Make New York Post a Preferred Source Is Mayor Zohran Mamdani's sudden concern over antisemitism in New York City a bid to help Gov. Kathy Hochul in her reelection? MediaPunch / BACKGRID Breaking News Alert: City Hall opposes and condemns antisemitism.
But color me very skeptical that Mayor Mamdani seriously approves of the new policy and plans to enforce it.
After all, he’s a walking, talking fountain of the ancient Jew hatred and has been fanning the flames since he emerged on the political scene, and especially since he was elected mayor.
He refuses to see Israel as the legitimate homeland of the Jewish people, and has embraced the odious claim that its existence is a catastrophe for Palestinian Arabs.
He won’t denounce the phrase “globalize the intifada,” hiding behind the weak excuse that it’s not the mayor’s job to police speech — even speech that calls for the elimination of Israel.
But he won’t do even that, with one result being that antisemitic incidents in the city are soaring, way beyond the proportion of Jewish residents.
Meanwhile, he embraces the leftist fantasy that New York is enduring a wave of Islamophobia.
Against that history, we are to suddenly believe he is committed to taking on Jew haters, though his policy is half-baked and extremely light on details.
The plan and his statement don’t define antisemitism, nor is Israel mentioned.
Yet according to a lengthy release issued by his press office Tuesday, the mayor has discovered that Jew hatred in Gotham is dangerous and widespread.
The release quotes him as declaring that “antisemitism has no place in New York City. Jewish New Yorkers have helped build this city, shaped its culture and strengthened our communities for generations, and they deserve to be safe, celebrated and protected by a city government that stands with them.”
There’s no arguing with the words, but the tone of surprise at the scope of the problem is downright weird. So weird that it recalls a famous scene from the movie “Casablanca” about Rick’s Café.
As the corrupt Captain Renault is handed a thick roll of cash for his share of the night’s take, he declares that “I’m shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.”
Mamdani has a similar relationship with antisemitism.
If there was a contest for the most virulent promoter, he would be a top contender, yet suddenly he’s so shocked, he’s pledging to spend millions to improve security at synagogues and other Jewish institutions and run public-education programs.
Here’s a simple test of his sincerity: Will he denounce Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists with anywhere near the vigor he uses repeatedly to damn Israel as a “genocide state?”
He did not even denounce the Hamas attack on Israel and the slaughter, rape and torture of civilians, including women and children.
Nor does it help that documented rapes by Hamas were labeled a hoax on Instagram by his wife, Rama Duwaji, who claimed the reports were “fabricated” by The New York Times.
As for actions, will the mayor seek to arrest Arab and Muslim government officials who call for Israel’s destruction if they set foot in New York in the same way he tried to get Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahau arrested last week?
He calls Netanyahu a war criminal, yet didn’t utter a peep of protest about the appearance of Iran’s butchers at the UN.
They have executed an estimated 35,000 of their own citizens for the crime of protesting the Islamist regime and promise to eliminate America and Israel.
In addition to attacking Israel and American troops in the current war, they also fired many salvos of missiles and rockets at their Arab and Muslim neighbors.
Apparently none of that bothered Mamdani, to judge by his silence.
Call me cynical, but my political radar tells me his sudden discovery and condemnation of antisemitism is a ruse designed to help Gov. Hochul.
She and the mayor have an unholy alliance, as she is desperate to gain the votes of his supporters in her re-election bid.
But Mamdani’s obsession with Netanyahu and Israel could backfire on her.
In fact, she was worried enough about the possibility that she claimed she told him to pipe down on Israel and focus on his day job.
Her Big Sister act is really aimed at self-preservation in her race against GOP rival Bruce Blakeman.
Ditto for the fact that she has been shipping billions in state cash to City Hall and pushed the pied-à-terre tax through the Legislature to help the Socialist boy wonder punish success and fund his list of free things.
The tax is the focus of several lawsuits, with one of the first winning a major ruling Tuesday on Staten Island.
State Supreme Court Judge Wayne Ozzi declared that City Hall bungled the rollout of the tax on luxury second homes so badly that it must go back and determine who actually owes the tax before demanding that tens of thousands of homeowners prove they are not subject to it.
Another case that was filed Tuesday calls the tax unconstitutional because it discriminates against non-New York citizens who “by definition cannot vote against” the Albany and City Hall officials involved.
Although she’s happy to use her power and public money to buy votes for herself, Hochul certainly doesn’t want the taint of Mamdani’s antisemitism to rub off on her.
So while she publicly attacked Netanyahu last week and called him a liar for criticizing Mamdani, she’s never openly rebuked Mamdani for calling Israel a genocide state or for wanting to arrest Netanyahu.
Under the usual rules of campaigns, her silence on those incendiary topics can fairly be seen as consent if not agreement.
Ditto for The Post’s shocking report on how Mamdani plans to use his social media trolls to launch a campaign of smears against top New York business leaders.
The mayor is said to have a 200-person “influencer army” ready to bash CEOs and others as a way to punish critics and build support for his agenda.
The publicly funded campaign would reportedly follow the pattern set when the mayor singled out Citadel founder Ken Griffin after the pied-à-terre tax passed.
Then, Mamdani filmed a short video of himself outside Griffin’s $230 million penthouse condo on Central Park South.
His creepy, garish boast that he was keeping his promise to “tax the rich” is a likely example of how other captains of finance and industry could be singled out for public shaming.
Will Hochul scold him and tell him what he’s doing is bad for the city, its economy and its global reputation?
When it comes to taking on the Pied Piper and his media trolls, she’s just a Scaredy Kat.
