A mayor who has increased funding by more than 800% to fight hate crimes amid rising antisemitism is being attacked for not sharing a stage with officials who have called for genocide and war crimes
Mainstream Media is blind, deaf & dumb. If Mayor Mamdani did attend the parade, they would condemn him for doing so. What i admired about his is the he is a man of conscience. He talks the talk, & walks the walk. To me, Mayor Mamdani is someone to be emulated for his embrace of ALL people! I must also point out your hysterical comment about CVS...Your humor is so spot-on! Your reporting is why I subscribe to you!
Mamdani is a politician choosing to do what is morally required when engaged in cognitive complexity. He cares more about doing the right thing than votes.
As for the media, part of the fascist handbook is just repeating lies. People even have to repeat lies in order counteract them.
The only way to shift the narrative is not to play the game: Go from defense to setting the agenda by not engaging in defense.
Mamdani knows this. What a breath of fresh air he is!
Quite a piece, very well done. In spite of the overall import, thoughtfulness, sobriety of it, “Call me CVS because I’m about to issue you some receipts” just cracked me up. Kudos. One of them, Amichai Eliyahu:
• Who called for nuking Gaza, after which “all of which Gaza will be Jewish.” This beyond his mental capacity to connect the dots that such deliberately, self-servingly, disingenuously, conflatingly appropirated expression of Jewishness per force results not in anti-Semitism, but utter disgust, revulsion, repugnance, thoroughly warranted?
• Israel’s Heritage Minister? Really? Israel’s, Zionism’s heritage, legacy, is that of genocide, unrestrained ruthlessness in pursuit of the project, of nihilism such that there is no reality other than itself. Israel/Zionism has contributed, exemplified nothing other than being an indelible stain on the human record.
Thank you for highlighting Libby Lenkinski’s (“reality-based” runs the risk of overuse, but fitting here) piece in Forward. Frankly I was getting tired with some of their commentary, in particular Jacob Kornbluh, Senior Political Reporter, whose shaded wording that “New York Jews are paramount” belies that his title should instead be Senior Partisan Reporter; and Arno Rosefeld, whose “Antisemitism Decoded” column is wearying as subject and tedious in exposition, especially in light of remarks such as those above from Eliyahu et al.
I appreciate you, Qasim Rashid, in so many ways. I feel a solidarity with you, for so many reasons. The intensification of MAGA aggression is caused by our failures in America to focus the human “big picture”. Instead as a group we had been more invested in our petty problems. MAGA has shown us that we must see the big picture and support humanity to survive. Solve humanity’s problems and your problems are also addressed.
Why do WE have an Israel Day celebration is the actual question? A Jewish heritage celebration - Yes. But a day for an another county is weird as hell.
Very well illustrated. Corporate media continues to roost among the top three terminal issues of our society. We are perpetually exposed to a unified narrative designed and delivered by the very same people and institutions actually responsible for the majority of our societal ills. Can't stress it enough: independent, capable, and **sincere** media/ voices are the foundation of our potential recovery as a people.
Corporate media feeds on their own manufactured controversies - like Mamdani refusing to stand with genocide advocates - because money & power. It's really that simple.
They REALLY want a return to the days when any criticism of Israel got you painted as a Jew-hater who was probably a secret KKK member.
But wrapping your religion around your country to try to ward off legitimate criticism just wears out your religion while doing nothing to protect your country.
I feel the single biggest thing driving antisemitism today (even if you discount the enlargement of the term) is the equating of speaking out against the actions of the government and military of Israel and antisemitism by zionist Christians and jews. By their definition, my father, who was a Germzn Jew who left Germany in 1935 would be antisemitic. By inaccurately defining being opposed to the atrocities being committed as being anti-Jewish, they are telling ill-informed people around the world that all Jews support these actions, and that the genocide is part of Judiasm. This is absolutely false, but no one should be surprised that if Israeli jews and their American supporters are effectively educating people that committing atrocities is part of being Jewish, some people will believe them.
Excellent article. I appreciate that you highlight the lack of progressive Jewish voices in mainstream media. Over the past few years, right wing Jews have dominated and been presented as speaking for all Jews. So misleading.
Mainstream Media is blind, deaf & dumb. If Mayor Mamdani did attend the parade, they would condemn him for doing so. What i admired about his is the he is a man of conscience. He talks the talk, & walks the walk. To me, Mayor Mamdani is someone to be emulated for his embrace of ALL people! I must also point out your hysterical comment about CVS...Your humor is so spot-on! Your reporting is why I subscribe to you!
This country needs more politicians like Mayor Mamdani. Hopefully we will soon elect one here in Michigan.
Mamdani is a politician choosing to do what is morally required when engaged in cognitive complexity. He cares more about doing the right thing than votes.
As for the media, part of the fascist handbook is just repeating lies. People even have to repeat lies in order counteract them.
The only way to shift the narrative is not to play the game: Go from defense to setting the agenda by not engaging in defense.
Mamdani knows this. What a breath of fresh air he is!
Quite a piece, very well done. In spite of the overall import, thoughtfulness, sobriety of it, “Call me CVS because I’m about to issue you some receipts” just cracked me up. Kudos. One of them, Amichai Eliyahu:
• Who called for nuking Gaza, after which “all of which Gaza will be Jewish.” This beyond his mental capacity to connect the dots that such deliberately, self-servingly, disingenuously, conflatingly appropirated expression of Jewishness per force results not in anti-Semitism, but utter disgust, revulsion, repugnance, thoroughly warranted?
• Israel’s Heritage Minister? Really? Israel’s, Zionism’s heritage, legacy, is that of genocide, unrestrained ruthlessness in pursuit of the project, of nihilism such that there is no reality other than itself. Israel/Zionism has contributed, exemplified nothing other than being an indelible stain on the human record.
Thank you for highlighting Libby Lenkinski’s (“reality-based” runs the risk of overuse, but fitting here) piece in Forward. Frankly I was getting tired with some of their commentary, in particular Jacob Kornbluh, Senior Political Reporter, whose shaded wording that “New York Jews are paramount” belies that his title should instead be Senior Partisan Reporter; and Arno Rosefeld, whose “Antisemitism Decoded” column is wearying as subject and tedious in exposition, especially in light of remarks such as those above from Eliyahu et al.
Thank you
I appreciate you, Qasim Rashid, in so many ways. I feel a solidarity with you, for so many reasons. The intensification of MAGA aggression is caused by our failures in America to focus the human “big picture”. Instead as a group we had been more invested in our petty problems. MAGA has shown us that we must see the big picture and support humanity to survive. Solve humanity’s problems and your problems are also addressed.
Why do WE have an Israel Day celebration is the actual question? A Jewish heritage celebration - Yes. But a day for an another county is weird as hell.
Very well illustrated. Corporate media continues to roost among the top three terminal issues of our society. We are perpetually exposed to a unified narrative designed and delivered by the very same people and institutions actually responsible for the majority of our societal ills. Can't stress it enough: independent, capable, and **sincere** media/ voices are the foundation of our potential recovery as a people.
Corporate media feeds on their own manufactured controversies - like Mamdani refusing to stand with genocide advocates - because money & power. It's really that simple.
“Call me CVS because I’m about to issue you some reciepts” bwah ha hahahahaha 🤣 I almost spit out my coffee
Excellent article. I've learned a lot reading about and watching Mayor Mamdani
Thank you for your enlightening synopsis of the mayor. He’s walks the walk.
They REALLY want a return to the days when any criticism of Israel got you painted as a Jew-hater who was probably a secret KKK member.
But wrapping your religion around your country to try to ward off legitimate criticism just wears out your religion while doing nothing to protect your country.
That will preach!
well stated.
I feel the single biggest thing driving antisemitism today (even if you discount the enlargement of the term) is the equating of speaking out against the actions of the government and military of Israel and antisemitism by zionist Christians and jews. By their definition, my father, who was a Germzn Jew who left Germany in 1935 would be antisemitic. By inaccurately defining being opposed to the atrocities being committed as being anti-Jewish, they are telling ill-informed people around the world that all Jews support these actions, and that the genocide is part of Judiasm. This is absolutely false, but no one should be surprised that if Israeli jews and their American supporters are effectively educating people that committing atrocities is part of being Jewish, some people will believe them.
Excellent article. I appreciate that you highlight the lack of progressive Jewish voices in mainstream media. Over the past few years, right wing Jews have dominated and been presented as speaking for all Jews. So misleading.
As usual, Qasim clarifies the issues in depth.