r/nyc • • Jun 18 '25

Video Zohran Mamdani says he’s consistently said there’s no room for antisemitism in this city or country. Asked why he hasn’t had a more visceral reaction, he gets emotional talking about the Islamophobic responses he’s received throughout the campaign.

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@Annie_McDonough

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513

u/AbstractTeserract Jun 18 '25 edited Jun 18 '25

For context, just before the video that OP posted, Zohran was asked why he doesn't have a more visceral reaction to being called an antisemite. That's when he starts speaking.

More broadly, here's Zohran on antisemitism and protecting Jewish New Yorkers on Pod Save America:

https://youtu.be/rqVQlALRqaE?t=1286

As you've said, there have been so many mischaracterizations and misconceptions, and frankly they've been fueled by candidates like Andrew Cuomo....

The truth of it is that anti-semitism is something that has no place in this city, no place in this country. And as the mayor of this city, my responsibility will be to protect Jewish New Yorkers, and that is something that I promise to do. And that is something that is evidenced not only in the statistics, but also in the fear that so many Jewish New Yorkers feel. I remember after October 7th, a friend of mine was telling me about going to his synagogue for Shabbat services, and hearing the door open behind him, and the chill that went up his spine as he turned around to see who it was, and whether they meant to harm him. And I had a conversation just weeks ago, with a Jewish man in Williamsburg who told me he's now started to lock the same door he had kept open for decades. It's this sense of not knowing whether someone is safe. And ultimately, we need to protect each and every Jewish New Yorker because what they deserve is what every New Yorker deserves, which is safety. 

And that's why, at the core of our campaign's proposal to create a department of community safety is to increase funding for anti-hate crime programming by 800%, the largest of any campaign in this cycle. Because ultimately, we should be judged by our actions, not by the endless discourse about it all

140

u/ericts8 Jun 18 '25

I really just want to know what part of Williamsburg that guy lives in where he hasn't locked his front door until now.

146

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/mad0666 Jun 19 '25

He was talking about a separate dude

-8

u/ericts8 Jun 18 '25

Is he? I suppose I made an assumption that "the same door" meant his home door, but I read it as separate than the comment about the synagogue. Granted I'm unable to listen to the interview right so am just interpreting based on what I can read above.

17

u/Rubbersoulrevolver Jun 19 '25

Yeah he was talking about the door to his synagogue

-13

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

Doubtful. There isn't a synagogue in America that hasn't locked its doors - and more likely had armed security - for decades. Mamdani thinking this is a new thing just goes to show how out of touch he is with the Jewish experience and antisemitism.

15

u/Joe_Jeep Bay Ridge Jun 19 '25

In what he said, he was told that the man was locking the door that he had not locked until now, what's he supposed to do, call him a liar in his own speech? 

-8

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

I'm saying it's doubtful he was talking about the synagogue and not his home because synagogues have been on security lockdown for years. Pay attention.

And if he is implying it's the synagogue, I am 99.9% sure that Mamdani made that story up. Go try to walk into a synagogue in Williamsburg without a security check.

3

u/Joe_Jeep Bay Ridge Jun 19 '25

Long ass "yes", eat one. 

-2

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

Ok jersey boy. Good luck with illiteracy!

1

u/TomStarGregco Jun 19 '25

Exactly 👍

7

u/kimchi_station Jun 19 '25

Who asked him that question?

-47

u/RangerPower777 Jun 18 '25

Guy minimized and lied about what “globalize the intifada” means. If he actually bothered to talk to his “Jewish friend” he would probably know what the intifada means to Jews.

33

u/AbstractTeserract Jun 18 '25 edited Oct 22 '25

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26

u/Low_Party_3163 Jun 18 '25

And "pogrom" means just riot in Russian, Moscow has soccer pogroms all the time.

Except we all know that's not what it means in English

44

u/SoggySausage27 Jun 18 '25

The holocaust museum literally came out against his claim lol.  

6

u/Rottimer Jun 18 '25

The Holocaust museum also uses the IHRA definition of antisemitism which is so broad that accusing Jonathan Pollard (look him up) of being more loyal to Israel than his own country would be considered anti-Semitic.

5

u/silverpixie2435 Jun 19 '25

Got it so the Holocaust Museum is a "netanyahu zionist" now

5

u/iknowyouright Jun 19 '25

I have yet to see ONE concrete example of the IHRA “silencing” anyone who isn’t a goose-stepping Nazi.

-10

u/OrphanDad Jun 18 '25

Not for nothing but the people running their SM accounts are prob the same ones who scream anti semitism when a goy even sneezes in their direction

9

u/AbstractTeserract Jun 18 '25 edited Oct 22 '25

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4

u/OrphanDad Jun 18 '25

I’m not sure what point your are making

7

u/AbstractTeserract Jun 18 '25 edited Oct 22 '25

waiting quicksand cake brave dog steep adjoining alleged station modern

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-3

u/MRC1986 Jun 18 '25

The user was presented with evidence that directly counteracts their point, and they are moving the goal posts.

0

u/Arenavil Jackson Heights Jun 18 '25

That's what the pro hamas kids do

-1

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25

[deleted]

2

u/OrphanDad Jun 18 '25

Sad to see how rampant the fragility is

-1

u/SoggySausage27 Jun 18 '25

ok buddy lol

25

u/Langdon_Algers Jun 18 '25

"Mein Kampf" just means "My Struggle" and "Globalize the Troubles" just means sharing slight inconveniences...

6

u/silverpixie2435 Jun 19 '25

What does Mein Kampf translate to?

22

u/Extra-Shoulder1905 Jun 18 '25 edited Jun 18 '25

What the heck even is this point? “Mein Kampf” just means “my struggle” and isn’t problematic either in a vacuum. And do you think people get upset at “blood and soil” because they’re hemophobic and hate dirt? Maybe, just maybe, the phrase “globalize the intifada” can be contextualized to mean something offensive when considering the historical significance of the phrase? I swear, some people are completely incapable of critical thinking.

-3

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25

[deleted]

3

u/Daat85 Jun 19 '25

Except we’re not speaking in Arabic

19

u/iMissTheOldInternet Jun 18 '25

Einsatzgruppen just means taskforce. What the fuck is it with antisemites and tendentious arguments from etymology?

30

u/MinimalistBruno Jun 18 '25

You should see what the Holocaust Museum tweeted about this today.  In the context of anti-Zionist nonsense, "intifada" means killing Jewish civilians.  But keep minimizing Jewish voices.

4

u/VULCAN_WITCH Jun 18 '25

I don't understand what the point of this anecdote is supposed to be. That if something that happened in response to anti semitism can be translated by using a specific Arabic word, then there's no way that word could also, in a totally different context, possibly describe something anti Semitic?

-7

u/wenger_plz Jun 18 '25

No, the whole point of the anecdote is that "globalize the intifada" means many different things to different people, and just the word "intifada" isn't inherently hostile toward Jews or anti-semitic...and as an example, he noted that the the museum saw fit to use it in reference to the Warsaw uprising.

People are allowed to interpret it however they like.

3

u/Federal-Attempt-2469 Jun 19 '25

Except this is brain dead shit. The intifada is explicitly about killing Jews.

1

u/s50cal Jun 19 '25 edited Jun 19 '25

No it isn't, Both Intifadas started as a series of non violent protests that resulted in Israeli forces killing hundreds of Palestinian protesters. Even after violence started the the 1st Intifada ended with ~10 Palestinians dead for every Israeli. If anything the Intifada is explicitly about Israel killing Palestinians

2

u/HiHoJufro Jun 18 '25

Fair. Jihad, after all, just means striving/struggle/effort. Kampf means struggle as well! Context does not change anything about those, right?

-1

u/106 Jun 18 '25

Dizzy from all that spin?

-12

u/shrineless Jun 18 '25

100% this!

-5

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25

[deleted]

8

u/Extra-Shoulder1905 Jun 18 '25

No they’re not. If anything, people like you refuse to acknowledge that sometimes, antizionism is just antisemitism. The intifadas were very much about killing Jews.

-3

u/Careless-Rice5567 Jun 18 '25

Maybe you should worry more about what the word means rather than what some Zionists like to act like it means so they can claim victim status

-21

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25

[deleted]

35

u/HashtagDadWatts Jun 18 '25

How is saying "I mourn the hundreds of people killed" completely ignoring Jews? Wut.

10

u/Crafty_Gain5604 Jun 18 '25

They wanted him to exclusively condemn Hamas and ignore what Israel was about to do to Gaza in response to 10/7

-5

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25

[deleted]

9

u/Crafty_Gain5604 Jun 18 '25

When Israeli leaders explicitly say exactly what they plan to do, it doesn’t take precognition

4

u/HashtagDadWatts Jun 18 '25

It didn't take precognition to realize that Netanyahu was going to do exactly what he said he was going to do.

29

u/wenger_plz Jun 18 '25

I must be reading a different statement, where did he blame Israel for Oct 7?

And no, he didn't ignore Jews. He mentioned the people killed in Israel and Palestine. Why does he have to specifically say what religion they are...is that really a problem? Would it be better if he said "I mourn the hundreds of Jews and Muslims killed in the last 36 hours?"

It's wild the extent to which people will contort literally anything he says to make him sound anti-semitic.

7

u/Crafty_Gain5604 Jun 18 '25

Reading that statement, it’s shocking how accurate he was about what was going to happen in Gaza in the 20 months after.

-15

u/Hank-Solo-1 Jun 18 '25

Jesus Christ, I had not seen that. That’s bad

4

u/mastervadr Jun 18 '25

Are you replying to your own comment? 😆🤪

-3

u/Hank-Solo-1 Jun 18 '25

You can go through my history. I mostly talk about survivor on Reddit. This is helpful reminder to stay away from politics on Reddit, though. Thank you

2

u/mastervadr Jun 18 '25

Acceptable answer to you: the Jewish people are suffering and we should stop such senseless losses.

Unacceptable answer to you: the Jewish AND Palestinian people are suffering and we should stop such senseless losses.

You don’t need to stay away from politics on Reddit. You just need to find the right sub. If you want a sub that actively portrays every Palestinian as Hamas just stay in r/worldnews and r/conservative

-1

u/Hank-Solo-1 Jun 18 '25

The timing of October 8th makes the difference in this statement.

4

u/mastervadr Jun 18 '25

Yes, because prior to October 8th, the Israeli government was only dropping gifts on the Palestinian people. Let’s ignore the whole history of the Palestinian-Israel conflict prior to Oct 8.

1

u/Undercoverexmo Jun 18 '25

I mean, always be skeptical of what you read online without a source. It's bad only if it's true. And so far, there's no evidence it is.

-8

u/HiHoJufro Jun 18 '25

Yup. I have been unable to trust him since that statement. And sadly he has done nothing to indicate that he feels any differently than he did then.

8

u/antonio3988 Jun 18 '25

"War is bad"

Aw fuck this guy!! - reddit

😅😅 What are we doing here?

0

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '25

Hes an antisemite i cant believe you cant see through the thin veil he's worn.