Zohran Mamdani: a ray of hope and ruling class wrath
JVL Introduction
Zohran Mamdani is on course to become the mayor of New York. He is a Democratic Socialist and, predictably has come under huge attack and a rise in Islamophobia as explored by Nesrine Malik and by Al Jazeera (it is interesting that he is labelled as Muslim even though he has a Hindu mother but that is another issue).
Reactions have been as extreme as the Trump administration raising possibility of stripping Mamdani of US citizenship , the Democratic Party lawmakers refusing to endorse him and spreading lies about him and is the New York Times trying to wreck Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral bid?
Mamdani has a practical programme and when “asked…what a democratic socialist is, (he) answered: “To me it means that every New Yorker has what they need to live a dignified life – it’s local government’s responsibility to provide that.” His platform includes a rent freeze on the city’s 2.3m regulated apartments; free childcare starting at six months; no-fare buses; and a $30 minimum wage – about the city’s living wage – by 2030. Basically, he believes life in the city can be easier and happier.” For more on his programme see here.
Inevitably some of the attacks on him are because of his clear stand against Israel’s occupation and the genocide; Mondoweiss argues that “Zohran Mamdani’s victory marks the end of Israel’s central place in U.S. politics”. Of course some try to label him as antisemitic and Norman Finkelsteing warns Zohran Mamdani ‘Don’t make Corbyn’s mistake’ and try to appease those making such allegations. He notes that many Jews, especially young Jews, have been actively supporting him. In Peter Beinart’s article below it would seem that Mamdani is taking the path that Finkelstein proposes.
As socialists we are interested in his ideas for the New York and as Jews who stand for freedom and justice for Palestine, we are pleased to note that he seems to be avoiding the false antisemitism traps that are being set and is instead offering “his party a manual for how to seek political office as an unapologetic defender of Palestinian freedom and prevail”. The article below that explores this aspect of his campaign is one of many fascinating reads about this young, dynamic, impressive, committed and practical candidate, some of which are linked in this introduction.
LL
This article was originally published by Jewish Currents on Mon 30 Jun 2025. Read the original here.
A New Playbook for Democratic Critics of Israel
Zohran Mamdani’s primary victory shows pro-Palestine candidates how to win without abandoning their values.
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“He is a Democratic Socialist” and thereins the problem – hes a social democrat, so like both Sanders and Corbyn, a social democrat, which offers just band-aids, and seems to not even be able to do that anymore.
This “right to exist” of Israel is often produced to wrong-foot supporters of Palestinian rights, but it is a category error. People have a right to exist; states are contingent and come into existence or cease to exist as history shows. Where is Assyria? Did Yugoslavia not have the right to exist? If the voters of Scotland and Northern Ireland choose so, the United Kingdom will cease to exist as it is now.
In the case of Israel, the state was formed by a decision of the UN which it had no right to make, added to by a successful ethnic-cleansing by a superior armed force, using modern Czech weapons against a rural population who were ill-equipped for resisting and having many militia officers trained by the colonial power, before that power skedaddled in the first of several retreats which left many parts of Africa and Asia hopelessly divided along ethnic lines.
The UN plan of November 1947 was manifestly unjust by any calculations and was designed to produce a Zionist state irrespective of the nature of the indigenous population. The JNF had procured less than 7% of the land, so settler colonials understood that violence was their only card.
We are currently very aware of how that philosophy has developed.