Often in the world of politics, if someone is sympatico with another person, the two will publicly demonstrate their friendship and support each other. If two people are in disagreement and see the world from different points of view, no matter what the person does will be loathed by the other. Then there are the unsubstantiated stories that begin to ruminate to destroy a persons’ goals and mission in government. These reasons are why many people stay away from politics. It is just too messy for many who want a peaceful life without having to explain and counteract rumors.
One such situation are the members of the state Senate and Assembly who align with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Some are closeted working behind the scenes and others are outspoken.
One of the most outspoken members of the DSA is Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a New York City mayoral hopeful looking to unseat incumbent Mayor Eric Adams. Mamdani is one of 11 candidates running on the Democratic line while Mayor Adams is one of two hopefuls running as an independent. On the Republican line is Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.
Adams has no name for his nascent independent bid but it has been reported to be a public safety-focused line. The deadline to submit the necessary 3,750 valid signatures was Tuesday, May 27, after the print deadline for The Jewish Press. Candidates are often advised to secure three times the minimum number of signatures in case the petitions are challenged by an opponent or any citizen.
Former Governor Andrew Cuomo is leading the pack of candidates in the polls with numbers in the mid-40 percent range. Mamdani is coming in a distant second with less than 15 percent support. If a candidate does not achieve 50 percent of the vote on primary day, June 24, there is a runoff between the two top vote-getters, under the rules of rank-choice voting. Early voting begins June 14.
Mamdani admits to being a staunch critic of Israel and supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against the Jewish state, even leading “BDS!” chants at a 2021 pro-Palestinian rally. Jewish civil rights groups such as the Anti-Defamation League brands the BDS movement as antisemitic for seeking to undermine Israel.
In an interview with Mamdani, he told The Jewish Press, “I don’t think I could consider myself pro-Israel until Israel stops engaging in practices and policies of genocide, apartheid and occupation. The reduction often times of politicians of either being pro-Israel or pro-Palestine makes it seem as if the motivation tied to an identity erases the motivation that is tied to humanity. What is also so deeply concerning for me is that Palestinians are assumed to be terrorists unless proven otherwise.”
Mamdani, a Democrat from Astoria, Queens, was born in Kampala, Uganda, and he married Rama Duwaji earlier this year. He is Muslim, practicing the Shia branch of Islam. He is front and center of the Not on our Dime campaign in an effort to prevent the state Comptroller from investing pension funds in charities based in Israel or charities that support Israel.
“It is legislation that responds to a substantive issue that New York state charities send upwards of up to $60 million a year to Israeli settler organizations as well as units of the Israeli military. This phenomenon of $60 million a year is not one that is replicated in other states across the country at this scale,” Mamdani said. “This is unique to our state as it is a fact that for decades the political establishment of New York City and New York state have actively sought to cultivate a very strong relationship with Israel. My belief that New York charities should not fund war crimes comes from an opposition to war crimes not a position that is borne out of Israel’s engagement first and foremost. I think that it is seeking to create an end to this exception.”
Mamdani said he is strongly opposed to New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s purchase of $20 million in additional Israel Bonds as a sign of New York state’s support for the state of Israel.
“I opposed his decision because he did so after it was described by U.N. experts that Israel is engaging in a conduct of collective punishment. To purchase $20 million in bonds to support a government that has recently been described as engaging in a war crime sends the wrong message from New Yorkers and New York,” Mamdani said. “I use these examples to showcase the depth of the relationship across different political strata, whether it be a city council, state government or the federal government.”
Mamdani’s view opposing financial assistance for Israel drew ire from one member of the Assembly.
“Perhaps the most concerning part [as to his] stance on Israel is his comparison of Israel’s actions to apartheid and genocide. His opposition to U.S. financial support for Israel demonstrates a level of ignorance that distorts the realities of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. These are not simply political disagreements. They are reflections of deeply problematic and, frankly, dangerous antisemitic rhetoric that has no place in modern discourse,” Assemblyman Ari Brown (R – Cedarhurst, Nassau County), told The Jewish Press. “The DSA’s condemnation of Israel as an apartheid state is a gross oversimplification and misrepresentation of a very complex geopolitical situation. Israel, a democratic nation surrounded by hostile forces, has the right to defend itself against terrorism and threats to its sovereignty. To equate Israel’s defensive actions with apartheid or genocide is both misleading and inflammatory. In fact, it is often the extreme left and socialist movements that have historically targeted Jews. This rhetoric should raise serious concerns about the true motivations behind such statements.”
Assemblyman Daniel Norber (R – Great Neck, Nassau County) told The Jewish Press, “Socialists spend what capitalists make. It’s very simple, you are either on the side of Israel, the only democratic country in the Middle East, a defender of democratic western values or you are on the side of Hamas. There is no middle ground here. Anybody who doesn’t appreciate and understand the fight Israel needs to fight, should go live in either Iran, Syria, West Bank or Gaza for a few days and see how they feel afterwards. I’m sure they will prefer Tel Aviv.”
Norber objected to another point made by Mamdani:
“A person who says [calls Israel an apartheid state] clearly has never been to Israel. In Israel, Muslims are an equal part of society. They work together every day with Jews as doctors, professors and politicians. If you give a Muslim in Israel the option to live anywhere else in the Middle East, you can bet that they know that there is no place better for them than Israel.”
Norber, 45, is a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces. He entered the IDF at age 17 as a lone soldier and served as a staff sergeant in the military police. He was raised in Ra’anana, Israel. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in government, diplomacy and strategy from Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel. His grandparents survived the Holocaust, and his mother escaped Communism in the Soviet Union. He moved back to New York in 2001.
The anti-Mamdani faction particularly objects to the Not on our Dime legislation.
“This legislation is an attempt to demonize Israel and to demonize the Jewish nation. I really believe so. The legislation is anti-Israel,” Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny (R – Seagate, Brooklyn) told The Jewish Press. “I have about 45 to 50 relatives in Israel. Israel is very close to my heart. This is a political situation where people are trying to gather other people to do what we call community organizing based on hate, not love. Based on hate towards others. I’ve been there. I know what it is. I came here from Russia at the age of 31. Half my life I was living in the Soviet Union where they couldn’t even feed their own people. They were blaming others, primarily the United States of America. It’s happening now in Russia again. They are getting haters around them.”
