Will the socialist, pro-intifada Mamdani make New York inhospitable for Jews? - opinion

This is New York, people. Yes, New York: the Jewish Mecca (pardon the wry association).

The largest Jewish community outside of Israel, with a million and a half Jews in greater New York, 21% of the entire Jewish population of the United States. For Jews, there’s nothing like it.

I was born in New York, and while our family moved to Chicago when I was but a young child, I still retain a deep love for the city. My father was a die-hard fan of the Yankees and would regale us with stories of sitting in the pinstripe dugout in 1927 between Ruth and Gehrig. He inculcated us with a love of Broadway, Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, and, most of all, America in all its glory.

But could the unthinkable, unimaginable really now be happening, God forbid?! Could an ultraprogressive, 33-year-old, unabashed pro-Palestinian seeker of global intifada, a Ugandan-Indian-Muslim socialist proponent of BDS, the darling of the “Israel is genocidal” crazies really be on the verge of taking a giant bite out of the Big Apple?

Though Cuomo and current mayor Eric Adams – an outspoken lover of Israel and friend of the Jewish community – are still in the race, Mamdani is expected to win the mayoral election. He has captured the fascination and touched the nerve of the young woke generation whose members love to focus on what they seemingly don’t have as they flash their “victimized, oppressed, and marginalized” card in demanding their piece of the Apple. Without paying, I should add. These are miscreant complainers who love free things, be it bus and train rides, college tuition, or rent-controlled apartments in the best parts of town.

And, of course, they rally around the Palestinian-Hamas-Iranian flags and see Israel as the epitome of racist, white-privileged (even the Ethiopian Jews, who somehow don’t qualify as “people of color”) monsters who personify everything that is wrong with society. They pretend to distinguish between Zionists and Jews, even as they seek the downfall of the Jewish state and the demise of the Jewish army, which keeps our Nazi-like enemies at bay.

What is unfolding right in front of our unbelieving eyes looks like the sequel to Sinclair Lewis’s brilliant, dystopian 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here, whereby a totalitarian dictator systematically takes over the US on a platform of instituting dramatic social and economic reforms. Lewis’s portrayal of a charismatic leader whose campaign promise to “share the wealth” ultimately brings bigotry, oppression, and financial disaster to the nation is suddenly chilling.

While this should certainly shake every good citizen of New York – and certainly Wall Street, which has much to lose – the Jewish community is dead center of the bull’s-eye. We are the enemy.

Forget about fair-weather friends of the Jews in the Democratic Party, people like Minority Leader Chuck Schumer – the self-appointed shomer (guardian) of his co-religionists. The opportunistic Dems smell a political uprising in the making, and they lust to be on that bandwagon. They know that eventually – even if Donald Trump’s regime reigns for another term or two – the wheel will turn and the Dems will make a comeback. And they want to be part of the in crowd when that happens.

There is a fascinating concept my friend Shimon recently brought to my attention called the Overton Window. It is a model that helps us understand how public opinion and political discourse evolve, and how ideas can move from being considered fringe to accepted as mainstream over time. Ideas that were once thought of as extreme and radical can become more acceptable – even become the norm – through various means such as public discourse, policy debates, and strident advocacy. Named after American policy analyst Joseph Overton, it proposes that in an open society, policies that start off as sensible and popular can morph into the unthinkable in the hands of a gifted leader.

What is perhaps most frightening is that virtually none of the perpetrators are brought to justice, fined, or put behind bars. As with the university “activists” who broke numerous laws and caused millions of dollars in damage during their tirades, there was essentially no enforcement, no penalties, no punishments. This sent the clear message that the haters could act with impunity and rampage at will. This will surely only get worse if and when Mamdani takes over the city.

And as the window of hate opens further, the damage will likely spread well beyond the city to the outlying Jewish outposts now considered “safe zones.” Monsey, the Five Towns, Scarsdale, Great Neck, et al. will need their own internal security forces to protect them.

Jewish schools, community centers, and restaurants – along with the synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses – are already experiencing antisemitic incidents. Children and adults now think twice when they display outright signs of Jewish – let alone Israeli – identity. Office workers dare not speak out in favor of the Israeli government; Jewish books are being pulled from bookstore shelves, and pro-Palestinian works are more prominently displayed.