Nerdeen Kiswani, a Palestinian-American activist whose recent comments about “dogs” sparked backlash, New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani Caught in the crossfire. Kiswani commented: “New York City is finally starting to embrace Islam. Dogs definitely have a place in society, just not as indoor pets. As we have said all along, they are unclean.”
She later clarified that her post was sarcastic, but it had already angered Congressman Randy Fine. The Republican congressman commented on X: “If they force us to choose, then we choose between dogs and dogs.” Muslim It’s not difficult. “
While he was slammed for the bigoted remarks, Fine doubled down, saying: “What’s really disgusting is that one of Mamdani’s key advisers said we have to give up our dogs because ‘New York is going to Islam.’ We don’t feel ashamed like Europeans for being conquered. I choose my dogs. If you’re manly enough to debate me, I’ll be on your show.”
It is worth noting that Fine’s statement that Kiswani was Mamdani’s adviser is not correct. Although Kiswani is president of the New York-based organization Our Lives for Our Lives (WOL), she has no ties to Mamdani’s government. In fact, the activist once criticized the current New York City mayor for not being radical enough.
Fine now also faces calls from Democrats and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a major Islamic civil rights group, to resign over his comments.
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Amid the controversy surrounding Kiswani’s comments, she also poked fun at her apparent authority and wrote “For those who may care, effective immediately, I will be resigning from the position that many of you seemed convinced I held. While it is an honor to exercise this level of imagined authority, I believe it is time to step aside so that the public can recover from the trauma of the tweets. I wish my successor the best in this critical role.”
Meanwhile, her comments and Fine’s mistaken association with Mamdani meant the New York City mayor was dragged into the crossfire.
Zoran Mamdani faces harsh criticism over Swani’s ‘dog’ comments
Although Fine mistakenly linked the Swani and Mamdani languages, the latter sparked outrage online. “Mamdani will learn that Americans love their pets and we will never apologize for that. Dogs, cats, horses, pigs, goats, cows, squirrels, raccoons, birds, alpacas, donkeys, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, turtles, fish. America loves its animals,” one person said.
Another added, “You know what, I’m all for Mamdani taking the dogs away. Nothing will turn a liberal white woman into a Republican faster than someone trying to take the dogs away.”
Another said: “Congratulations New York! Dogs will be banned in Mamdani. You voted for this.”
However, Mamdani did not say anything about the ban on dog ownership, nor did he comment on the controversy sparked by Kiswani’s remarks.
After a video was shared of New York City showing large amounts of feces visible on the streets after a snowstorm, Kiswani sparked outrage by suggesting that getting rid of dogs might solve the problem.
“It’s funny that the right uses this to blame Mamdani, and when I complain about the same thing, blaming people who have dogs instead of Mamdani, the right also attacks and threatens me…” she commented.
The ongoing feud with far-right commentators and longtime allies of Donald Trump shows no signs of abating, Laura Loomerjoined the debate, commenting on Kiswani, saying “Yes, it’s human poop. Not dog poop.”
