Relatives of victims killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are circulating a Change.org petition asking organizers to keep New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani away from the 25th anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero, calling the first-term Democrat an "unwelcome guest" whose record on Israel, Islamism, and past political associations makes his attendance inappropriate at what they describe as a sacred day.

The petition, reported Saturday by the New York Post, is being pushed by a group that includes real estate agent Charles Galante and Cheri Sparacio, whose husband Thomas was killed in the World Trade Center.

Organizers say they intend to press lawmakers and the nonprofit 9/11 Memorial & Museum, which runs the plaza commemoration, to exclude Mamdani from the Sept. 11, 2026, program.

Signers cite Mamdani's refusal during last year's mayoral race to disavow the phrase "globalize the intifada," his campaign-trail appearance alongside Brooklyn imam Siraj Wahhaj, and his hiring of civil rights attorney Ramzi Kassem as chief counsel to City Hall, according to the Post's account of the petition.

Kassem previously represented detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

The petition also flags Mamdani's endorsements of Democratic Socialists of America candidates Aber Kawas and Darializa Avila Chevalier, as well as old social media posts in which Mamdani discussed the radicalized cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

"This day is sacred to us," Galante told the Post, adding that the ceremony "is not a platform for those connected to such views."

The Memorial & Museum said it does not screen elected officials based on politics.

Spokeswoman Julie Wood said every sitting president, governor, and mayor since 2001 has attended and that officials sit in a designated area without speaking.

That framework, established after earlier disputes over political speeches at the memorial, treats the ceremony as an act of witness rather than a public forum.

Monica Iken-Murphy, a founding trustee of the museum whose husband Michael was killed on 9/11, signed the petition but told the Post it is not about Mamdani's ideology.

She said the 25th anniversary should be reserved for officials who were part of the recovery, such as former mayors Michael Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani, former Sen. Hillary Clinton, and Council Speaker Julie Menin, whose small business was destroyed in the attacks.

Mamdani, the city's first Muslim mayor, has attended prior 9/11 events since taking office in January, including an April wreath-laying with King Charles III and a May visit to the memorial with the fire commissioner.

Council Member Joann Ariola, R-Queens, told the Post she is prepared to help the petitioners take their case to the Council.

The practical stakes are limited: the museum controls the guest list, and its stated policy admits every sitting mayor.

Barring a change from the nonprofit, Mamdani would be seated in the officials' area on Sept. 11 regardless of how many signatures the petition collects.