A Foreboding and Personal Reckoning
Democratic Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani reacts as his wife, Rama Duwaji, votes at The Frank Sinatra School of the Arts on November 4, 2025, in Queens, New York City. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Zohran Mamdani was just announced as the winner of New York’s mayoral election. Last night, as we waited for the voting results to come in, it was like watching a car accident—no, a car pileup about to happen that we couldn’t do anything about.
As a Jewish woman watching the political tides shift in New York, I feel a deep ache—a rupture in the sense of safety and belonging that generations before me fought to preserve. My mother’s wistful stories of childhood summers at Coney Island and Sheepshead Bay once symbolized joy, freedom, and community. But today, with the rise of rhetoric that normalizes antisemitism and erases Jewish history, I find myself asking: Will New York remain a sanctuary for Jews, or has Lady Liberty turned her gaze away? What will happen next?
A City of Refuge
New York has long been a haven for Jews. With 1.67 million Jews in New York state and 2.18 million Jews in the metro area, which includes some parts of major Jewish communities in places like Bergen County (NJ), Westchester (NY), Fairfield County (CT), and parts of Long Island, it holds the second-largest Jewish population in the world.
According to 2025GlobalStatistics.com, this extraordinary concentration reflects over three centuries of immigration, beginning with the arrival of 23 Sephardic Jews in New Amsterdam in 1654, and expanding dramatically during the Eastern European waves between 1880 and 1924.
I often wonder what might’ve happened if today’s ICE procedures had existed back then. Would Lady Liberty still stand proudly over Ellis Island, or would her skirts be tied in a knot, silencing Emma Lazarus’s iconic plea:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…
From Safe Haven to Political Battleground
Outside of Israel, New York City was our sanctuary. But calling Israel a “safe haven” feels bittersweet today, given the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war and the relentless threat of terrorism. Historically, in Israel, we were finally welcomed back again. In the U.S., New York was a place to call home. The future seems sadly uncertain.
Mamdani was not who I would choose. His antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric is unacceptable. Was the only other candidate possible Andrew Cuomo, who resigned as Governor of New York in August 2021 following multiple allegations of sexual harassment? Given the breadth of intelligence, dedication, morals, and compassion that I believe exists in New York and throughout the U.S. and the world, what happened?
Let me be clear: this isn’t Islamophobia. I support religious freedom for all—including Muslims. What I cannot support are Mamdani’s extreme anti-Zionist and antisemitic beliefs, which many Jewish leaders have condemned.
Mamdani has told us that he is anti-Israel and believes it should not exist as a Jewish state, supports B.D.S., describes Israel as committing genocide and functioning as apartheid, and describes Israel as a settler colonial project. Though Mamdani is not Palestinian by birth, he considers the Palestinian cause as “central to my identity.”
Free Speech and Moral Boundaries
However, I fully support Mamdani’s First Amendment right to express his beliefs, regardless of how controversial they may be. The allegations against Jeremy Fistel—accused of threatening Mamdani and his family—are reprehensible. If proven true, Fistel’s threats constitute terrorism and must be prosecuted accordingly.
My Work for Peace
I’ve worked on Peace between Israelis and Palestinians for the past eleven years, and for over 4½ years, I’ve interviewed Peace organizations on my PEACE with Penny vodcast. (Yes, I always capitalize Peace—it’s that important!) I have a fully stocked library of such interviews.
It may surprise some, but there are many organizations actively working toward Peace across the region—made up of both Israelis and Palestinians from every imaginable field: science advocacy, medicine, transportation, conservation, art, music, education, and sports. The list is vast, diverse, and deeply hopeful.
The Intifada and the Silence
Over 1,000 rabbis signed A Rabbinic Call to Action: Defending the Jewish Future, condemning Mamdani’s rhetoric and warning that it normalizes antisemitism and anti-Zionism.
Rabbi David Seth Kirshner stated, “Mamdani’s refusal to condemn Hamas and his use of the intifada slogan should disqualify him for any job.”
Mamdani’s refusal to denounce the slogan “Globalize the Intifada” is deeply troubling. For many Jews, “Intifada” evokes decades of suicide bombings, shootings, and stabbings—not Peaceful resistance. Mamdani defends the phrase as a form of solidarity with the Palestinian resistance. But when October 7th’s atrocities—gang rapes, beheadings, burning babies alive—are described as “resistance,” the word loses all moral meaning. That grotesque redefinition of “resistance” certainly isn’t in my Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary.
On October 8, 2023, the day after the Hamas attacks, Mamdani protested, “Netanyahu’s declaration of war, the Israeli government’s decision to cut electricity to Gaza, and Knesset members calling for another Nakba will undoubtedly lead to more violence and suffering.”
It took Mamdani two years to call those attacks “a horrific war crime,” conveniently timed with his mayoral campaign. His advocacy often speaks louder in what he omits than in what he says.
On October 7, 2025, after a brief acknowledgment of the atrocities committed on October 7, 2023—including those killed and held hostage—he continued:
“Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government launched a genocidal war… bombing homes, hospitals, and schools into rubble.”
He concluded:
“The occupation and apartheid must end. Peace must be pursued through diplomacy, not war crimes.”
Notably absent from his remarks was any mention of Hamas’s 350–450-mile tunnel network, used to shoot missiles at Israel, store, move, and make weapons, and hide hostages, while using children and civilians as human shields. If Israel seeks to eliminate Hamas, it must navigate a battlefield intentionally embedded within civilian infrastructure—where children, who make up 50% of Gaza’s population, are tragically placed in harm’s way by Hamas itself.
Core Beliefs Underpinning Mamdani's Advocacy
One of Mamdani’s foundational frameworks is the Settler Colonialism Paradigm. He consistently frames the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories as a form of settler colonialism.
In his keynote address at the first National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) conference in 2011, held at Columbia University, Mamdani stated:
“The Israeli state is a settler state. It is a state created by settlers who came from Europe and displaced the indigenous population. The conflict is not between two nationalisms, but between a settler colonial project and an indigenous resistance.”
This framing deeply insults Jews and erases millennia of Jewish history in the land of Israel. Jews have lived in the land of Israel for nearly 4,000 years, with continuous presence dating back to around 1900 BCE. This rich history encompasses ancient kingdoms, exiles, and returns, with Jerusalem serving as a spiritual and national hub.
I struggle to understand why he insists on recognizing Palestinians as indigenous while disregarding the Jewish people’s ancient and enduring connection to the same land. We’ve been exiled repeatedly—and always came back. Our desire to return and live in Eretz Israel is woven throughout our prayers.
The concluding words of Israel’s national anthem, ‘HaTikvah’ (‘The Hope’), summarize the yearning to return:
“The hope of 2000 years:
To live as a free people
In our own land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.”
— HaTikvah
Ideological Roots
Zohran Mamdani’s worldview appears shaped by close familial influence. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, a noted Palestinian scholar and Columbia professor was quoted as saying on X, formerly Twitter, “referring to the 2021 unrest as “the birth of the Third Intifada against settler colonialism.” He has controversially argued that the long-term security of a Jewish homeland in historic Palestine requires the dismantling of the Jewish state—a position he compares to the end of apartheid in South Africa.
One wonders whether the biblical phrase “the sins of the father…” applies here, suggesting children may echo or suffer the consequences of their parents’ beliefs.
Credentials and Credibility
According to the New York Post, Mamdani has admitted he’s a “nepo baby,” with limited work experience and a résumé that includes a cameo in a Disney film directed by his mother. He’s lived in subsidized housing, failed in artistic pursuits, and held only three years of employment before entering politics.
Yet this is the man poised to lead the largest, most complex city in the United States. Huh? The absurd is becoming normalized—and it’s no longer funny.
Fragmentation and Fear
So much of what Jews once saw as firm grounding now feels like quicksand. Israel’s existence continues to be threatened.
Jewish identity in the diaspora is fracturing; previously, it was tied to unwavering support for Israel. Younger and progressive Jews increasingly challenge Israeli policies, and liberal cultural spaces that once embraced Jewish voices now fall silent—or worse, condemn Israel without acknowledging Hamas’s atrocities.
In 2024, the ADL recorded 1437 antisemitic incidents in New York alone. In 2024, ADL tabulated 9,354 antisemitic incidents across the United States. This represents a 5% increase from the 8,873 incidents recorded in 2023, a 344% increase over the past five years, and a 893% increase over the past 10 years. It is the highest number on record since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents 46 years ago. The Israeli-Hamas War has been detrimental to the safety of all Jews in the world—not just Israelis.
A recent poll of 950 Jewish communal professionals found that only 25% often feel hopeful about the future. The most common concern? Internal communal division—there is so much fighting amongst our own tribe that we’ve missed the dangerous tidal wave once again aimed at wiping us off the map.
The Shattered Trust
No reflection would be complete without acknowledging the abject horror of the IDF’s delayed response on October 7th. Israelis believed the IDF would always protect them. That belief was shattered.
The Verdict is In
Mamdani was just announced as the winner. Will this scenario have a happier ending than seems possible? Time will tell, but as a people, we must be vigilant. Our future depends on it, and sadly, I believe that means literally.
Maya Angelou’s famous quote sums up an applicable warning:
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
Mamdani told us what he believes. The majority of New Yorkers are indifferent to his proclamations. As many Jews as there are in New York, we are still only 8 ½% % of New York’s total population. Without friends supporting us, there was no way that we could have stopped the boulder from running down the hill—hopefully, it won’t crush us. We’ve seen this scenario before, and it didn’t have a happy ending.
It seems unbelievable that we are here again in 2025. I know I sound like Chicken Little, but the sky is beginning to fall.
Friends, are you out there? We know you are busy, but we need your help. Please don’t look away. The next time you look again, you might see something that you can’t unsee forevermore.
May You Live in Peace, שלום and سلام. Amen.