At the August 30, 2026 Jewish American Summit in Los Angeles, Mosab Hassan Yousef said he did not want Muslims in America, used profanity to tell Muslims to leave the United States, and told them to return to and reform the countries they came from. Audience members applauded. Critics characterized the remarks and the response as anti-Muslim bigotry; the dispute also concerns responsibility among the event's organizers, sponsors, speakers, and public commentators.
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Gov. George Pataki, and some relatives of September 11 victims say Mayor Zohran Mamdani should not attend the 2026 commemoration, citing concerns about his rhetoric and associations. Mamdani says he will attend to honor victims, families, survivors, and first responders. Other elected officials and September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows say excluding the sitting mayor would politicize a ceremony meant for collective remembrance. The dispute is over the civic meaning and appropriateness of attendance, not over whether Mamdani has endorsed the September 11 attacks.
Role at the time: Organization of September 11 family members
Challenged the characterization
Responding to
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows said Mamdani’s planned attendance is consistent with the responsibility undertaken by prior New York City mayors and condemned the campaign to exclude him as containing Islamophobic sentiment.
"“We strongly condemn the anti-American accusations and Islamophobic sentiment underlying the effort seeking to prevent him from being at Ground Zero.”"
Why we used this label
The group explicitly disputed the characterizations used in the exclusion campaign while supporting attendance.
