Preserving American Values

About a month ago, Bret Stephen wrote an op-ed piece in The New York Times titled, “Why Mamdani Scares Jews.” I have a problem with Stephen’s perspective and scare tactics.

To be anti-Zionist is not the same as being antisemitic.  As a Jew, while I fully support the State of Israel and the necessity of its establishment, I cannot overlook the basic facts of the situation.  Jews took land that had been in the hands of Arabs (Palestinians) for generations, and they are continuing in that tradition in the West Bank. I am not a Zionist.

Israel is a democracy, but it is a flawed one.  Its Palestinian citizens have always been second-class citizens. 

In not supporting Israel as a “Jewish state,” Mamdani is not alone. When Israel passed the 2018 law defining it as “a nation-state of the Jewish people,” the vote in the Israeli legislature was 62-55.  It can be a homeland for Jews without being a “Jewish state.”  Mamdani is not against the existence of Israel.

What would Jews think if Congress passed a bill recognizing the United States as a Christian state, since Christianity is the religion of the majority (64%) of U.S. citizens?    

Stephens cites persecuted people whom Mamdani has not been moved to help, but none of those were people whose land was taken from them.  Rather they are persecuted as minorities everywhere have been persecuted.

To write his article is to support the myth that because Mamdani is Muslim and has spoken out against Israel as a Jewish state, Jews in New York City should be scared.  Mayor Eric Adams was even more irresponsible when he said on a recent trip to Israel that Jews in the city had reason to be fearful of their safety under Mamdani.  

Mamdani’s remarks disapproving the State of Israel as a Jewish state has absolutely nothing to do with his regard and respect for Jews and his strong feelings against antisemitism.  As a victim of of Islamophobia, he has a keen sensitivity to the problem of antisemitism.

As a Jew, I feel it is important to say that whether it’s Trump or Stephens or Adams—to conflate being against current policies of the State of Israel or it’s being a “Jewish” state with being antisemitic is false and is pandering to the Jewish vote.  Those feelings might coexist, but often do not. That is certainly the case with Mamdani.