Opposite Day
A message to my fellow New York City Jews
It had been decades since I attended the Salute to Israel Day parade; an annual event usually held in early June, to demonstrate support for the State of Israel. The last thing I want to do on a Sunday is stand around in the heat watching people traverse up Fifth Avenue or worse yet, march in the parade. So as soon as our youngest child graduated from high school and no longer marched, I stopped attending the parade and never looked back. My rationale: The parade was always well attended and they didn’t need me, on top of which I had better things to do.
That all changed on October 7, 2023. That’s the day I understood I have a responsibility as a Jew to show up when our people are threatened and do what I can, even if it is not a lot. Since then, I have marched in every parade proudly waiving my Israeli flag, and have jumped head first into the world of amateur Israel advocacy.
We live in an upside-down world: it’s like Opposite Day in kindergarten. The victims have become the criminals, good has become evil, and reason has been replaced with ideology. We are witnessing raw hatred directed right at us in real time. Jews have been gunned down in the streets, and attacked with fire-bombs. The State of Israel is being threatened in earnest with missiles and dehumanized with propaganda. There are still Jews, for whom we are all responsible, still sitting in the dungeons of Gaza going on two years. Yet thousands of people joined in a chant “Death to the IDF” last week: death to the army that protects Jews from people like them.
Speaking of kindergarten, among the most absurd turn of events post October 7 is the Democratic Party of New York City selecting Zohran Mamdani as its nominee in the upcoming mayoral election. This man- child candidate essentially ran on a platform of “Free Pizza and Beer for everyone!” His only plan for funding this largesse is to tax “rich people.” That so many voters in New York City took this candidate seriously, speaks volumes about the level of delusion that permeates New York City living.
Beyond his unserious policies, Mamdani is an antisemite. You want to call him an “anti-Zionist”? Fine, That means he believes that the Jewish people do not have the right to a state of their own. He has made clear that he does not believe Israel has a right to defend itself against the Palestinian terrorists who invaded Israel’s internationally recognized borders and perpetrated the most gruesome crimes against humanity in recent history. He believes that despite Israel’s 77 year existence, thriving economy and outsized contributions to global innovation, the right thing to do is allow Israel to become a Muslim caliphate.
Mamdani co-founded the chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Bowdoin college. SJP advocates for the dismantling of Israel, glorifies terrorism against Israelis as “resistance,” and has financial ties through its umbrella organization, the National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP), to Hamas.[1] He has attempted to whitewash the slogan “Globalize the Intifada” a phrase that has been linked to some of the most violent attacks on Jews, by falsely equating it with the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. [2]
The same people calling to “Globalize the Intifada” are attacking Jews in the streets, vandalizing synagogues and terrorizing Jewish students on college campuses. We know what “anti-Zionism” means for Jews in the diaspora: intimidation, marginalization, and violence.
If New York City elects a mayor who openly embraces these views, then it doesn’t matter what we call it. It means a growing number of our neighbors are prepared to be led by someone whose ideology fuels hostility toward Jews.
That we are even having this conversation is surreal. How can Mamdani be a serious candidate let alone the Democratic nominee or the mayor of New York City? He is 33 years old, has no work experience and fantastical policies with no execution plan other than to “tax rich people.”
It’s Opposite Day on steroids.
If Mamdani is elected, it sends the message loud and clear: New York City is ready to welcome an open antisemite into Gracie Mansion.
If you are a Jew living in New York who can live with this, then scroll on, and you deserve what is coming. For everyone else, we need to get out of our comfort zone and make some noise. Jews of NYC all need to show up at this parade even if we think we have better things to do, to prevent New York City from sinking into a morass of radical progressivism and Jew hatred.
How do we do this? Unite behind an alternative candidate as a bloc, even a candidate we don’t like, If we keep our heads down and carry on as usual, we may find New York City to be a hostile place to live.
So speak up. Donate. Volunteer. Vote. Rally your friends and neighbors. The future of Jewish life in New York City depends on it.
[1] May 3, 2024 “New Comprehensive Research Reveals Hamas-Linked Funding to Students for Justice in Palestine and Groups Growing Web of Influence Post October 7” Institute for the study of Global Antisemitism and Policy.
[2] Gilson, G. (June 19, 2925) “Mamdani laments criticism following his ‘globalize the intifada’ comments” Jerusalem Post
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-858242?utm
Outstanding essay, Dena
I was nodding my head reading every word you wrote. You captured the moment we’re in perfectly. I concur that we must unite because our future is at stake.