I'm Sick Of It! Really Sick Of It!

I am sick of much of the world blaming the Jews for everything.  It's bad enough that rightwing conservatives like Tucker Carlson blame Israel for controlling US foreign policy.  But then we have this Zohran Mamdani blaming Israel for being attacked on October 7, 2023.  Let's not blame Hamas (Mamdani refused to do so) - let's always blame the Jews.  The nationwide anti-Israel and pro-Hamas demonstrations started almost immediately after October 7.  Was that just coincidental?  Of course not.  These are coordinated efforts to end support for Israel among the US population and our elected officials.

And, it's working.  In a Pew Research Center poll conducted from March 24 to March 30, 2025, of 3,605 US adults, the numbers are disturbing.  Comparing views of Israel this year with 2022, 53% of US adults have a negative view of Israel, compared to 42% in 2022.  Of course, among Democrats and those leaning Democrat, the negative view of Israel has increased from 53% in 2022 to 69% in 2025.  That's a whopping 70% of Democrats.  

The numbers are better for Republicans and those leaning Republican, with negative views of Israel increasing from 27% in 2022 to 37% in 2025.  But it is an upward trend among all groups.  The religious breakdown?  Thankfully, 73% of Jews have a favorable view of Israel, 27% do not.  A good number, but one that should approach 100% favorability.  I was surprised by the Catholic numbers - 53% favorable but 45% unfavorable.  Protestants had similar numbers, with 57% favorable and 40% unfavorable.  Not surprisingly, white evangelical Protestants had 72% favorable and 26% unfavorable.

Most disturbing to me were the percentages of Muslims with an unfavorable view of Israel - 81%, with only 19% favorable.  Early on in the blog, and over a period of years, I did a multi-part post called "Are We At War With Islam?"  In Part VI of that post (written on 6/20/16) I pointed out that Sharia Law was inconsistent with Western values of freedom of speech and freedom of religion, and the basic value of freedom of the individual.  Does every Muslim believe in Sharia Law?  Obviously not.  Yet far too many are unwilling to blame Hamas and the radical Islamists (Hezbollah, the Houthis and the puppet masters in Iran, the Ayatollahs) for much of anything.  

I don't get it.  My view of the world is that bad guys, obvious bad guys, are, well, bad guys.  Putting gays to death.  Bad guys.  Israel has a large gay pride parade every year.  They don't put gays to death.  Israel allows everyone to practice their religion.  No one gets put to death for renouncing Judaism, as can happen in Islam.  And what is with this concept of "honor killings?"  Don't even get me started.

Are Jews also responsible for the way Muslim countries have treated Christians?  There were an estimated 1.5 million Christians in Iraq before 2003.  Now, about 150,000 to 250,000.  Given the rise of ISIS, and the violence and persecution, many fled.  Same thing with Lebanon.  When Christians controlled the country, Beirut was a center of tourism and culture and international finance.  But with the Lebanese civil war, and the rise of Hezbollah, well, you know the rest.  No one is flocking to Beirut, a city that was once called the Riviera of the Middle East.  

What about Gaza?  Same thing.  Christians fled after Hamas took over in 2007.  But what about Israel causing Palestinians to be displaced in 1948?  Some were undoubtedly displaced.  Others left voluntarily.  And still others left because the surrounding Arab countries assured them they would wipe Israel off the map, after which they could return.  But the Christian population is alive and well in Israel.  And about 800,000 Jews were displaced from the countries surrounding Israel, during and after Israel's war for independence (1948-1949).  

 Here's an important question.  How many Christians who were persecuted, who had to flee countries taken over by Muslims, who had lived in those countries for generations and then had to give up their land and possessions - how many of them went on killing rampages like Hamas and other radical Islamist groups have done?  The answer is they didn't.  When Christians and Jews were displaced from Arab countries, they moved on to make lives for themselves wherever they ended up.  They started families.  They started businesses.  They made the best of their situation. 

I have repeatedly said in the blog that I do not believe every Muslim hates the Jews.  But look at these poll numbers.  81% have an unfavorable view of Israel.  Why don't they condemn Hamas?  Why does Mamdani refuse to condemn Hamas?  With the billions of dollars in aid that they have received, Hamas has chosen to build hundreds of miles of underground tunnels so that they can sneak into Israel and kill Jews.  They have purchased material to make rockets and missiles to fire into Israel.  

Gaza is on the Mediterranean Sea.  Hamas could have built a modern society for their people, and attracted tourism and industry.  Time after time after time they chose not to do so.  Because 77 years after the reestablishment of the State of Israel, they would rather kill Jews than move on.  They have shown that they don't give a damn about the people of Gaza, knowing full well that their constant wars with Israel will result in death and destruction in Gaza.  Every other "refugee" group in the world (and there have been many throughut history) has moved on.  Instead of blaming Hamas for not moving on, for not accepting reality, the world blames Israel.  AND I'M SICK OF IT!     

Might Zohran Mamdani Be Elected Mayor Of Our Country's Largest City? (Part II, Is Mamdani An Antisemite And Jew Hater?)

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?  

Might Zohran Mamdani Be Elected Mayor Of Our Country's Largest City? (Part I, Mamdani's Background And Politics)

Mr. Mamdani is now the Democratic Candidate for Mayor of New York City.  With NYC's "ranked voting," Mamdani ended up with 56% of the vote compared to Andrew Cuomo's 44%.  The lesser candidates who received votes, end up being dropped under the ranked voting system.  So what do we do know about Mamdani?  He attended a private school and then the Bronx High School of Science.  Then he went to Bowdoin College in Maine.  Bowdoin is a small liberal arts college.  Also private.  He was unsuccessful in his efforts to become a rapper.  Mamdani was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020, and continues to hold that office.

He was born in Uganda, and became a naturalized citizen in 2018.  He is a Shia Muslim, and is married.  Mamdani's father is a professor at Columbia University.  His father has a "decolonial"/"post-colonial" view of the world.  At Bowdoin, Zohran Mamdani co-founded the school's chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, an organization that many believe has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.  What about Mamdani's politics?

He is an avowed member of the Democratic Socialists of America, although his stated policies would arguably support communism.  He has called for seizing the means of production, defunding the police, abolishing the prison system, banning all guns, free childcare for all, free buses for all and city run grocery stores.  I love "free" stuff.  It just means nobody has to pay for it, right?  No, it means somebody else pays for it.  

When Rudy Guiliani was Mayor of NYC, his policies made the city safe again after Mayor Dinkins.  Not by defunding the police, but by having the police show no tolerance even for so-called minor offenses.  It was the "broken windows" theory of policing, and it worked.  But Mamdani has a different take on the police, as reflected in this 2020 Tweet:  "We don't need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer and a major threat to public safety."    

I wonder how city run grocery stores would operate.  I remember seeing pictures of government run grocery stores in the Soviet Union.  Many shelves were empty.  Is Mamdani perhaps thinking of expanded food banks, run not by private charities but by the government?  I don't know.  But, it appears that the food would be "free."  

What about this organization, the Democratic Socialists of America.  As their name suggests, they are not particularly fond of capitalism.  Capitalism - a system that has created more wealth for more people than any other system.  Is capitalism perfect?  Of course not.  But, the problem with many on the Left is this - if something is not perfect we need to get rid of it.  Of course, government run organizations work better.  What government run system would that be?  Don't tell me the military.  Because the military is more akin to an authoritarian system, which it has to be in order to function.  But who wants that for the civil society?  

Some other Democrats consider themselves to be democratic socialists, although I do not know if they are official members.  Nevertheless, the DSA has endorsed them - Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Representative Rashida Tlaib.  Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez went on a nationwide campaign against Trump, drawing sizeable crowds.  So, is this the direction of the Democratic party?  Continue to move far left even after the country showed it was more center oriented in the last election.  The Democrtic National Committee did make David Hogg the vice-chair.  He is not exactly a centrist Democrat.