112 Comments
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David Mandel's avatar

Great post as usual, Adam. It's worth noting that this is not only a disaster for NYC Jews, it's a disaster for (a) NYC and (b) Jewry in the Diaspora, as NYC represents the largest community of Diaspora Jews. And Mamdani appears far worse than Chow. The latter shows indifference towards our community while the former is actively hostile to all of it except the antizionist fringe.

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Adam Hummel's avatar

100%

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Julia Simmons's avatar

Mamdani advocates a global intifada! I’m not Jewish, and I admit I did not know what the term meant until 10/7. Now I understand the history much, much better. I’m ready to leave the Democratic Party altogether over this. Imagine exchanging the neofascism of the gop with islamofascism. No.

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The Ignorant Ninja's avatar

You very much should do that.

Also, as protest stop paying your taxes so you don't you know... fuel fascism.

I mean you just said that your government is fascist... right?

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Julia Simmons's avatar

Is there some point you would like to make?

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The Ignorant Ninja's avatar

Well that depends.

Were you just spewing pure unadulterated unfiltered shit from your mouth or were you being sincere?

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Influence through Confluence's avatar

Come on now, Julia is fighting Nazism one dumb note/reply/like at a time. Of course she is being sincere to the maximum of her mental abilities.

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SDButlerRedux's avatar

Is the antizionist fringe, as you see it, comprised solely of those opposed to the ethnic cleansing project in Palestine, or does it include the old timey Jew haters?

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Julia Simmons's avatar

What does it mean to be “Palestinian”?

Who founded Palestine?

Who was the first Prime Minister of Palestine?

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SDButlerRedux's avatar

How the fuck did I wind up in this zionist snakepit?

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Julia Simmons's avatar

But you’re SO inclusive! “This does not compute, this dot not compute.” Did that open mind of yours fall out when you bent over?

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SDButlerRedux's avatar

You've clearly grouped me with your brain dead shitlib goyim allies who forgive zionist thumbsucking notions of victimhood, cuz u no, da holkust.

Fuck off Way off, cunt!

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Julia Simmons's avatar

No problem sweet pea.

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caroline's avatar

Who founded Thailand? Or China? Most countries or geographic regions containing one or more ethnic groups that have a cohesive identity don’t have a single founder. And must these states have had a “prime minister” to be considered valid and worthy of the same rights and autonomy as other states?

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Julia Simmons's avatar

Does Palestine have a parliament or does it have council?

Is Palestine mentioned in the Quran?

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Rich Slutzky's avatar

Julia, you are aware that roughly 500,000 Palestinians are Christian, the Bible does in fact mention Canaan?

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caroline's avatar

To your first question, besides the PA in the West Bank, there isn’t really a governing body in Palestine. Perhaps because it is an incredibly messy situation politically, thanks to decades of conflict, Israeli influence and the apartheid environment

And I’m not sure why your second question is relevant- I don’t think Palestinians think about their relationship to the land in the exact same way that Israelis do, there’s not really a Palestinian version of Zionism.

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Julia Simmons's avatar

But there is. It’s called Hamas. How anyone could side the savages at the expense of western civilization is beyond my understanding.

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Keely Hughes's avatar

What bad faith filth, he has disdain for the ethnostate of isreal, not jewish people. Brad Lander was campaigning with him every step of the way. I understand your fear, especially since it has been stoked up by the media. However its also hard to ignore your racism and islamophobia. A majority of Jewish New Yorkers voted for Zohran, they are Jewish Americans. They are not Israeli Americans, conflating the state of isreal with all jewish people also ties them to the current genocide going on. We have reached a tipping point, turns out you cant kill babies and have a majority of the public sympathetic to the cause of a Jewish ethnostate.

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MissMacInTX's avatar

How can 400,000 total votes represent the whole of NYC? LOW VOTER TURNOUT. How can there be genocide of Palestinians when official UN pop counts are showing an INCREASE in population from 2022, year over year?

Yeah, you have bought into the propaganda from Hamas and the supporters of this terrorist group here in America.

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Keely Hughes's avatar

If he is the grave antisemitic threat, why didn’t the voters your alluding to show up?

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MissMacInTX's avatar

I am not in NY. I don’t know their local voting schedule but a NYC Area person remarked that there have been several election changes, beyond ranked order. It is a good question. But low voter turnout was noted.

My guess is that people missed the date or were unaware, out of town…or only pay attention during Presidential cycles (which is the problem in my area)

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Jeff G's avatar

Do you even know what conflate means? My guess is until it became oh so fashionable to tell people they were conflating anti-Zionism and antisemitism, you barely used the word.

The truth is that definitionally anti-Zionism and antisemitism are not identical, but the vast majority of occurrences of the former are also incidents of the latter.

As for Jews who voted for Mahmdani, I have to assume they’re on kamikaze duty.

What a bunch of fashionable clichés regurgitated from the Internet. “Ethnostate blah blah blah Islamophobia racism blah blah genocide.” Read my lips, you imbecile: A) if all it takes is releasing 200 people, it’s not a genocide, and B) if you care so much about the Palestinians why didn’t you emphasize that rather than getting your rocks off accusing Jews of genocide?

Oh, and a little free advice: fuck off, antisemite.

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Jeff G's avatar

PS. If you care so much about genocide, why aren’t you focusing on Sudan? Perhaps because Jews aren’t involved?

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Keely Hughes's avatar

And who says I don’t focus on other genocides? Turns out being against all genocides is a actual political position you can’t fathom…

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Jeff G's avatar

Who says? I say. I just looked through your TL, you have the same drooling obsession with Israel, and you don’t mention any other “genocides” — with the original caveat that, of course what is going on with Israel is not genocide. Because all they had to do was release 200 people!!!

Leaving that for a moment, you mentioned no other areas of the world. So don’t don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining. Holding the Jewish state to standards that the other state is expected to meet is textbook antisemitism. So I’ll be blocking you now and I invite you to kindly fuck off

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Keely Hughes's avatar

Do you know what conflate means , or is it just vibes?

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Jeff G's avatar

Yes, actually I do know what it means. I used to study philosophy, including logic. For example, have you read Kripke ?

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Debi Wodraska Güneş's avatar

I’ve realized this person is a moron, whose level of “debate” is, “I know you are, but what am I?”. Don’t waste your valuable time anymore, as will I no longer. I hope you’re having a good Sunday, Jeff.

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Keely Hughes's avatar

Is Israel a state only for Jewish people?

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Jeff G's avatar

No, there are 2 million Arabs there. They vote, they serve in the Knesset. Some of them even serve in the IDF.

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Debi Wodraska Güneş's avatar

There are 22 Arab ethnostates, and 50 Muslim majority (and governed by Islamic law) nations in the world - the majority of which exist due to Arab Muslim imperialism and colonialism. Some of which still practice slavery, as well as a staggering list of human rights violations, gender apartheid, and other barbarity.

Jews were the Palestinians until the establishment of the modern nation of Israel, with Palestine being a region, and at that point British Mandate, and never a country or nation by the name Palestine. Israel has around 2 million Arab citizens (practicing primarily 3 different religions). How many Arab or Muslim countries are Jews even safe in, let alone could be citizens with equal rights?

Jews are .02% of the human population on the planet. There’s only one, tiny Jewish nation, established in the historic homeland, with not only diaspora coming home - needing to come home - but many who never left. The largest Jewish demographic in Israel are Mizrahi. We were never white to the Europeans, nor even in the US into the 20th century. Antisemites need to move the goal posts, otherwise the game doesn’t work. So, now, we’re “white colonists” 🤣

Die mad.

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Keely Hughes's avatar

Before that mandate it was controlled by the Ottoman Empire… you really don’t know history do you?

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Debi Wodraska Güneş's avatar

And you’re such a Dumb, you didn’t look at my last name. The Ottomans, you say? Lol!

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Keely Hughes's avatar

And crashing out

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Keely Hughes's avatar

When you totally not coping…

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Keely Hughes's avatar

In case your wondering, after ww1 colonial powers drew random lines in the sand paying no attention to the various ethnic groups, as a result there isn’t really a single ethnicity ethnostate that is Islamic…

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Keely Hughes's avatar

lol going based on vibes I see, what are the 22 Arab ethnostates?

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Nancy L. Salomon's avatar

Great column! I am a Toronto Jew! Our mayor has allowed and encouraged anti-semitism in Toronto and inside our police force. As one who is strongly pro-Israel I have been out counterprotesting to Hamas terrorists and their followers. Our wonderful police are no more (not all but not as many as we need) I have seen the two tier treatment. When terrorists come to breakup a peaceful pto-Israel demonstration why is the Jew taken away? Why is the Jewish Rebel News reporter, when asking totally reasonable questions, taken away for causing a disturbance. I was told by a non-Jewish pro-Israel policeman about how difficult it is to bring a complaint against the terrorists.At the time, he and a long line of cops were supposedly preventing us from attacking the terrorists who were causing havoc on major city street! Yeah right!

Out Toronto School board has been taken over by Muslim doctrine. Hate Jews and minorities and only poor Palestine is good. The effect on our children has been horrific. And for any violations they might get a slap on the hand.

Heed the warning! So many are contemplating moving.

We have to stay and fight! Have our people in Israel taught us nothing!

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David Frieberg's avatar

Wish it wasn’t so but thanks for sharing.

Beside his anti-Israel/Jew platform, he has few if any solid qualifications to run a city this big, this diverse, this complex, this challenging. A global stage, handed over to a jihadist friendly incompetant 33 year old “kid” full of promises he can never keep. Maybe exposing his limitations, screw-ups, incompetence and weaknesses, is the way to go instead of continually hammering his anti-Israel stance?

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Diana Murray's avatar

He has zero qualifications and yes, the way to go is to expose him as being utterly unqualified.

But - the ONLY reason he won the nomination is because of two things: he was running against a repellent zombie (Cuomo) and his anti-Israel stance.

If you are a "progressive" you could have voted for Brad Lander.

So it's right to call out his anti-Israel stance - it's his defining characteristic.

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Keely Hughes's avatar

Brad Lander endorsed Zohran, and campaigned with him. If he was really anti-Semitic, why would he do that? Maybe your just coping with the fact you are racist and Islamophobic.

That is what a reckoning sounds like, you want it to stop but it just keeps coming…

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Dan Nelson's avatar

You do understand that the alternative was the washed up criminal hack Cuomo?

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Csb's avatar

You are correct- his economic policies will further dig an economic hole for NYC and anyone mildly familiar with the city’s financial problem’s understands that.

In addition, his social policies are not within the power of the Mayor to deliver. So that is theatre. Good theatre, granted.

As for equal rights, i am not sure how someone who openly celebrates the massacre of october 7 and the torture of civilian hostages can be said to stand for equal rights. If that his position is equal rights is what you say, why is he removing so many of his posts.

Mamdani is a shiny new toy. He will break. But first he will break our city.

Lastly, there are words we do not use in our civilized society. We do not insult people by calling them names. I have names i think of when i think of mamdani. I do not say them out loud or write them. Concern and opinions are appropriate here. Anger and hatred belong in conversations with professionals who can help people move through that.

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Csb's avatar

His platform is filled with policies that either do not work or have major negative implications. He either says these things to win votes or because he seeks to destroy NYC. Please read about his platform. Do you know the core budget issues in NYC? He is a brilliant campaigner. That does not qualify him to be mayor. Let’s not join jn his name calling. Let’s not join his campaign that dials into hatred. I hope to spread facts and figures. Numbers don’t lie.

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Dan Nelson's avatar

I lived in NYC during the Beame/Dinkins years so I have experience with Mayors pursuing irrational policies. The number of industrial corporations that pulled stakes and abandoned New York then was huge. Mamdani is not unusual in promoting policies that wont work.

But the attacks on Mamdani because he believes in equal rights for everyone in Palestine, including Israel are frankly racist. It’s entertaining to watch this meltdown if only because it is indicative of how absurdly intolerant American Zionists have grown to be when it comes any non-echo chamber points of view re a foreign country 6800 miles from NYC being expressed.

And if Democrats wanted a rational candidate to be their candidate in the general election they could hardly have done worse than bringing the washed up hack Cuomo to the fore.

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Cynthia Lazar's avatar

Excellent article. I live in downtown Toronto. I would love a part two to this column. What can we do now that Chow has been elected?

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Dan Nelson's avatar

Move to Newfoundland or Winnipeg?

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caroline's avatar

It is because of articles like these that I wish there was a dislike button on Substack.

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Jean Brunet's avatar

I think Zionism should just die. Israel should have a country, Palestinians should be able to be free to. To coexist peacefully. Israel is now an apartheid state and has betrayed its ideal of 1949. Now it has a criminal in charge. So fuck Israel and Trump. He is not against Israelis, he is against their government's actions. And get over yourself with Olivia Chow, the world's most vanilla mayor. Sheesh

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CommunityCollegeDropout's avatar

Believing Israel should be a country is the very definition of Zionism, idiot. Wanting there to be a distinct sovereign Palestinian state alongside a Jewish majority Israel is known as the "The Two State Solution", which is still effectively Zionist.

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Csb's avatar

Do you believe in the complete destruction of Israel? Isn’t that genocide? I thought we are against genocide. So many signs say genocide is bad. I am confused.

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CommunityCollegeDropout's avatar

I'm a "Zionist" in the sense I don't mind Israel existing. I'm not a rabid pro-Zionist either, and think US foreign policy has enabled a lot of Israel's more disagreeable actions.

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Debi Wodraska Güneş's avatar

We’re so grateful and relieved you don’t mind that a nation that exists, exists.

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Debi Wodraska Güneş's avatar

The ignorance you display pertaining to Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, is so abject, I’m astounded you can even figure out how to get on the internet, and find your way here.

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Csb's avatar

Thank you for sharing your hatred. I am sorry you need to communicate it. This author communicated fear and concern. You reply with hatred. I hope you love yourself or learn to love yourself. Even if you continue to feel hatred and support death saying things like Zionism should die, i feel compassion for your need to be so angry and hateful. As i feel compassion for the author. I feel compassion for the Palestinians who are terrorized. I feel compassion for israelis who are beseiged from all sides. I feel compassion for you who seems so troubled and so filled with anger. I am dedicated to peace in the middle east. I am dedicated to peaceful coexistence in the US and throughout the world. Our declaration of independence says, “we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal“. This country was built on tolerance. This country was built on everyone’s right self-determination. You use words like Apartheid. What is your definition of that word?

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Marty Bluke's avatar

Did you read his platform? Government run grocery stores, freeze on rents, raise taxes dramatically on the rich, etc. The fact that he is also an anti semite is like the icing on the cake. He will destroy NYC sending it into a doom loop.

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steven lightfoot's avatar

I am not Jewish but I support your comments 100%.

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Harry's avatar

Mayor Oblivia has been a disaster and she just keeps getting worse. She’s taking the city from “Toronto the Good” to “Toronto the barely adequate and rapidly decaying while becoming unaffordable” while loudly claiming it’s progress.

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Amber Wolf's avatar

I have a didain for Israel, but that's because of the atrocities they are committing. Doesn't mean I hate the Jewish people.

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Frances Thornton's avatar

Before any of you vote for this Islamist candidate, please study exactly what Islam is. Know what they believe. Know who they want to destroy. BE very careful! In your quest to encourage DEI, prepare for the truth. Be prepared to live the life of an Islamic. BE prepared to give up the freedoms that this country has fought long and hard for.

The fashion industry in NYC will be swapping out beautiful fashions and begin importing black cloth for the standard garb of Islam.

Islam destroys everything it touches. It's only purpose in life is for all people to be Islam or die. Choose wisely and pray 🙏 hard to America's God. The one we were founded by.

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CommunityCollegeDropout's avatar

Like this jack off is a serious Muslim. His ethnic and religious identity is just window dressing. He's a hip and rich soft DSA baby from educated elite parents. If he was forced to chose between The Koran or Current Thing, Current Thing will always triumph.

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Csb's avatar

Mamdani said he would arrest Netanyahu if he came to NYC. He said this to the congregation at Bnai Jeshrun and the audience applauded. I was called a Zionist by a Jewish woman because i did not vote for Mamdani. NY is in big trouble. Maybe the Republicans can save us from ourselves. It means the survival of NYC as well as its Jewish community. And as goes NY, so goes the country.

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Dan Nelson's avatar

Hopefully, Netanyahu will soon be in jail in Israel so we won’t have to worry the American and international justice systems with him.

You say a woman called you a Zionist. I guess the question is, are you a Zionist?

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Csb's avatar

Thank you Dan for sharing your feelings. It is important to share them. The question for me is what difference does it make if i am or if i am not. The question is, why is that an insult. We have a society where name calling is unacceptable. We are supposed to be better than that. We are supposed to be tolerant. People get fired for discrimination. I do not insult people. I do not call them names. I do not support hatred. My company has training and rules against discrimination. I am obligated to take it every year. I believe in treating others as i want to be treated. Perhaps you can tell me why it matters to you. I feel this note is angry and hateful. I hope you find peace and kindness

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Debi Wodraska Güneş's avatar

Yikes on both Mamdani’s statements in a synagogue, and a Jewish person’s statements to you. Unfortunately, the liberalism that Jews have predominantly espoused - as much of the historical track of social justice movements in this country aligned with our cultural/religious ethos, and so, felt as a natural extension of that - has taken a Marxist Jihadist turn. What a marriage! And, where have we seen that before? Hint: Iran. Well, ok, that wasn’t a hint, that was the answer.

There are contingents of Jews stuck in that lockstep, correct think of “liberalism”, not understanding it’s not the same as decades gone by. But, it’s also internalized antisemitism, and that, alas, is nothing new. We who were not white in Europe, nor even in the US into the 20th century, are now, conveniently, white colonizers.

How ironic that such inversions of history come from the son of rarified privilege.

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Csb's avatar

Thank you for your transparency about who you are and your beliefs. This is so well scripted. And well prepared and long. And missing facts. And modifying facts. I am impressed by your entry into the conversation and where you took it. Judge Lipman’s report must be a bigger threat than i thought. I appreciate your time and attention to this matter.

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Dan Nelson's avatar

Rest assured that I won’t watch a 4 hour hearing. I did read the New York Times report on the report and hearing though.

A key extract from that story:

“The review, which was commissioned by Ms. Hochul last October after a surge in hate and bias incidents and was released on Tuesday, documented inconsistencies and a lack of oversight in how CUNY’s 25 campuses handled complaints of antisemitism and other bias among students and staff members.

But the review, which included interviews with more than 200 people over 10 months, also found that it was a “small, vocal minority of individuals” responsible for antisemitic incidents, and not a widespread problem.”

There should be zero tolerance for hate crimes by any Americans against other Americans. This would include antisemitism, attacks on Arabs and Muslims who support self-determination for the indigenous Arabs of Palestine, and every other imaginable hate crime.

But we must emphatically reject the absurd proposition that is repeatedly presented by the once esteemed ADL and other pro-Zionist organizations that any criticism of Israel is antisemitic and thus a hate crime.

As a mirror image, criticism of Hamas and the Palestinian authority is not indicative of of a hate crime committed against all Muslims or those who are ethnically Palestinian.

Many Jews claim to be threatened by any mention of “from the river to the sea”, any carrying of the Palestinian flag or wearing of Palestinian keffiyahs. Let’s contemplate that.

As a mirror image and given the facts that 56,000+ indigenous Arabs have been slaughtered in Gaza and ridiculous amounts of violence by squatters and the IDF continue in the West Bank a question should be answered. If Jews feel threatened per my above paragraph, shouldn’t Muslims and especially those of Palestinian ethnicity be even more threatened by the reality that Israel is clearly pursuing a “from the river to the sea” strategy (it insanely just approved another 22 squatter settlements in the West Bank), sees people in the U.S. marching under the flag of Israel and wearing yarmulkes?

Perhaps we can agree that there has been a big uptick in hate crimes against both Jews and Muslims/indigenous Palestinian Arabs, even while we reject the proposition that criticism of Israel or Hamas is in itself a hate crime?

I’ve have carefully reviewed the things that Mamdani has said about Palestine and none of it threatens Jews in NYC or comes anywhere close to being a hate crime.

Hopefully you’ll read this excellent piece in today’s NY Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/opinion/jews-zohran-mamdani.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

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Dan Nelson's avatar

I agree with every one of your sentiments. Thank you for sharing them.

The reason I asked about you being called a Zionist and sounding offended by that is that if you are indeed a Zionist I’d think it’s a badge you would want to openly wear. As with anyone who has an extraordinarily high commitment to a distant foreign country, you will likely be exposed to criticism for that by some. It comes with the territory.

If you want a mirror image example just look at the frankly hysterical and racist attacks on Mamdani since he was the Democratic primary election for mayor in New York. They are all over Substack. The reason for the insults and panic is that Mamdani has indicated that the indigenous Arabs of Palestine should have the right of self determination and free of the scourge of ethnic preferences and land theft. So it isn’t only Zionists who get criticized. As I said, it comes with the territory.

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Csb's avatar

I recommend the 4 hour hearing at the City Council from December about Judge Lipman’s report on CUNY. I have listened to it and it formed and informed my opinions. Please reach out if you can make time to listen to it and would like to discuss it. Otherwise you might be repeating heresay and you sound too intelligent and informed to want to do that.

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MissMU's avatar

New Yorkers need look no further than Toronto and London, two formerly great cities circling the drain, thanks to their incompetent, radical mayors.

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Guy Valmont's avatar

American Jews and their love affair with socialism is pathological.

They are supporting their own destruction.

Oh, well…

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Mike's avatar

Sorry to report.

The same jews that occupied kibutzes sitting directly on their savage murderers borders...are the same ones voting for islamists. Go figure.

Its a contradiction that flies in the face of any sanity.

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Csb's avatar

Those Israelis believe in peaceful co-existence. Some of them were brutally massacred because of that belief. I hope we continue to defend it. The US was founded on those principals.

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Mike's avatar

The USA was founded in freedom from a monarchy. Living on top of people who live, breath, and exist to murder you is not co-existence.

Its suicidal.

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