Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing a Muslim problem with local Muslim activists planning to spill into the streets Tuesday night outside Gracie Mansion, where protesters will accuse the mayor of promoting what they describe as an extreme form of Islamism.

Meanwhile, Mamdani, New York City’s first Muslim mayor, is also facing criticism from hardline anti-Israel activists who argue he has not gone far enough in support of Palestinian activism after taking office.

Anila Ali, president of the American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council, said she plans to join Tuesday night’s protest because she believes Mamdani’s politics are alienating moderate Muslims and damaging relations between Muslim and Jewish communities in New York.

«With Mamdani in office, we feel our religion is now hijacked once again and is being used by these Islamists,» Ali told Fox News Digital in a video interview.

MAMDANI BACKS CANDIDATE WHO CALLED 9/11 ‘A TERROR ATTACK A COUPLE OF PEOPLE DID’

Ali described herself as part of a post-9/11 movement of «moderate Muslims» who reject Islamist extremism and believe Islam is compatible with coexistence, religious freedom and life in America.

She described Islamism as a hardline political ideology that merges religion and politics, and she argued Mamdani represents a more radical version of Islam than the moderate faith practiced by many American Muslims.

She said moderate Muslims don’t identify with Islamist groups such as the Council on American Islamic Affairs (CAIR), which she accused of monopolizing public representation of Islam in America and promoting a hardline Islamist movement. Ali said many moderate Muslims feel increasingly sidelined by activist groups and political organizations they believe do not represent their faith or values.

«Zohran Mamdani is their success story. The Muslim Brotherhood, they backed him,» Ali told Fox News Digital in a video interview.

ZOHRAN MAMDANI SAYS HE WILL DISCOURAGE ‘GLOBALIZE THE INTIFADA’ PHRASE

However, criticism of Mamdani is not only coming from moderate Muslim and interfaith activists. Hardline anti-Israel activists have also criticized the mayor for not going far enough in support of Palestinian activism after taking office.

«When he said that Israel has the right to exist, I also clearly called that out,» anti-Israel activist Nerdeen Kiswani, a Palestinian-American activist, told Fox News Digital last week. Kiswani is the co-founder of the pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime, which staged a Nakba rally in New York on May 15 where demonstrators chanted «globalize the intifada.»

Kiswani also criticized Mamdani for what she described as walking back his earlier defense of the phrase «globalize the intifada» and softening his stance on Palestinian activism after taking office.

«I don’t think he or any politician is doing enough in support of Palestinian liberation,» Kiswani said.

The divide has turned Mamdani into a local flashpoint in a broader political battle playing out across the United States, where anti-Israel activism, Islamist movements and far-left groups have increasingly merged into overlapping protest coalitions.

Ali said Mamdani’s support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, his comments surrounding Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and his defense of slogans such as «globalize the intifada» have alienated many moderate Muslims and worsened tensions between Muslims and Jews in New York.

Within Our Lifetime co-founder Nerdeen Kiswani speaks during a «Nakba 78» anti-Israel protest in Washington Square Park on May 15, 2026, in New York City, as demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags and Hamas flags gather behind her. (Asra Q. Nomani/Fox News Digital)

«They start with the Jewish people — that’s not where they’re going to end,» Ali said.

«But more importantly, what he’s done is he’s damaged interfaith relations. He’s damaged the image of Islam.»

Ali said that Mamdani still retains strong support from progressive and pro-Palestinian activist groups that helped fuel his political rise.

Tuesday’s protest outside Gracie Mansion, Ali said, is intended to show Muslims, Jews and Christians standing together against what she described as extremist Islamist politics masquerading as mainstream Islam.

«[Mamdani] starts teaching our kids, Muslim kids and American kids, Islamism 101,» Ali said, referring to what she described as efforts to normalize Islamist political ideology through activism and identity politics.

Pro-Palestinians gather at a ‘Stop the Sale of Stolen Palestinian Land’ protest against a ‘Great Israel Real Estate’ event at the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan on May 5, 2026. The NYPD increased security and established a perimeter around the synagogue on E. 67th and E. 68th Streets in New York City. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

RESURFACED VIDEO SHOWS MAMDANI URGING END TO NEW YORK FUNDING OF ISRAELI ‘SETTLER CRIMES’

Ali also described Mamdani’s politics as part of a «red-green alliance» between Islamist activists and the far left.

She warned New York risks following the path of British cities such as Bradford, Birmingham and Manchester, which she described as overtaken by extremism and division. The cities have long been at the center of debates in the United Kingdom over immigration, Islamist extremism, segregation and multiculturalism.

«The radical Islamism, it’s just unbearable to see what’s happened to the UK,» she said.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The protest is being organized by End Jew Hatred alongside a coalition of Muslim, Jewish and Christian groups, including the American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council and the Catholic League.

CAIR acknowledged Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Mamdani’s office did not immediately respond.

LVIV, Ukraine — As Kyiv takes a massive hit from Russia, another city seeks to carry on amid war. Four years into Russia’s war, the western Ukrainian city of Lviv is trying to master something impossible: how to live normally while surrounded by death.

At 11:30 a.m., the city stops.

Cars freeze in the middle of the street. Pedestrians pause on sidewalks. In the center of town, underneath the tall clock tower that rises above city hall, people bow their heads in silence as another military funeral convoy passes through the streets.

«It happens one to five times a day,» a local resident says quietly.

The war feels far from Lviv, until suddenly it doesn’t.

UKRAINE’S BATTLEFIELD IS TRANSFORMING THE FUTURE OF NATO

The city of roughly one million people sits near the Polish border, hundreds of miles from the brutal front lines in eastern Ukraine. But Russian drones and missiles still hit here. Air raid sirens interrupt coffee dates and children’s soccer games. Funeral processions cut through wedding traffic. Entire neighborhoods live between moments of beauty and grief.

«We lost approximately 2,000 citizens of Lviv,» Mayor Andriy Sadovyi told Fox News Digital during an interview at city hall. «It is a very huge price which we pay to our independence, to our democracy.»

Sadovyi has led the city for nearly two decades, except for a brief presidential run. Inside his office overlooking the historic center, he proudly points to the terrace where he has hosted world leaders and celebrities, including actor Tom Cruise. At one point, a large well-fed cat jumps onto his desk.

«This is my deputy,» Sadovyi jokes. The cat, he explains proudly, has become something of a city mascot. «He’s tough like a Ukrainian.»

But beneath the humor is exhaustion. Sadovyi says he realized at the beginning of the war that Lviv had a special responsibility. It was close enough to Europe to remain functioning, but close enough to war to understand what was at stake.

His answer was what he calls the «Unbroken» project: a sprawling rehabilitation and innovation effort aimed at helping Ukraine survive physically and psychologically.

The city built rehabilitation centers for wounded soldiers and civilians arriving from across the country, treating amputees, burn victims and trauma patients. Sadovyi says the municipality also dedicated 20% of its budget to supporting defense technology companies developing military solutions for the war effort.

«Every family in this city was affected by war,» he says. «We need to be strong. We need to survive. I’m building what is needed for that.»

‘A NEW KIND OF WAR’: INSIDE UKRAINE’S HIDDEN FACTORIES MASS-PRODUCING COMBAT DRONES

A shooting instructor stands inside a civilian training range in Lviv, where residents learn weapons handling, survival skills and emergency preparedness amid the ongoing war. (Efrat Lachter/Fox News Digital)

Yet survival in Lviv is not only about weapons or hospitals. It is also about convincing people not to give up on life itself.

«People are afraid to come here,» Sadovyi says. «But we need them to come.»

One of the city’s newest projects reflects that mentality. Part school, part shooting range, part patriotic training center, it was designed to prepare civilians for a country where war has become everyday reality.

Inside one classroom, dozens of teenage girls sit listening to instructors explain emergency survival skills. Upstairs, at the indoor shooting range, instructor Vitaliy proudly shows off rows of American-made weapons including AR-15 style rifles and pistols.

«It’s not as big as ranges in the United States,» he says apologetically.

On the wall hangs a shredded image of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, riddled with bullet holes from target practice.

Vitaliy laughs when asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin posters.

«We ran out,» he jokes. «They’re too popular. We can’t keep them.»

On the terrace outside, two wounded veterans practice archery.

One sits in a wheelchair after losing both legs in the war. Another leans on a cane. Both have become competitive athletes through rehabilitation programs.

NATO ALLY POLAND WARNS RUSSIA, BELARUS PUSHING ILLEGAL MIGRANTS TOWARD ALLIANCE — AND THE US

Weapons and helmets at a local center in Lviv where locals practice shooting among other things. (Efrat Lachter/Fox News Digital.)

One proudly explains he won a silver medal during a national contest. The other recently took gold and is now preparing for an international championship. Neither wants to talk much about what happened to them during combat.

Their therapy now is sport.

Down the road, another funeral begins. A military convoy carrying the body of a 32-year-old soldier drives slowly through the city center until it arrives at the cemetery.

The city’s military cemetery filled so quickly that officials recently had to open a new burial ground just weeks ago. Already, rows of fresh graves stretch across the hillside, above them blue-and-yellow flags and photographs of young men and women smiling back from before the war.

The grieving brother at the funeral says the fallen soldier never had time to start his own family.

Around him, families kneel beside the earth.

And still, life continues.

Children go to school. Mothers rush to work. Cafés remain packed. Street musicians perform in the old town square.

That same evening, inside the Lviv Theater of Opera and Ballet, hundreds gather for the «Miss Lviv» beauty pageant.

Young women dressed in glittering gowns pose beneath bright stage lights while music echoes through the theater. The audience is overwhelmingly female. Many of the men still in the city work in defense industries or hold exemptions from military service.

POLAND SEEKS ANSWERS AFTER PENTAGON SCRAPS PLANNED US ARMORED BRIGADE ROTATION

The contrast feels surreal only hours after attending a military burial.

But for many residents, events like these are an act of resistance.

«We are trying to keep life going,» the reigning Miss Lviv says backstage before crowning the next winner. «I want the war to stop.»

One of her friends explains why gatherings like this matter.

The reigning Miss Lviv during the «Miss Lviv» beauty pageant in Lviv, as residents attempt to preserve normal life four years into the war. (Efrat Lachter/Fox News Digital)

«These are difficult times,» she says. «Doing normal things like this gives us a reason to dress up and enjoy ourselves.»

Nobody here believes anymore that peace can come in 24 hours. But many still hope that President Trump and the U.S. can help bring the war to an end.

By the time evening arrives, air raid sirens once again cut through the city.

At outdoor cafés, people barely react at first.

Contestants participate in the «Miss Lviv» beauty pageant in Lviv, as residents attempt to preserve normal life amid the ongoing war.

‘WRITTEN IN OUR DNA’: POLISH PILOTS WHO REMEMBER SOVIET RULE PREPARE FOR AMERICA’S MOST LETHAL FIGHTER JET

Parents continue watching children play near fountains. Young couples finish drinks on restaurant terraces. Residents wait to hear whether the threat is «only» drones or actual missiles before deciding whether to move toward one of the hundreds of shelters spread throughout the city.

That frustration increasingly extends beyond the battlefield itself. Speaking to Fox News Digital while the latest wave of Russian strikes battered Ukrainian cities overnight, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Nations Andriy Melnyk warned that the war was becoming even more dangerous for civilians.

Melnyk, a native of Lviv, described the massive Russian assault between Saturday and Sunday as «the worst and the most devastating Russian attack on the capital since the beginning of the large-scale invasion.»

Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations and a native of Lviv, speaks to Fox News Digital on May 26, 2026, warning that Russia’s latest assault was «the worst and the most devastating Russian attack on the capital since the beginning of the large-scale invasion.» (Efrat Lachter/ Fox News Digital)

Even members of his own family in Kyiv, he said, are now considering temporarily leaving the city because «it becomes unbearable to stay.»

In Lviv, residents repeatedly ask to remind the world that the war is still intensifying, not fading into the background. Melnyk called on the United States and European allies to take «bold actions» to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged Western countries to provide additional air defense systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles and drones targeting civilians.

He also criticized the United Nations for failing to stop the war, arguing that Russia’s veto power had left the Security Council effectively paralyzed.

Ukrainian female soldiers are seen before heading to the frontline as Ukrainian displaced civilians continue to swarm around the train station to flee due to ongoing Russian attacks, in Lviv, Ukraine on March 24, 2022.  (Photo by Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

On the overnight train leaving Lviv, most passengers are women. Border guards spend long minutes questioning the few men onboard, making sure they are not trying to escape mandatory military service. 

The exhaustion is visible everywhere. Still, Sadovyi is full of hope.

«This city will have a great future,» he says confidently.

He believes the world will eventually come to Lviv not only to rebuild, but to learn.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

«To learn how to be unbroken,» he says.

Because, he warns, what happened to Ukraine could happen elsewhere too.

El gobierno de Irán acusó este martes a la Casa Blanca de haber violado el frágil alto al fuego, después de los bombardeos nocturnos de Estados Unidos contra instalaciones iraníes de lanzamiento de misiles y embarcaciones.

“El ejército terrorista estadounidense, que continúa con sus acciones ilegales e injustificadas desde el alto el fuego (…) ha cometido en las últimas 48 horas una grave violación del alto el fuego en la provincia de Hormozgan”, afirmó el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores iraní en un comunicado.

La Cancillería agregó que Irán “no dejará sin respuesta ningún acto hostil y no dudará en defenderse”, sin dar más detalles.

El alto el fuego acordado el 8 de abril entre Estados Unidos e Irán fue seguido de semanas de estancamiento y amenazas, hasta que en los últimos días ambas partes informaron de avances en las conversaciones.

Sin embargo, las esperanzas de paz se truncaron con el ataque estadounidense a Irán y el anuncio de Israel el lunes de que intensificará su ofensiva en Líbano

Cómo fue el ataque estadounidense a Irán

Según el Mando Central de Estados Unidos (Centcom), el ataque del martes tuvo como objetivo instalaciones de lanzamiento de misiles y embarcaciones iraníes que intentaban colocar minas.

Según la agencia marítima británica UKMT, una “explosión externa” dañó un petrolero frente a las costas de Omán, pero tanto la tripulación como el buque están a salvo.

Medios estatales iraníes reportaron explosiones nocturnas en Bandar Abás, una ciudad costera del sur cercana al estrecho de Ormuz. Los Guardianes de la Revolucióniraníes afirmaron que sus fuerzas habían derribado un dron estadounidense que penetró en su espacio aéreo y dijeron que dispararon contra un avión de combate F-35.

Por su parte, el líder supremo Mojtaba Jamenei dijo en una declaración difundida en la televisión estatal, que Washington está perdiendo influencia y que se aleja “cada día más de su antiguo estatus” en el golfo Pérsico.

Leé también: Estados Unidos confirmó que las negociaciones con Irán continúan pese a la escalada militar: “Tomará días”

“Estados Unidos ya no tiene un lugar seguro en la región para llevar a cabo sus agresiones”, estimó Jamenei, que no ha aparecido en público desde que asumió el cargo a principios de marzo en sucesión de su padre, Ali Jamenei, muerto el primer día de guerra.

Según él, los países del Golfo, atacados casi a diario por Irán en represalia por la ofensiva israelí-estadounidense que empezó el 28 de febrero, “no servirán más de escudo para las bases norteamericanas”.

Restablecimiento “parcial” de internet

Desde que estalló la guerra, las autoridades iraníes cortaron totalmente la conexión a internet, pero su acceso se restableció “parcialmente”, según indicó este martes la organización especializada Netblocks.

Aún así, precisó que “no está claro” si se mantendrá la conexión, tras el corte de internet a nivel nacional “más prolongado” de los registros.

El vicepresidente de Irán, Mohamad Reza Aref, declaró que el gobierno dio los primeros pasos para restablecer el acceso a internet.

En el frente diplomático, altos responsables iraníes, entre ellos el negociador jefe, Mohamad Baqer Qalibaf, y el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, Abás Araqchi, viajaron el lunes a Doha en su primera visita desde el inicio de la guerra.

“Hemos llegado a una conclusión sobre una gran parte de los temas en discusión” declaró el mismo día el portavoz del Ministerio iraní de Exteriores, Esmail Baqai. “Pero decir que esto significa que la firma de un acuerdo es inminente (…), nadie puede hacer tal afirmación”, añadió.

El secretario de Estado estadounidense, Marco Rubio, aseguró durante una visita oficial a India que el acuerdo sigue siendo posible y evocó negociaciones “sobre el lenguaje específico en el documento, así que tomará unos días”.

Según la agencia de noticias Tasnim, las negociaciones en curso también incluyen la petición de Irán de liberar unos 24.000 millones de dólares en activos congelados en el extranjero como parte del proceso para poner fin a la guerra.

Donald Trump busca una salida a esta guerra, que ha perturbado gravemente la economía mundial debido al bloqueoiraní del estratégico estrecho de Ormuz, por donde suele transitar una quinta parte de las exportaciones globales de petróleo crudo y del gas natural licuado.

Su reapertura es uno de los principales objetivos de las negociaciones en curso.

(Con información de AFP)