On June 6, 2025, Washington Square Park, one of America’s most iconic and treasured public landmarks, was seized in a bold show of Islamic and leftist political power. Just blocks from where the Twin Towers once stood, and in the very heart of New York University’s campus, the park was transformed into a platform not for prayer, but for ideological domination. Under the banner of Eid al-Adha, thousands gathered for what was billed as a religious celebration, but it quickly revealed itself to be something far more orchestrated: a political rally cloaked in religious garb, led by controversial Imam Khalid Latif, who has long been supported by the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

This was no benign community event—it was a calculated attempt to claim sacred American ground for Allah, wrapped in far-left rhetoric, and to signal Islamic ascendancy in one of the most symbolically powerful corners of New York City.

At the center of it all stood Latif, long embedded in elite institutions and now openly mobilizing Muslim voters behind radical New York mayoral candidate Zohran Kwame Mamdani. A Democratic Socialist, Mamdani puts Palestine ahead of America, harbors deep anti-Hindu and anti-Jewish views, and works tirelessly to undermine the world’s only Jewish state. He is a frontman for the growing Red-Green alliance between Islamism and Marxism, united in their goal of dismantling American culture and values.

Latif, the Executive Director of the Islamic Center at NYU and former NYPD Muslim chaplain appointed by Michael Bloomberg at just 24, has spent years quietly building institutional power. Now, he’s openly leveraging his influence to advance an Islamic agenda at the heart of America’s largest city.

At the rally—held on taxpayer-funded public land and masquerading as a religious gathering—Imam Khalid Latif hijacked the event to push a political agenda. What was marketed as an Eid celebration quickly turned into a platform for grievance-mongering and agitation. Latif condemned U.S. immigration enforcement (ICE), invoked a litany of global Muslim “victim” narratives—from the Palestinians to the Rohingya to the Uyghurs—and used emotionally manipulative rhetoric to stir anger and political loyalty.

“May Allah end the occupation that’s taking place there and make us a generation that witnesses a Free Palestine in our lifetime.”

Eid al-Adha itself is a brutal, archaic holiday centered on inhumane animal sacrifice—hardly a sacred occasion to most Americans. Yet Islamic supremacists like Latif use it as cover, cloaking raw political ambition in ritual to exploit public space, manipulate sentiment, and advance a radical agenda hostile to American values.

Then the mask slipped completely. The sermon gave way to open political campaigning, as Latif issued a barely veiled endorsement for Mamdani, warning Muslims to mobilize or be overrun:

“There is an important election cycle that is taking place in the city for the candidacy of Mayor. I can’t stand here and tell you who to vote for, but you better get up and vote in that primary… And if somebody who a few weeks ago was canvassing for my Mamdani—if Muslims don’t come out and make sure that they’re part of the process—we’re going to have to deal with what it is that’s coming at us.”

The reference was unmistakable: Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist Assemblyman and ideological ally of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), is running for mayor of New York City. As recently revealed, Mamdani has received at least $100,000 from CAIR’s newly launched “Unity and Justice Fund”—a de facto radical Islamic super PAC designed to subvert American politics through religious identity, grievance narratives, and bloc voting.

Mamdani has repeatedly exploited the tragedy of 9/11 to promote false, self-serving narratives, casting himself as a victim while elevating Palestine and Islam above America.

He routinely vilifies non-Muslims and non-socialists as oppressors. In a 2016 interview with South Africa’s Kaya FM, Mamdani noticeably affected a foreign accent—despite being born and raised in New York City—raising serious questions about authenticity and political posturing. During that same interview, he casually admitted that he secured a prominent role on Disney’s Queen of Katwe only because his mother, acclaimed director Mira Nair, helmed the film. Far from an underdog, Mamdani is the product of privilege, using identity politics and inherited connections to construct a narrative of oppression. His campaign fuses Islamic political activism with hard-left Marxist ideology—the hallmark of the Red-Green Alliance.

Latif’s rally also included personal news: he announced he had officially departed from NYU as of last week and is now focused on a sweeping new expansion—the Islamic Center of New York City (ICNYC), located just two blocks from Washington Square Park. As he told the crowd:

“This community is going to continue to grow and build… There’s not a robust, stand-alone, autonomous Muslim institution in Manhattan… We’re going to continue to get it done.”

In reality, “getting it done” means transforming 350 6th Avenue into a $22 million, 16,000-square-foot Islamic mega-center to serve as the central hub for Muslim religious, political, and social life in Manhattan. According to ICNYC’s own documents, the center has already raised $7 million in donations, secured $10 million in loans, and closed on the property in early 2025. Renovations are expected to begin this year, with the ultimate goal of creating an “epicenter” of Islamic life on prime New York City real estate.

This event wasn’t about faith. It was about power.

It was about using a public holiday, on public property, to rally an aggressive religious minority bloc behind a radical political candidate—Zohran Mamdani—who represents the most successful wave of Red-Green ideological subversion New York has ever seen.

And it was a declaration: this is just the beginning.

Let’s be clear, this is soft jihad. It is not violent, but it is no less dangerous. It exploits America’s religious freedoms, democratic institutions, and civic spaces to advance a political agenda that is theocratic in nature, foreign in loyalty, and hostile to American values and laws.

Washington Square Park, long a symbol of free expression, has been transformed into a launchpad for Islamic political domination, and the city’s leadership has yet to say a word.

If this is what’s happening now, imagine what comes next if Mamdani wins.

---

Also see RAIR’s exclusive report:

• Newly Discovered Videos Expose NYC Radical Muslim Socialist Mayoral Candidate Zohran Kwame Mamdani
• NYC’s Mayoral Candidate Zohran Kwame Mamdani: A Jew- and Hindu-Hating, CAIR-Approved Radical Who Wants to Rule America’s Largest City (Video)