Jewish safety should not be a political disagreement; not protecting Jews is a moral failure; not understanding that truth crosses a red line. It’s neither a legal nor a political question. It is a moral and ethical question.
The combined actions and statements of the new mayor of New York have not made Jews living there feel safe.
It began on Zohran Mamdani’s first day in office. On that day, the brand new mayor rescinded the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, and Jews realized that their fears about Mamdani during the election campaign would be realized.
Every “Jew-ish” Jew living in New York City since the election of Mamdani lives with a feeling of insecurity not felt before he assumed office. It’s not his name that sends shivers down their spines, not his religion that gives them chills; New York is, after all, a multi-ethnic melting pot. Mamdani’s actions and inactions, his statements, silence, and equivocations have engendered fear for Jews.
Condemning attacks against Jews
Every democratically elected leader, especially the mayor of NYC, needs to clearly and unequivocally condemn attacks against Jews, especially attacks on Jews in his city. This mayor has paved the way for haters to skirt around issues and suffer almost no consequences.
At this time of increased threats against Jews and Jewish institutions across the nation and around the world, Mamdani rejected a proposal to increase security at Jewish schools. At the same time, he supported a proposal securing places of worship – all places of worship. His message is crystal clear. Jewish children will not be protected by the City of New York.
Mamdani is a charismatic figure. His look is refined, his speech is articulate. These are his tickets to success. He has mastered the technique of using nuance and rhetoric to justify his pulling away of support for the Jewish community. He uses an argument of “universality.” He wants, he says, to be even-handed. But he isn’t even-handed. His condemnations of anti-Jewish violence are couched as condemning against all violence.
After angry demonstrators shouted the infamous chant of “Globalize the Intifada” outside the Park East Synagogue, Mamdani’s office issued a statement. It read: “[Mamdani] believes every New Yorker should be free to enter a house of worship without intimidation.” Watered-down statements become the official messaging from the office of the mayor.
Taking issue with the mayor’s statements
Universality messaging sounds great on paper, but when it becomes a shield protecting Jew-hatred and Jew-haters, leaving the Jewish community vulnerable, and when the mayor of a major metropolis will not condemn anti-Jewish violence – much less protect those who were violated, or their institutions, and especially their children – that mayor’s motivation becomes clear.
It became clearer still when Mamdani released his statement about the Nakba (catastrophe), the term Palestinians and the Muslim world uses to describe 1948 War of Independence, when Israel was created in 1948. In his statement, Mamdani sided with the oppression of the Palestinians and did not acknowledge any other part of the story. In his version, it was as if the Nakba happened in a vacuum, with only Palestinian tragedies and no Jewish tragedies.
He has threatened to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, should he come to New York. It is an empty threat. The mayor does not have the authority to make an arrest. It was intended as a brazen announcement to his base, which is packed full of anti-Israel Jew-haters. He let them know where he stands and, at the same time, told the Jewish community where they stand too.
Mamdani’s reluctance to condemn the Hamas-led terrorist massacre on October 7, 2023, and his reluctance to stop using the expression “Globalize the Intifada” are examples of his messaging to his Jewish constituents.
His attitude fosters harm and instills fear. Under Mamdani’s leadership, New York Jews are expected to absorb the risks of safety in their communities while their mayor spouts platitudes about universality and justice for all.
On Sunday, May 30, Jews from the tri-state area will stream up New York’s Fifth Avenue in celebration of the Israel Day on Fifth Parade. There will be the traditional bands, schoolchildren marching, and colorful floats. But this year, one tradition will be broken. This year, Zohran Mamdani, the Mayor of New York City, will break a 61-year tradition and be the first New York City mayor not to march alongside other dignitaries. His decision, he stated, was “guided by his political principles and concerns regarding Israeli government policies.”
The mayor directed a dagger into the heart of Jewish New York.
As of May 30, Mamdani will have served 150 days as mayor of the City of New York. He is not even halfway through his first year in office. New York and Mamdani have another three-and-a-half years to go. Let’s hope this mayor hears the Jewish voices and pays Jewish New Yorkers the attention they need and the respect they deserve.
The writer is a columnist and a social and political commentator. Watch his TV show Thinking Out Loud on the Jewish Broadcasting Syndicate.
