I take issue with much of the criticism leveled at Mayor Mamdani’s October 7 statement—not because it is undeserved, but because I believe it misses the deeper implication and is therefore far too mild. His assertion that “the suffering did not begin nor end that day,” coupled with his references to occupation and apartheid, reads to me as more than a condemnation of Israel’s response. It implies that Israel created the conditions that brought about October 7 itself. That implicit assignment of blame to the victims is what deserves the strongest condemnation. Mamdani blames Israel (!) for October 7th itself.