Opinion: Part Three: Does the Democrat Nominee for NYC’s Mayor Promote Antisemitism?

Previously, I wrote two opinion pieces discussing whether Zohar Mamdani promotes antisemitic causes and ideas because I overheard someone saying they never heard Mamdani “say or stand for anything that is antisemitic.” You may ask, “Why is it necessary and important to examine whether Mamdani promotes antisemitic notions?” I’ll tell you. Mamdani is the Democrat Party nominee for the office of mayor of New York City, a major American city that has a significant population of Jews. If people vote for him out of ignorance of his record and beliefs, that is a shame. However, If people vote for him knowing his record and beliefs, knowing that he possibly deliberately promotes antisemitism, then it might be a good reason to stay out of NYC for the next 4 years.

The first article dealt with Mamdani’s support for BDS, a movement that calls for the destruction of Israel, certainly an antisemitic notion as the vast majority of Israeli citizens are Jews. The second article dealt with Mamdani’s support for the anti-Israel slogan “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,” a slogan that endorses replacing Israel with a majority Arab state named Palestine.  This means that Israel raison d’etre, to be an eternal place of refuge for Jews, will end. This article will discuss the third “pro-Palestinian” slogan that infers an antisemitic outcome; “globalize the intifada,” a concept that Mamdani has repeatedly refused to condemn.

There are certain slogans and visual symbols that strike a chord of fear and revulsion. It does not matter what the person uttering it, or posting it, says it means. We witnessed these phenomena years ago when those flying the flag of the Confederate States, a symbol that most reasonable adults link to racism and violence against Blacks, said that it represented “heritage, not hate.” However, most did not care what any one flyer of the flag said it meant. The symbolism was too obvious, and too clear, to ignore.

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) has this to say about “Globalize the Intifada”: It is a phrase used by pro-Palestinian activists that calls for aggressive resistance against Israel and those who support Israel. The most prominent expressions of intifada have been through violence, so this phrase is often understood by those saying and hearing it as encouraging violence against Israelis, Jews, and institutions supporting Israel, such as most synagogues. While the intent of each person saying this phrase may be different, the impact on the mainstream Jewish community remains the same.

The Center for Jewish Israeli Affairs has this to say: Calls to “Globalize the Intifada” are not calls for civil disobedience, general strikes, or negotiations. They are calls for the murder of Israelis and Jews around the world and must be taken seriously by governments and law enforcement agencies.

The ADL says, “(Globalize the Intifada) is widely seen as a direct call for indiscriminate violence against Israel and Jewish communities everywhere.”

Finally, in July, the US Congress introduced a bill condemning the phrase. Congressman yakym stated ““This is a term that calls for violence against Jews,” and “We cannot allow that this type of hate speech to go unchecked in our society.” The US Holocaust Memorial Museum issued a blistering repudiation of Mamdani’s comments, calling them “outrageous and especially offensive.”

The only update worth mentioning is that he promised his funders that he would “discourage” the use of the phrase, whatever that means.

Does Mamdani promote antisemitism? Not only am I a genocide scholar, I have also taken postgraduate courses in antisemitism. I know what the promotion of antisemitism is when I hear it and when I read it. Is Mamdani an antisemite? If I was a betting man…