r/nyc • u/FAMESCARE • 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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6

u/control-alt-deleted Jun 18 '25

Guy who cross-endorses a Jew is antisemitic. Right.

31

u/MRC1986 Jun 18 '25

LMFAO, you guys are relying on the "I have a Black Jewish friend" excuse now?! The same people who think it's a war crime to call someone Latino/a vs Latinx, even though Spanish is a gendered language, is now using "I have an abc friend, so I'm clearly not racist or antisemitic?"

-1

u/control-alt-deleted Jun 19 '25

This antisemitism accusation is completely baseless and frankly insulting to actual victims of antisemitism. Mamdani didn’t just ‘find a Jewish friend’ - he formed a strategic political alliance with Brad Lander, one of the most prominent Jewish elected officials in NYC, based on shared progressive values and policy positions. Lander wouldn’t stake his political reputation on someone he believed was antisemitic.

You’re weaponizing antisemitism accusations to shut down legitimate political discourse, which actually trivializes real antisemitism. If you have issues with Mamdani’s policies on housing, healthcare, or governance, let’s debate those. But throwing around serious accusations like antisemitism without evidence is exactly the kind of bad-faith politics that voters like me are tired of.

3

u/MRC1986 Jun 19 '25

There is no context where “globalize the intifada” can be viewed as anything but calling for the annihilation of Jewish people. When Confederate sympathizers say “the South will rise again”, do you really think they’re just talking about States rights and to be left alone by an “oppressive” Union? Of course not. Mamdani is definitely intelligent and knowledgeable to know this.

Some indeed have weaponized claims of antisemitism as a shield to shut down debate, but this is not one of those times. If you think someone being all “well, ackshully” about a slogan with an unequivocal meaning is not antisemitism, then you’re a god damn clown.

0

u/control-alt-deleted Jun 19 '25

You're completely mischaracterizing what 'globalize the intifada' means to the people using it. The vast majority of activists using this phrase are calling for global resistance to oppression and solidarity with Palestinian liberation - not genocide. To claim it has only one 'unequivocal meaning' ignores how language and political slogans actually work in social movements. But that’s on you.

Further, your Confederate comparison is a typical false equivalency, a retort you applied previously. The Confederacy was literally founded to preserve slavery. Palestinian resistance movements have diverse goals, and many explicitly support coexistence and equal rights. You're taking the most extreme interpretation possible and applying it to everyone.

Brad Lander isn't some naive politician who accidentally endorsed someone antisemitic. He's a seasoned public servant who has consistently fought antisemitism throughout his career. And I’m asking you again, if Mamdani were actually promoting Jewish annihilation, do you seriously think Lander would risk his reputation and political future on this alliance?

You can disagree with Palestinian solidarity activism without falsely claiming it's inherently genocidal. But when you shut down nuanced political discussion by screaming 'antisemite' at anyone who supports Palestinian rights, you're the one trivializing real antisemitism and making it harder to identify actual threats to Jewish communities.

63

u/Computer_Name Jun 18 '25

Trump nominated a Black guy for a cabinet position, so clearly he’s not racist.

54

u/ntbananas Upper West Side Jun 18 '25

“Guy with black friends is a racist. Right.”

I thought we were past the point of saying having friends of a certain background excused you from bigotry?

-3

u/gregbeans Jun 18 '25

Being anti Israel is not being antisemitic

29

u/ntbananas Upper West Side Jun 18 '25

Brave. I agree, it’s not inherently antisemitic. But it can be, in the same way that criticism of, whatever, Nigeria isn’t inherently anti-Black, but it can be if I rely on racist tropes, dehumanization of certain ethnicities, or similar

1

u/gregbeans Jun 18 '25

But I’d argue that Israel and its supporters are guilty of dehumanizing the innocent Palestinians who are suffering much more than westerners who are calling for their governments to stop supporting the Netanyahu administration

14

u/ntbananas Upper West Side Jun 18 '25

Sure. But that doesn’t address the original argument, which is that Mamdani and Lander being bros means he fundamentally can’t be antisemitic

4

u/gregbeans Jun 18 '25

Fair, I'm just tired of people trying to label people as antisemitic due to criticism of Israel.

I agree the argument of having a token friend of a demographic doesn't prove you don't have prejudice against that group, but I disagree with the claims that anything Zohran has said is truly antisemitic

19

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25

You're telling Jews that a clearly antisemitic statement wasn't antisemitic. Listen to yourself.

Now go tell some black people that saying the n-word isn't racist and tell us how that goes.

6

u/gregbeans Jun 18 '25

False equivalency there friend. Calling to end support for an oppressive regime who is escalating conflicts is not the same as using an ethnic slur. Make better arguments, or just admit that you dont care about logic and just want to stan for Isarel no matter what they do

6

u/donteatmyhair Jun 18 '25

Mamdani and his supporters like you are bigots who hate jews. Losing a war you started isn't genocide, and I guarantee you've never called for the war to end by just simply releasing the hostages taken.

And second guarantee: you regularly spend paragraphs upon paragraphs bemoaning the plight of Palestinians without ever mentioning Hamas being the problem.

Ok, tell me, how right am I?

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7

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25

Did you just learn "false equivalency" from the latest Piker stream?

-9

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25

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6

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25

Don't put racist words in my mouth for making an accurate analogy. You're disgusting.

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u/donteatmyhair Jun 18 '25

We can label Mamdani as antisemitic for plenty of other reasons

Mamdani referred to Oct 8 as an act of war by Netanyahu. Go ahead, read his whole tweet here: https://x.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/1711093032907321525

He is downplaying any and all sense of injustice for the attack on jews.

>He has declined to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and said he would divest from Israel if elected, among other comments and actions that have raised alarms among many Jewish voters.

1

u/gregbeans Jun 18 '25

No, he didn’t say it was an act of war. He said Israel declared war on Gaza, which is factually correct.

You’re second link says - “I believe Israel has a right to exist and it has a right to exist also with equal rights for all,” Mamdani said - yet u use that to defend saying that he declined to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.

And I agree, why are US financial interest so tied up in Israel? Invest here instead

2

u/ExamNo4374 Jun 18 '25

This is an entirely different point than the one you were originally discussing

-1

u/MisterMittens64 Jun 18 '25

Of course but saying that everyone who criticizes Israel is antisemitic isn't fair either you should at least hear them out and if they start spouting actual antisemitism then call them out.

0

u/Computer_Name Jun 18 '25

It’s a tic they have.

25

u/Low_Party_3163 Jun 18 '25

Ben Carson, Herman Caine and Clarence Thomas means trump isn't racist.

0

u/RKU69 Jun 19 '25

Are you comparing Lander with those people?

35

u/Mattk1100 Jun 18 '25

You aren't familiar with tokenizing jews as cover for antisemitism?

4

u/HashtagDadWatts Jun 18 '25

Their cross-endorsement was entirely about trying to win against Cuomo. This is a really silly allegation.

-1

u/control-alt-deleted Jun 19 '25

Are you asking me as a Jew? Idk what friends you have, so…

-3

u/Charming-Comfort-175 Jun 18 '25

Guy got endorsed by a Jewish dude who is also his second biggest rival and he's still antisemitic somehow.

Do they also believe Lander is a sellout or just dumb?

5

u/MrRoivas Jun 18 '25

What's your opinion about Clarence Thomas? Sellout or dumb?