By Bruce S. Ticker
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — Former New York state Assemblywoman Joan Millman got it right when she declared (The) “district needs a representative in City Hall who will put service over ideology and prioritize the needs of her constituents.”
Her statement was issued in the process of endorsing Maya Kornberg, a challenger to New York City Councilwoman Shahana Hanif in June 24’s Democratic primary. The Muslim incumbent’s take on the Oct. 7 (2023) massacre of 1,200 Jews: “The root cause of this war is the illegal, immoral and unjust occupation of the Palestinian people.”
So, Hanif believes that, even if true, justifies the Oct. 7 slaughter.
Nationwide, the Middle East debate has poisoned the mechanics of local governments which are already overwhelmed by concerns over transportation, housing, homelessness, health, education and so on. Yet foreign interference is becoming more and more pronounced in places as far afield as Boulder, Colorado; Portland, Maine; and Burlington, Vermont.
To my relief, my mayor – Cherelle Parker in Philadelphia – has wisely ignored the controversy.
In New York, a fact-free mayoral candidate – whose Israel-bashing is a family tradition – could impose himself on our most populous city if he wins the June 24 primary.
Last week, Zohran Mamdani stood out from eight other mayoral candidates with his confusing and dismissive responses about antisemitism during a lame debate.
He left blunt hints of his position when candidates were asked about President Trump’s intent to withhold federal money from New York City universities, especially Columbia, because of antisemitism. Most candidates offered a two-tier answer. They acknowledged the massive presence of antisemitism and lambasted Trump for exploiting antisemitism to support his withdrawal of funds.
Mamdani ignored the rise of antisemitism while expending his time to condemn Trump. He had ample notice to mention antisemitism since two candidates before him covered antisemitism.
At one point during the primary, he was running nine points behind Andrew Cuomo in polls of the race for the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City, population 8.4 million. Mamdani, 33, is a state assemblyman who represents Astoria and Long Island City in Queens. Cuomo resigned as governor amid accusations of sexual harassment.
If Mamdani prevails, he will be poised to win the general election on Nov. 4 in a city dominated by Democrats with the largest Jewish population in the nation, estimated at 1 million. He co-founded the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at Bowdoin College in Maine, a driving force behind the widespread protests on behalf of the Palestinians.
The New York Post reports that in the past Mamdani has called for supporting the economic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. He previously introduced the “Not On Our Dime Act” that would prohibit New York non-profits from financing any groups involved with West Bank settlements.
In the family-that-bashes-Israel etc. department, his father Mahmood Mamdani, an academic, told students in a speech at Columbia in 2014: “The Palestinian challenge is to persuade the Jewish population and the world…the longtime security of a Jewish homeland in historic Palestine requires the dismantling of the Jewish state.”
What if they cannot “persuade the Jewish population”?
The year before, Mamdani’s mother, the movie director Mira Nair, turned down an invitation to the Haifa International Film Festival as a “guest of honor” by explaining: “I will go to Israel when the walls come down. I will go to Israel when occupation is gone…I will go to Israel when the state does not privilege one religion over another. I will go to Israel when apartheid is over.”
She neglects to mention that more than 22 Muslim-dominated countries surrounding Israel do “privilege one religion over another.”
In Chicago, our third most populous city, Ishan Daya was caught on video in 2023 tearing down Israeli hostage posters, which came to light when he was an unsuccessful candidate for a local office. He was subsequently appointed by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to the Chicago Fiscal Sustainability Working Group.
Daya stepped down after Jewish organizations complained about Daya’s action, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports.
“The mayor seems determined to surround himself with people who peddle hate and division,” said city lawmaker Debra Silverstein, who represents a heavily Jewish neighborhood at Chicago’s northeastern edge. “His repeated disregard for the Jewish community is both painful and unacceptable. We deserve better.”
Johnson himself is deeply unpopular among voters citywide, and his appointment of Daya is the latest outrage for Chicago’s Jews, according to JTA. He backed an early resolution urging a ceasefire in Gaza, called Israel’s war against Hamas “genocidal” and wore a keffiyeh at an event to mark Arab Heritage Month. A keffiyeh, a traditional Palestinian headscarf, has emerged as a symbol of Arab defiance of Israel.
The mayor waited days last October before he would condemn the shooting of a Jewish man walking to synagogue in West Rogers Park, which is part of Silverstein’s constituency, and did not mention the man’s Jewish identity, JTA added.
Johnson is not up for re-election until 2027, so he has plenty of time to persist with these actions.
Daya claims he considered the poster’s wording to be “racist and dehumanizing.” The posters bore the names and photos of the 250 hostages seized by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Apologizing for his action, Daya said in a statement, “I understand that my actions in 2023 caused pain within some members of our Jewish community, and for that I am truly sorry. While I took issue with language on the poster that I felt was racist and dehumanizing toward Palestinians.
“I see that the act itself was hurtful to families longing for their loved ones’ return and I genuinely apologize. I’ve spent my career working across lines of difference, and anyone who has worked with me can attest to my deep opposition to antisemitism, hate and bigotry in all its forms.”
So the language on the poster justified tearing down the poster? How can we expect him to respond as a mature adult? After all, when it comes to recognizing “racist and dehumanizing” language, it does take one to know one, as they say.
It is too bad that Jews in Chicago must cope with a mayor who is insensitive to us for 2 ½ years, but must New York be saddled with a mayor that one million of its citizens cannot trust?
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Bruce S. Ticker is a Philadelphia-based columnist