How low the bar has fallen if it’s a good sign that Mamdani condemns a swastika. It’s a part perverse pattern.
I.
Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor of New York City on Nov. 4. That night, two red swastikas are painted on Magen David Yeshivah in Brooklyn. Mamdani says:
“This is a disgusting and heartbreaking act of anti-Semitism and it has no place in our beautiful city. As mayor, I will always stand steadfast with our Jewish neighbors to root the scourge of anti-Semitism out of our city.”
Forget for a moment that it is Mamdani himself who has stoked the scourge of anti-Semitism by denying Jews the right to their homeland and thus denying hundreds of thousands of New York Jews the legitimacy of their passion for Israel, including, in countless cases, for their own children, parents and other relatives living in Israel.
What kind of courage does it take for the mayor (or mayor-elect) of a major American city to condemn a swastika? Yet, this is taken as evidence of the good will of Zohran Mamdani.
Nazism? That’s the bar now for what cannot pass as acceptable? But anything else not so low as Nazism is OK?
“Globalize the intifada” is OK?
It’s not a gas chamber, so it’s tolerable?
Mamdani now “discourages” the use of “Globalize the intifada” — that’s a good sign? Mamdani does not condemn “Globalize the intifada.” There have been two Palestinian intifadas, one beginning in 1987 and one in 2000, and they had one agenda item: the murder of Jews in Israel.
Mamdani only “discourages” the use of “Globalize the intifada.” But he does condemn a swastika — that’s the bar above which all else seems to be acceptable to him.
How drastic the discourse in New York City has dropped — and elsewhere in the country, too.
How low the expectations have fallen.
II.
How perverse is the pattern when the lowest of the low is deemed worthy of gratitude.
It’s not just Mamdani. We are told that we are to take heart from the fact that criticism of Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts flowed fast and furious after his characterization of Jewish critics of Tucker Carlson as a “venomous coalition” — this, after Carlson hosted Hitler admirer Nick Fuentes.
Robert’s critics tell us to be grateful because, they say, the likes of Rep. Ilhan Omar — and Zohran Mamdani — draw no parallel excoriation on the political left, unlike the political right, which criticizes Tucker Carlson and Kevin Roberts.
Those in the Democratic Party who tolerate the likes of Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib and of Jamal Bowman (reportedly in line for a top position in the Mamdani administration) shame the long pro-Israel tradition of the Democratic party and bring harm to the Jewish people.
That said, it is hardly a cause for gratitude when voices in the Republican Party speak up against Roberts. What is the main point here? The deep descent into anti-Semitism by a new and large segment of the political right, including perhaps the most listened to podcaster in America (Carlson) and his influential ally (Roberts), or the fact that they elicit criticism?
No less a Republican leader than Sen. Ted Cruz says that the anti-Semitism problem on the religious right runs far deeper than a couple of high profile figures like Carlson and Fuentes. Cruz warns of a tectonic shift away from support for Israel in parts of the religious right, who have up to now emerged as the largest and most consistent supporter of Israel in the US. No cause for gratitude here.
III.
More in the perverse pattern: the gratitude that people of good will everywhere share in the return of the last hostages from Gaza — their corpses, that is.
Hadar Goldin was held for more than 11 years. Now he is finally home. Now a level of relief for his parents, family, friends and for all who mourned the obscene political use to which his body was put by Hamas.
What is the main point here? That Goldin’s body was returned or that he was kidnapped and murdered in the first place?
The same question pertains to every dead hostage that Hamas returned. The main point is not the return, it is the kidnapping and the murder.
Against this perverse pattern of gratitude for developments that never should have happened is moral clarity. It’s not just the return of the corpse, it’s the murder. It’s not just the critique of Carlson and Roberts, it’s the widening vein of hate they represent. It’s not just the condemnation of the swastika, its the distortion of Israel and of Jews who support Israel that generate the swastika.
© IJN 2025
