If a Mayor Zohran Mamdani uses his office to hurt Israel and enflame antisemitism, many Jews will have scant grounds to complain.
Fact is, too many have been too quiet for too long about the too-serious threat he poses.
Some actually support him.
Mamdani’s antisemitic record and disdain for Israel aren’t just open secrets; they’re a central part of his agenda.
You won’t find many members of other demographic groups backing a candidate who so loudly opposes their interests (while smiling).
Nor would other groups remain tepid or make excuses for candidates so hostile to them.
Or forgive him because, say, he vows to make the buses run on time.
They’d be screaming from the rafters to stop him.
Picture a Klansman or a homophobe — heck, a Muslim-hater — running for office in New York City.
The targets of such a candidate would never let him make it on the ballot, let alone become a major party’s nominee and lead by a frightening margin.
Non-Jewish liberals who lecture about “tolerance” would rush to oppose any racist or anti-gay wannabe.
Yet when Jews are the targets, libs make an exception.
Alas, as a group, my co-religionists have simply been too meek in opposing Mamdani.
And now he’s poised to win.
It’s simply mind-blowing that some support him (which alone should demolish the stereotype of the smart Jew).
Make no mistake: Mamdani is a truly serious danger to Jewish interests, safety and welfare.
He openly opposes Israel’s existence as a Jewish state; as mayor he’ll move to weaken it — economically, politically or any other way he can.
How could any Jew be OK with that? Israel’s entire raison d’être is to protect Jews, including them.
An ardent backer of the Boycott, Divest, Sanction movement, Mamdani would work to ostracize businesses with ties to Israel, many of them Jewish-owned.
He vows to arrest Israel’s prime minister — for the crime of defending his country from bloodthirsty monsters.
He’ll treat Israel’s supporters with similar antipathy and let Jew-hating, Hamas-backing “protesters” rule the streets, even when they threaten violence — justifying it as “free speech.”
He refuses to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” an incitement for attacks on Jews worldwide.
He’ll ditch the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, the unit that helped eject violent anti-Israel goons from Columbia University and other campuses.
Mamdani, after all, is practically one of those goons himself.
Even if you think his disgusting actions and rhetoric won’t amount to much, it’s sure to galvanize antisemitism among others — at a time when Jew-hatred has already soared to scary levels.
So why aren’t Jews out on the streets with pitchforks?
Why haven’t they poured money, manpower and other resources into efforts to keep this Jew-hater out of office?
True, some have: Billionaire Bill Ackman has worked hard to stop Mamdani, and recently pumped $1 million into a super PAC opposing him.
Some New York rabbis have warned about the threat of a Mamdani mayoralty.
“Zohran Mamdani poses a danger to the security of the New York Jewish community,” Park Avenue Synagogue Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove thundered Saturday.
On Wednesday, 788 rabbis — from inside and outside New York — released an open letter sounding alarms.
But that shouldn’t have been necessary: No Jewish voter — not one — should be backing this antisemite.
Or even just sitting on the sidelines.
But a Quinnipiac University poll this month showed a jaw-dropping 29% of New York City Jews say they’ll vote for him, while a CBS poll found 38% supporting him.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, the supposed “guardian” of Jewish interests, has praised him.
Some Jewish politicians — Rep. Jerry Nadler, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and others — have endorsed him.
Are they nuts? Deluded? Selling out?
Do they think their support will make him temper his lifelong hatred of the Jewish state, or send cops to protect Jews from antisemitic mobs?
Please. Many European Jews in the 1930s also downplayed Nazi antisemitism — and paid the price.
No, Mamdani’s not a Nazi. But the threat is dire enough.
In Westchester last year, an aggressive get-out-the-vote drive succeeded in booting Israel-hater Jamaal Bowman from Congress.
Yet this year, it doesn’t seem that Jews have been fighting with similar fervor.
Let them be warned: The stakes are great. They need to do everything in their power to stop Mamdani.
That means not just voting against him but convincing others (including non-Jews) to do so, too.
NYC’s nearly 1 million Jews generally turn out to vote in larger numbers than other groups do.
They can make the difference in a close race.
Question is: Do enough of them want to — or will they let a virulent antisemite become mayor of the city with the most Jews in the world?
Adam Brodsky is The Post’s deputy editorial-page editor. Email: abrodsky@nypost.com
The Jews of America never suffered a Holocaust. Decades later their offspring still think that it will never happen here. This only ends one way.
ReplyDeleteAgain, liberal non-religious Jews figure that their Jewishness is incidental. If they espouse secular liberal values, if they put their Jewishness in a corner labelled Tikkun Olam but endorse everything socialist and social justice-like, they belive they won't be carted off when the kapos come for The Jews(tm). So Mamdani, who has the same values as them, is their preferred candidate.
ReplyDeleteAs for Satmar, they're just retarded.