Mamdani's Assembly District covers Astoria, Queens, and surrounding areas. Astoria has about 20,000 Jewish residents. In an article in the Forward, a leftwing Jewish newspaper, one local business owner who is Jewish, described Mamdani as "a pretty upstanding, decent guy, trying to do the right thing." Really? How is that so given this man's next comment, pointing out that Mamdani refused to condemn Hamas by name after the attack on October 7. This Jewish business owner said he was "disappointed" by that failure of Mamdani. Disappointed? That's it? Only disappointed that Mamdani would not call out the group that committed the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. I'm a lot more than just "disappointed."
This same individual also hoped Mamdani would have have responded differently when he refused to denounce the phrase "globalize the intifada." You would have hoped for a different reply? That's it? In an interview with NBC News, Mamdani was given 3 opportunities to denounce the phrase. He refused to do so. His excuse was he did not want to police language. (If someone called for killing Muslims you can be sure Mamdani would be policing that language.) As a reminder, the Arabs committed two intifadas against Israel. The first was from December, 1987 through September, 1993. The second was from September, 2000 through February, 2005.
Maybe the second intifada is more fresh in everyone's mind. It started after Bill Clinton had Yassir Arafat, head of the PLO, and Ehud Barak, then Israeli P.M., to the White House. Even though Barak offered Arafat a Palestinian state on almost the entirety of the West Bank, Arafat walked out on the President of the United States and returned to Ramallah, and started the second intifada. Intifada is interpreted to mean "uprising." And what was the nature of this uprising. Arafat sent so-called "suicide bombers" (more accurately "homicide bombers") to blow up Israelis. Where? On buses, in cafes, at malls, and even at a Passover Seder. You know, civilians. Men, women and children.
One might think that the world got the message, that the Palestinians did not want a state of their own as long as Israel still exists. They said it enough times. Arafat proved it. With the second intifada 600-700 Israeli civilians were killed. Murdered. The only difference between that and the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, is that Hamas was able to kill more civilians. I want to know why this Jewish business owner was not outraged by Mamdani's refusal to criticize Hamas by name for the October 7 attack. In fact, I want to know why this man was not furious over Mamdani refusing to criticize the phrase "globalize the intifada."
Anyone who uses that phrase is calling for Jews worldwide to be assaulted and killed. Why isn't the rise in antisemitism and outright Jew hatred enough to infuriate this Jewish business owner? How dare you call Mamdani a "pretty upstanding, decent guy!" My problem with anyone on the Left, especially Jews on the Left, is that you will come to the defense of every other minority group in the world (black, gays, trans, etc.) but you will not defend your own people. I've seen it time and again.
What does Mamdani think of Israel? Not much. After October 7, Mamdani said this: "The path toward a just and lasting peace can only begin by ending the occupation and dismantling apartheid." In other words, blame the Jews for October 7. It's always blame the Jews. The occupation? Israel vacated Gaza in 2005. Apartheid? If Israel is an apartheid state, how does he explain that Arabs in Israel are doctors and lawyers and judges and members of the Knesset (the Parliament). Recall that Mamdani co-founded his college's chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). What did SJP have to say about October 7? They called it a "historic win for the Palestinian resistance."
This "pretty upstanding, decent guy" also supports the BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanction) movement against Israel. He participated in the pro-Hamas demonstrations. And he will not say that Israel has a right to exist as the one Jewish state in the world. But, clearly not all Jewish people have lost their sanity. Not all have given up on defending their own people. One Jewish woman quoted in that Forward article opined this way: "I certainly don't think that somebody who has a hard time condemning terrorism against Jews should be mayor of any city in our country." Amen to that!
If Mamdani wins, will more Jews leave NYC? As of May, 2024, the UJA-Fedeeration of New York, found that the number of Jewish people living in NYC is approximately 960,000, with another 412,000 in three nearby suburban counties. Those numbers are down, and would likely go lower with a Mamdani victory. Would businesses and business owners leave? Would millionaires and billionaires leave? Mamdani has said he does not believe there should be billionaires. If wealthy people leave, who is going to pay for all the "free" stuff?
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