A Mamdani-backed radical who stood at a Times Square rally as Hamas was cheered now wants to represent New York’s 13th District in Congress.
Story Snapshot
- Progressive candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier attended an October 8, 2023 Times Square rally where protesters celebrated Hamas’ massacre of Israelis.[6][20]
- She stood near a “Zionism is genocide” sign, later refused to condemn Hamas at a local Democratic club, and only reversed herself under pressure months later.[3][6]
- Jewish and neighborhood leaders say her record shows deep hostility to Israel and shocking tolerance for antisemitic rhetoric.[1][3]
- New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has endorsed her, highlighting a growing split between far-left activists and traditional Democrats.[2][7]
Mamdani-backed radical brings Oct. 8 rally baggage into NY-13 race
New Yorkers in the 13th District are learning that one of the leading progressive challengers, Darializa Avila Chevalier, did more than tweet about Israel; she physically attended the infamous October 8, 2023 rally in Times Square, held just one day after Hamas terrorists butchered more than 1,200 Israelis and took hundreds hostage.[2][20] Reports and photos show her in a keffiyeh standing next to a protester holding a “Zionism is genocide” sign as the crowd chanted slogans that praised “resistance” and demonized Israel.[6][20]
Witness accounts and monitoring groups say parts of that rally went beyond criticism of Israeli policy and crossed into outright celebration of the October 7 massacre, including throat-slitting gestures and chants tied to the rising Israeli death toll.[6][20] While there is no video of Avila Chevalier herself making those gestures, her choice to remain in the middle of that scene, side by side with extreme anti-Israel messaging, is now central to the debate over whether she should serve in Congress.[6] For many Jewish residents, that decision feels like a moral red line.
Refusal to condemn Hamas, then a pressured walk-back
The controversy did not stop with the rally. At a March 2026 endorsement meeting of the Broadway Democrats, a left-wing local club, Avila Chevalier was asked a simple question: would she condemn Hamas and its October 7 attacks? Club leaders say she flatly refused, turning the question into another attack on Israel and its “75 years of occupation.”[3] That refusal led the group, which had backed New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the past, to deny her their endorsement, calling her unwillingness to condemn Hamas “point-blank.”[3]
Only after weeks of public backlash did Avila Chevalier change her wording. At a June primary forum, pressed again on why she would not condemn Hamas, she said, “Yes, I do condemn Hamas,” but immediately tried to shift the focus back to Israeli military actions and United States aid.[3] In other interviews, she insisted she “would never celebrate the death of any human being” and claimed her rally attendance was meant to protest what she called an “outsized reaction” by Israel that would cause thousands of deaths in Gaza.[1][2] Voters are now left weighing these conflicting statements and the timing of her change of tone.
Pattern of extreme anti-Israel activism and rhetoric
The rally and Hamas questions fit into a longer record. Avila Chevalier has spent years in aggressive anti-Israel activism, from her days in Columbia University’s Students for Justice in Palestine to helping launch Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a group aligned with the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement against Israel.[7] She later helped lead Columbia’s anti-Israel encampment, a protest that drew criticism for tactics many saw as hostile to Jewish students and dismissive of Israeli trauma.[4][7]
Her online history has also raised alarms. Jewish Insider reports that she once boasted of wiping her hand on the American flag and used a social media bio that tagged herself as a communist with “#FreePalestine.”[4] She co-hosted a podcast with John Jay College instructor Nick Rodrigo, who after October 7 gave shout-outs from a rally stage to Hamas terrorists who had stormed the border, murdered, and abducted Israeli civilians.[4][5] Combined with claims that she reposted messages denying Israel’s right to exist, this record fuels fears that her politics go far beyond criticism of policy into rejection of a Jewish state itself.[7]
Mamdani endorsement and what’s at stake for NY-13
Despite these warnings, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has thrown his weight behind Avila Chevalier’s campaign, calling her a vehicle to topple five-term Representative Adriano Espaillat and reshape the district’s politics.[2][7] Her platform pushes familiar far-left goals: abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, banning large Super Political Action Committees, ending United States military aid to Israel, and “divesting from Israeli apartheid” to “reinvest in us.”[2][7] Backers say this is bold moral leadership; critics see it as another front in a larger war on American allies, border security, and national defense.
Darializa Avila Chevalier (NY-13 DSA/Justice Dems challenger to Espaillat):
– Family background includes time in Dominican Republic (infant) and Venezuela (lived with grandmother as child). Moved to NYC ~2012 for Columbia. No major reported adult controversial foreign trips.
-…
— Grok (@grok) June 17, 2026
For many conservative and moderate Democrats in the district, the question is simple: should someone who stood in a crowd that cheered a terror massacre and then refused to condemn the killers be trusted with a seat in Congress? As the party battles over Israel, antisemitism, and the role of the far left, this race shows how deep those divisions now run.[1][3] Voters tired of radical rhetoric, anti-police slogans, and contempt for American allies may decide they have had enough of candidates who flirt with extremism and only back away when the cameras are rolling.
Sources:
[1] Web – Mamdani-Backed Oct. 7 Cheerleader Vying for NY-13 Seat — Gets …
[2] Web – Mamdani-backed Congress candidate defends joining Oct. 8 rally …
[3] Web – Avila Chevalier attended the Oct. 8 pro-Palestinian rally Lander …
[4] Web – Avila Chevalier attended Oct. 8 pro-Palestinian rally that Mamdani …
[5] Web – NY House hopeful Darializa Avila Chevalier attended anti-Israel …
[6] Web – During a #NY1Debate, congressional candidate Darializa Avila …
[7] Web – Darializa Avila Chevalier, a candidate for Congress in New York City …
[20] Web – Protesters call for end to war in Gaza on 2-year anniversary of … – …
The organization known as hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood have breed bastard offspring. How human like the conflict between Sunni and Shi’ah sects. How they tend to draw zealous members to target innocence, how long until they are made aware of reality?