Mamdani endorses former organizer of Columbia anti-Israel encampment for US Congress |
New York Jewish Week via JTA — Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed former Columbia encampment organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier for Congress on Thursday evening.
The New York City mayor’s endorsement comes as a major boost to Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist and staunch Israel critic who is running against five-term incumbent Representative Adriano Espaillat in the 13th District that covers upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx.
“I look forward to fighting for our shared vision of a more affordable New York — one where we invest in our communities, not in bombs abroad — in Congress,” Avila Chevalier wrote on X, thanking Mamdani for his endorsement.
Avila Chevalier has been vocal throughout her campaign about opposing US support for Israel. She outlines her foreign policy vision on her campaign website.
“We must end the genocide and occupation in Palestine, divest from Israeli apartheid, stop all funding to the Israeli government, and reinvest in us,” the website reads. She says she would vote in favor of the Block the Bombs Act, which prohibits the sale of certain US-made offensive weapons to Israel, and says she was arrested in April while protesting outside the offices of Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, calling for them to vote against weapons sales to........