Fightback against Mamdani begins at shul this Shabbat - The Jewish Chronicle

It is mourning again here in America. The election of Zohran Mamdani as Mayor of New York City can be described in the same way as the proliferation of antisemitism within institutions of higher learning in the United States: shocking, but certainly not surprising.

This is the inevitable outcome of decades of calculated and deliberate political indoctrination masquerading as intellectual discourse and academic worth. It is nothing other than a deep-seated hatred of Israel and of grievance culture mixed with a compilation of bizarre political alliances between fundamentalist Islamists and Socialist Feminists.

Note that 81 per cent of women under the age of 30 voted for Mamdani, as did 60 per cent of the college-educated New Yorkers. Of those living in New York for 10 years or less, 80 per cent voted for the new mayor.

Without October 7th, there is no Zohran Mamdani. The 34-year-old failed rapper explicitly stated that “the struggle for Palestinian liberation is at the core of my politics and continues to be," during an August 2023 keynote speech to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) convention.

The DSA spoke out on October 7th not to condemn Hamas, let alone mention them, but to proclaim that “today’s events are a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime – a regime that receives billions in funding from the United States”.

Mamdani was arrested not even one week after the largest single day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust for protesting against the “Zionist entity’s genocide in Gaza” by publicly blocking the streets.

The heightened visibility of the Israel–Gaza conflict made this foreign-policy issue a more prominent litmus test in NYC politics – something Mamdani’s prior alignment with anti-Israel activism positioned him to navigate better than more traditional candidates.

This led to the comical assertion made by Mamdani during the primary debate that he would conduct no foreign trips as Mayor, especially not to Israel, as his focus remains exclusively within New York City.

The absurdity is almost comical. Upon winning the NYC Primary election, flew straight to his family’s multi-million-dollar compound in Uganda, guarded by private security, and stayed there for days.

More significantly, the candidate who made stopping the “genocide in Gaza” a primary staple of his allure, who proposed a total of four bills in the State Assembly with one of them stripping Jewish charities in New York of their nonprofit status should they conduct operations in the West Bank, and made arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he return to New York City a top political priority, suddenly feigns confusion as to why others would ask of him why foreign policy features so prominently in his campaign.

This is where we are. The city that endured the worst terrorist attack in American history will now be led by an individual who willingly and enthusiastically campaigns and associates with those who legitimately celebrate terrorism.

What bothers me most about Zohran Mamdani is not his obsession with the Jewish state, but when he looks at the images of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 crashing into the Twin Towers, his immediate reaction is to campaign with Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who has repeatedly asserted that “America deserved 9/11.” Don’t imagine their association is defunct: Piker was a VIP guest of the Mayor Elect’s victory party in Brooklyn.

It comes as no shock that Mamdani was pictured smiling, arm-in-arm, with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, who is alleged to be a co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing but has previously denied having any connection to terrorism.

Given Mamdani’s objective and relatively unrepentant association with those who abhor American values, his obsessive fixation on Gaza, and now a clear mandate from those who seek the destruction of Israel, the question now turns to “what should the New York Jewish community, the largest Jewish community in the world, do about it?”

The answer, I believe, is as simplistic as it is historically tested: Double down. The New York Jewish legacy organisations, such as the UJA, JCRC, and the AJC must ensure that there is not one New York Jew today attending public school because their parents cannot afford Jewish Day School.

Radically reinvest in Jewish experiential education; ensure there is not one New York Jew who does not know where their nearest Chabad House is. Every New York Jew must have the opportunity, at least once, to go to Israel on a fully sponsored trip. Purchase and wave American flags from your JCCs and communal organisations.

Most importantly, every New York Jew must show up to their synagogues this Shabbat, and all the Shabbats to come, kippah on head and Star of David necklace on chest.

Last night, I attended a fundraiser listening to survivors of October 7th describing how they plan on rebuilding their destroyed Kibbutz Be'eri. They are determined to come back home and fight for a future of peace. That is the story of the Jewish People.

We are not defined by those who seek to destroy us. We will outlast Zohran Mamdani in the same way we've outlasted all those who stand against the Jewish People.

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