarity in New York has strengthened, and the city’s interfaith coalition has announced a new partnership with the New York Interfaith Center. The initiative is described as essential for countering hate and reinforcing unity among religious communities amid rising Islamophobia.
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