The mayors of London and New York, Sadiq Khan and Zohran Mamdani, have enthusiastically celebrated the Islamic Feast of Sacrifice in recent days. So too have several members of the Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet), while both Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Labour Party) and the Conservative Party (Høyre) have maintained an unusually low profile compared with their eager Eid greetings in Arabic in recent years.
London Mayor in Mecca
London’s Muslim mayor since 2016, Sadiq Khan, had gone so far as to fly to Mecca and delivered several Eid greetings from the country where it is forbidden to build churches and to bring in Bibles. Something Khan presumably had no intention of doing in any case. The purpose was the Islamic pilgrimage, Hajj.
“Hajj symbolises humility and our common humanity,” says Sadiq Khan in one of the videos he shared from Mecca.
A City Forbidden to Non-Muslims
That is to say, from a city that is not exactly common to humanity, since only Muslims are permitted to enter it. No Christians, no Hindus, no atheists can ever visit Mecca. Meanwhile, Muslims in large numbers apparently remain more or less free not only to visit, but to settle in London and the West, forever and ever, it would seem. And to spread Islam.
Sadiq Khan has also shared photographs of himself in front of the Kaaba, the black monument in Mecca, which non-Muslims are forbidden to visit.
Eid in Trafalgar Square
On Saturday, however, he shared photographs from Eid celebrations in London. There, Islam is celebrated in Trafalgar Square itself. The site is a memorial to the Battle of Trafalgar, where the British won a naval battle against France and Spain during the Napoleonic Wars in 1805, but it has otherwise been a British landmark since the Middle Ages.
Eid is something altogether different.
“Today London celebrated Eid al-Adha in the heart of our capital – a beautiful day of togetherness, community and family,” writes Mayor Khan on Facebook, sharing photographs. Presumably while he himself was still in Saudi Arabia.
The comment section is, to a very large extent, in disagreement with London’s mayor.
“Islam-Free from River to Sea”
“This is England, a Christian country,” writes one commenter. “I’m sure Admiral Lord Nelson would have been pleased to see the fruits of his sacrifice and duty,” writes another, somewhat ironically. A third shares a placard reading “From the English Channel to the North Sea, Make England Islam-free”, a twist on another widely used slogan favoured by those who are not particularly fond of Jews.
Eid with Mamdani in New York
Zohran Kwame Mamdani receives somewhat more applause. New York’s Muslim mayor governs, after all, a city with many left-wing and Islamophile residents, while Muslims around the world cheer the growing presence of Islam in the West.
“Happy Eid! Today, as we honour the Prophet Ibrahim, Eid al-Adha reminds us that sacrifice is not a burden. It is an opportunity to see ourselves as part of something greater. To extend a hand to those who need it most. I am honoured to be New York City’s first Muslim mayor, and I am determined to lead through solidarity. Together, we are working to ensure that all New Yorkers can afford groceries, housing and the childcare they need. Our solidarity is our strength. Eid Saeed, New York,” announced Mamdani, sharing numerous photographs of himself in Islamic prayer during the Islamic celebration in the once culturally radical metropolis.
“Eid Mubarak! But brother, what are you wearing?!” asks one commenter about the mayor, who appeared for prayer in a semi-long, dress-like robe displaying advertising for Arselan and the Arab airline Emirates.
Labour and the Conservatives More Restrained
Neither Jonas Gahr Støre, Oslo Conservatives, nor the Conservative Party nationally have so far published any Eid greeting in Arabic to Muslims in Norway. Which is unusual.
Perhaps they have calculated that it is more worthwhile to think about the at least 5.2 million non-Muslims living in Norway? We do not know, but some people in both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party cannot resist.
Lørenskog Conservatives and Labour Party politician Marthe Scharning Lund together with Labour Party politician Tamina Sheriffdeen Rauf are among those celebrating Eid in May 2026. Photo: Social media.
Perhaps one should say, as someone did in Khan’s comment section:
Does this mean it will be acceptable to celebrate Christmas in London this year?
And with a local adaptation: Does it mean that there will be public celebrations of our Christian Christmas, Easter and Pentecost in the future as well?