Dear Zohran
First off, congratulations. It’s not overselling it to say you’ve become a symbol of what’s possible in New York politics. Your platform is unapologetically progressive in a way that hasn’t felt fresh in years and gives voice to unheard groups in this city. Free buses. Rent freezes. Real tenant protections. That isn’t just talking points. It’s movement building. You’ve made many of us believe that change isn’t only something to protest for, but something that can get passed.
Your advocacy for working-class New Yorkers, for the undocumented, for the overpoliced and underhoused, is rooted in a fierce moral clarity. You’re not triangulating. You’re not checking polls. And that makes you inspiring to a generation tired of Democratic caution and cowardice.
But I’m writing because I want you to win even bigger. And you won’t. Not fully. Unless you start bringing people in instead of making them feel pushed out.
Right now, you are in a position to take leadership of the largest Jewish city outside Israel, and for many of your Jewish constituents, they’re waking up more uneasy than they were a few months ago. It’s not just about one slogan. It’s about a pattern. A pattern of language, associations, and rhetorical choices that have made many Jews in New York feel excluded, even targeted, by a political movement we once believed we were part of.
Your use of the phrase “globalize the intifada” is the most visible example. Not because your critics are always right. Some aren’t arguing in good faith. But because words matter, especially when you’re winning.
When you defend that phrase, you cite its literal meaning, uprising or shaking off, and say it symbolizes resistance to oppression around the world. I get that. But we don’t live in a literal world. We live in a historical one. And in the United States, that word doesn’t land in a vacuum. It lands in a context of decades of conflict, suicide bombings, kidnappings, wars, antisemitic rhetoric, and generational trauma.
You say you want to stand with all marginalized people. That includes Jews. And I say this as someone who shares your politics on housing and policing. I’m Jewish. I’m progressive. And I also want to feel like my safety matters in the coalitions we’re building.
When you say “globalize the intifada,” you might mean struggle and solidarity. But others hear “bring that fight to our doorstep.” That phrase didn’t come from the poetry of liberation. It came from a rally where signs read “By any means necessary” and where Jewish students were told to leave campus. You don’t need to be a Zionist to feel threatened by that atmosphere.
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum condemned your comments. Jewish city council members have asked for clarity. Even your allies are asking you to show you can hold complexity — that you can be pro-Palestinian without being alienating, even unintentionally. I believe you can. But so far, you haven’t.
And the discomfort doesn’t stop there.
You’ve publicly identified as anti Zionist, and while there is nothing inherently antisemitic about opposing specific Israeli policies, your version of anti Zionism has repeatedly blurred the line into something darker. You’ve shared platforms with people who describe Zionism not as a political ideology, but as a global evil. You’ve refused to speak out when Jewish students are harassed at protests. You stood silent when your own supporters waved signs comparing Jews to Nazis or claiming Jews are uniquely to blame for genocide.
You’ve amplified speakers and events where the state of Israel was not criticized. It was demonized. And too often, the language extended beyond governments and toward Jewish identity itself. That is what has so many of us unnerved.
In your rhetoric, there is a conspicuous absence of empathy for Jews. No public mourning of October 7. No outrage when Israeli civilians were massacred. You say you oppose all violence, but when it’s Jews who are targeted, your voice has been missing. That silence speaks louder than you realize.
You have supported the BDS movement and have even encouraged efforts to pressure private companies to boycott Israeli organizations, including personally lobbying figures like Ben and Jerry’s co-founder to act. While you frame these actions as moral opposition to occupation, they land very differently for many Jews, who see them as part of a broader campaign to isolate the one Jewish state in the world. What is also striking is that there are no similar boycotts or divestment campaigns directed at countries with far worse human rights records that we trade with every day, like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, or China. There is no organized call from your platform to boycott the Gulf states for their treatment of migrants, or China for its repression of Uyghur Muslims. The singular focus on Israel, out of all the nations with troubling policies, feels less like a principled stand and more like a double standard. It raises a painful question: why is there only outrage and action when Israel is involved, but not when Jewish people here are feeling afraid in their own neighborhoods?
New York City just reported an 18 percent rise in antisemitic hate crimes last year. Sixty-two percent of all hate crimes in this city target Jews. That is not a marginal issue. It is not an abstraction. And yet, in progressive spaces, this kind of violence rarely seems to get the moral urgency it deserves. When attacks target other groups, we hear calls for justice. When they target Jews, we get silence, or worse, excuses. That double standard is part of what makes people feel unwelcome.
So here’s what I hope you’ll do.
Drop the slogan. Keep the cause.
You don’t need that line to fight for Palestinian dignity. You don’t need it to call for a ceasefire or oppose occupation. You don’t need it to be one of the only elected officials listening to Arab and Muslim New Yorkers. What you do need is language that unites. Language that doesn’t make 1.3 million Jews in New York wonder if they belong in your vision of the city.
I’m not asking for you to become moderate or vague. I’m asking for you to be precise. Intent doesn’t outweigh impact. Especially not when your base, the one that got you here, is made up of people who care about justice for everyone, not just the groups that show up at rallies.
Reach out and show up.
You’ve shown up in housing court. At transit rallies. At food drives. Show up at synagogues. At Holocaust memorials. At Jewish day schools. Not to apologize, but to listen. To learn how your words are being heard. To explain what you meant, and to say directly, “I don’t support violence. I want every community in this city to feel safe — Jews included.” It’s easy to get defensive. It’s harder and more meaningful to build trust.
Brad Lander is your ally. He’s Jewish. He’s progressive. He’s the kind of leader who holds both griefs at once. He shows that you can cry for Gaza without vilifying people who mourn October 7. Learn from him. Stand with him. Bring others with you.
Don’t give the right what they want.
The far right is desperate to paint the left as antisemitic. They want to tear apart the fragile coalitions that are finally making gains. Don’t hand them ammunition. The left doesn’t have to choose between Palestinian rights and Jewish safety. The left’s strength is its ability to hold both. Anything else is weakness dressed up as radicalism.
Zohran, you have a real shot. You’ve tapped into something deep and unmet in this city. But you’ve also got five months to do something else just as important. Make the group of people facing the greatest number of hate crimes in New York feel safe in your vision of the future.
That doesn’t mean sacrificing your principles or abandoning your belief in a just life for Palestinians. It means stepping into nuance. It means understanding that for many Jews, Israel is not just a country or a policy to critique. It is safety. It is family history. It is grief. It is memory. It is spiritual. And that reality deserves acknowledgment, not suspicion or silence.
You don’t have to backtrack. You don’t have to abandon the cause. But you do have to understand that solidarity cannot be selective. And justice cannot mean asking one community to sit silently while another speaks loudly. This moment is calling for something deeper from you. Don’t be like every politician in victory who just says they are a leader for everyone in their city, state, or nation; actually do it. I hope you rise to meet it and make the greatest city in the world proud.
With respect, hope, and challenge.
References:
- Zohran Mamdani refused to denounce the slogan “Globalize the Intifada,” despite widespread concern over its violent connotation.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/06/zohran-mamdani-globalize-intifada/678534/ - The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum issued a rare statement condemning the phrase “intifada” as an inappropriate term in American political discourse. https://www.timesofisrael.com/nyc-mayoral-candidate-mamdani-compares-intifada-to-warsaw-ghetto-uprising-drawing-fire/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
- Mamdani encouraged Ben & Jerry’s co-founder to support a boycott of Israeli settlements, aligning with BDS advocacy.
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-709210 - Coverage of Mamdani’s record supporting BDS and opposing Israel, including efforts to pressure private businesses and charitable organizations.
https://forward.com/fast-forward/536884/zohran-mamdani-bds-ben-jerrys-israel-boycott/ - Highlights internal tensions within New York’s progressive movement over Mamdani’s approach to Israel and Jewish voters.
https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2024/06/ny-progressives-split-over-israel-palestine-language/388251/ - Reports on a 2021 rally clip where Mamdani explicitly states he rejects Jewish sovereignty and self‑defines as anti‑Zionist. https://www.timesofisrael.com/nyc-mayoral-candidate-mamdani-declared-hes-anti-zionist-at-2021-protest-video-shows/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
- NYPD data showed antisemitic hate crimes in NYC rose 18% in 2024, accounting for 62% of all reported hate crimes in the city.
https://forward.com/news/569355/nyc-antisemitic-hate-crimes-rise-2024/
https://abc7ny.com/nyc-hate-crimes-antisemitism-nypd/14478203/
