The Mamdani Administration staffer who prominently wore a keffiyeh in a slick video urging New Yorkers to go to the Rent Guidelines Board, may have been sending a message with his symbolic attire, insiders told The Post.
Mohamed Alharbi, the deputy borough director for Queens in the mayor’s Office of Mass Engagement, has not been spotted wearing a keffiyeh in public photos, interviews and videos, observers note.
Colleagues were also surprised to see him in a keffiyeh, which many Jews equate with the Palestinian terror group Hamas.
“I’ve never seen him wear a keffiyeh at work,” a City Hall staffer told The Post.
In a March podcast, the 28-year-old SUNY New Paltz grad who has described himself as an Arabic-speaking Muslim, is seen wearing a black blazer and crisp white shirt, sans keffiyeh.
Among the “main qualities” he said he looks for in backing a political candidate is: “Are you openly pro-Palestinian?”
In the video, released Wednesday, Alharbi, whose family hails from Yemen, is seen climbing the steps of Gracie Mansion with a black and white keffiyeh draped around his neck. A mezuzah is affixed to the doorpost to his right, with upbeat music playing in the background.
“They knew what they were doing and exactly the message they wanted to send. In the city with the largest Jewish community, how can someone not see this as a direct act of hate toward the Jewish community?” asserted Moshe Spern, president of United Jewish Teachers.
Jewish activists are outraged over the messaging.
“The placement of a keffiyeh is not mere coincidence and its growing visibility in activist and progressive circles is more than a fashion statement. It is a symbol aligned with ideological positions that seek to destroy Western civilization,” said Jayne Zirkle of The Lawfare Project, a human rights group.
Former Democratic state Assemblyman Dov Hikind called the video “carefully orchestrated.”
“It’s all intentionally divisive and hateful. This man is representing the administration,” Hikind said, noting that selectively donning a keffiyeh is different from strictly wearing a yarmulke. “If someone came to my door with a keffiyeh, I’d immediately be nervous.”
Neither Alharbi nor the mayor returned requests for comment.
“It’s all intentionally divisive and hateful. This man is representing the administration,” Hikind said, noting that selectively donning a keffiyeh is different from strictly wearing a yarmulke. “If someone came to my door with a keffiyeh, I’d immediately be nervous.”