On Wednesday, Zohran Kwame Mamdani, a Muslim-American member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), stunned the political establishment with his victory in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor. His win represents not just a triumph for progressive politics but a clear rejection of the smear campaign that sought to weaponize antisemitism and Islamophobia against him.
From the beginning, establishment Democrats and Republicans alike painted Mamdani as a threat to New York’s large Jewish population. They relied on a toxic, dual-headed narrative: 1.) that a Muslim critic of Israeli policy must be antisemitic, and 2.) that American Jews are required to have blind loyalty to Zionism and the Israeli government.
But many Jews in New York saw through the fearmongering. In fact, polls showed Mamdani was the second most popular candidate among Jewish voters citywide. The corporate media, however, preferred to amplify the manufactured panic rather than report that truth.
Central to the attacks was Mamdani’s outspoken criticism of Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinian people. His opponents cynically seized on his past use of the phrase “globalize the intifada,” stripping it of context to suggest he endorsed violence against Jews. In reality, “intifada,” meaning “uprising” or “shaking off” in Arabic, and refers to the broad, internationally recognized struggle for Palestinian self-determination and an end to military occupation.
Mamdani’s position on Israel is not only grounded in international human rights law—it is shared by a wide range of Jewish voices, from Satmar Hasidim and Neturei Karta to progressive groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, and IfNotNow. These are not fringe movements; they are a vital part of the city’s diverse Jewish political landscape.
In fact, Mamdani was endorsed by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, the city’s highest-ranking Jewish elected official. Prominent Jewish leaders rallied to his campaign. Rabbi Abby Stein of the Kolot Chayeinu community in Brooklyn wrote on social media: “I am crying. Zohran Mamdani did it. We did it. The people did it.”
Mamdani ran a campaign rooted in solidarity, not division. He visited synagogues and community centers, spoke directly to Jewish voters across the religious and political spectrum, and made history by printing the city’s first Yiddish-language mayoral campaign posters in decades—reaching out to the Hasidic community on its own terms.
To be clear: Mamdani is a critic of Israeli policy. That does not make him antisemitic. What is antisemitic is the assumption—often pushed by right-wing politicians and the corporate press—that all Jews must be Zionists and support Israel unconditionally. That logic has long been deployed by actual antisemites, including Donald Trump, who once declared that Jews who vote Democratic are “disloyal” to Israel and that Jews who oppose his policies on Israel are not real Jews.
What is antisemitic is the insistence that Jews are defined by their relationship to a foreign government—a dangerous trope that has fueled violence against Jewish communities for centuries.
What is antisemitic is the alliance between Christian nationalists and the Republican Party, who envision a future where Jews leave the U.S. altogether and relocate to Israel as part of their messianic end-times fantasies.
Zohran Mamdani is not a danger to Jewish New Yorkers. The real danger comes from the political forces that scapegoat Muslims, erase progressive Jewish voices, and demand Jewish loyalty to a foreign state.
Mamdani wants to be a mayor who sees all communities, all faiths, and all struggles as part of a common fight for justice. Mamdani’s victory is a step toward that future—and a defeat for corporate politics and their politics of fear.
As with all op-eds published by People’s World, the views reflected here are those of the author.
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