Kristallnacht at Park East Synagogue

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On November 9, 1938, Nazi leaders unleashed a well-orchestrated, party-sanctioned riot,  involving the vandalization of synagogues and attacks on Jews and their businesses.  It became known as Kristallnacht and sent an ominous message of incipient catastrophe to the Jewish community and the world.

The Jewish community and the world failed to take action that might have prevented the impending onslaught.

On November 19, 2025, a bunch of keffiyeh-wearing troglodytes gathered outside Park East Synagogue to shout anti-Semitic slogans and threaten Jews attending a program promoting the emigration of Jews to Israel, a process known as aliyah that some believe is mandated by Jewish law.  The New York City police were in attendance but did nothing to enforce the various laws against assault and threatening assemblies outside houses of worship.

They attempted to keep the mob away from the Jews attending the program, the prevention of physical violence their only objective.  They were unconcerned about the psychic violence and the violation of human rights.  They did not act to counter the message being sent, quite clearly.  After all, the targets were Jews, not African-Americans or women or Muslims.

As to that message, it was quite clear.  The masked thugs chanted  the following slogans, among others: “Death to the IDF,” “Globalize the Intifada,” “Make them scared,” “Resistance is glorious,” “Intifada revolution,” “Resistance, you make us proud; take another settler out.”

The debate about the demarcation between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism is a linguistic hoax.  These people make no distinction between Israelis and Jews.  They want us scared.  They want us dead.

Zohran Mamdani is one of them.  He has always been one of them.  He was raised and nurtured to be one of them.

Mamdani is a nepo baby, with a rich, successful, and indulgent mother and a doctrinaire, bigoted father, both of whom raised him to hate Jews. He is a rich kid who has never held a real job (housing counselor and aspiring rap musician) or met a payroll.  After failing to obtain preferential admission to Columbia despite claiming to be African-American, he majored in Africana Studies at Bowdoin (hence, perhaps, the absence of a real job).  After working for Mom on one of her movies and failing as a rap artist and song writer, he embarked on a well-financed campaign to become a state legislator from a squalid neighborhood in Queens, receiving about 8,000 votes.  His legislative performance was lackluster, though he did sponsor the “Not on our Dime!: Ending New York Funding of Israeli Settler Violence Act,” which failed to pass.

He appears not to have sponsored any bills relating to violence by Hamas or any actual terror organizations.

He ran for mayor against someone best known for alleged sexual abuse and causing the death of elderly residents of nursing homes, on a fanciful platform promising free buses, universal public child care, city-owned grocery stores, a rent freeze, and a $30 minimum wage, as well as confiscatory tax increases on those earning over $1 million.  He won handily, attracting the votes of young people and minorities, who have apparently given up on traditional politics. He is a politician for the TikTok generation, devoid of qualifications, experience, ideas, or seriousness.

He is an anti-Semite in glossy packaging. And he is dangerous.  We dismiss him at our peril.

At Park East, after a tepid gesture toward courtesy (“every New Yorker should be free to enter a house of worship without intimidation”), he launched an unprincipled and false disclaimer to the effect that “these sacred places should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law.”

Mamdani is either ignorant or dishonest. Or both.

Emigration from one country to another is a recognized human right under international law, subject to the destination country’s immigration restrictions.  Israel actively promotes Jewish emigration (“aliyah”) from the diaspora, and Nefesh B’Nefesh is a registered not-for-profit organization that operates openly within the bounds of US law and in cooperation with Israel to facilitate lawful immigration.  There is no US law or international law that denies freedom of movement or the right of citizens to emigrate.  There is no US law or international law that restricts the right of organizations to assist in the process.  There is no US law or international law that prohibits a citizen from relocating to another country.  Israel’s Law of Return, adopted in 1950, grants all Jews the right to immigrate and obtain citizenship.  As to international law, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights grants everyone the right to leave any country, making emigration consistent with international norms.

Mamdani was simply sending a signal of support to the mob:  I am one of you. 

This is the first step in what promises to be a continuous assault on the rights of Jews and the existence of Israel.

The figurative glass is in the streets, clearly visible to anyone who cares to acknowledge it.  Jews and Jewish organizations, as well as any person or entity concerned with the rule of law and human rights, should take this as a wake-up call and commence prophylactic activity against the coming onslaught.  The State should consider and enact legislation protecting Jewish and Israeli citizens and businesses from the discrimination that is surely on Mamdani’s agenda, including the entire BDS program.

It is likely that existing laws and norms would apply to the antisemitic activities in which Mamdani will attempt to engage, but the experience at Park East Synagogue shows that they will not deter the mob or the Mayor.  A community under immediate and existential threat should merit immediate and focused protection, both physical and legal.  Specific danger requires immediate, express, and tailored prevention and protection.

If Mamdani has his way, New Yorkers will soon have to deal with free public transit becoming shelters for the homeless and sanctuaries for the criminal, with hemorrhaging financial losses from government run supermarkets, with disappearing rental units, and with an eroding and escaping tax base.  Nothing but bitter experience will prevent, curb or diminish those rapidly approaching problems.

But having seen the tacit support provided by Mamdani to the violent mob and the explicit hostility to the very existence of the Jewish State,  New York and the Jewish community can not afford to wait until Mamdani acts on the hatred he has articulated throughout his career.  He supports those who want to make Jews afraid.  Jews must be unafraid in affirmatively supporting defensive measures.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch dutifully appeared at the site of the riot, apologized for the police’s poor performance, and promised enhanced safety measures.  Mamdani was at her side.  But the damage was done and the message was clear.  The Mayor was on the side of those who seek to make Jews reluctant and fearful to host Israel-related events.  The haters will be empowered.

In order to deal with this reality, the community of decent people must show resolve. Demonstrations should be confronted by larger and louder demonstrations.  Enforcement of laws should be swift and consistent. When necessary to protect against the bias and discrimination that has been espoused by the Mayor-elect, protective legislation, with teeth, should be enacted. Laws against masked demonstrators should be enforced.

Mamdani has proclaimed his enmity to the Jewish State and the people and religion supporting it.

The Jewish people and people who support the rule of law and the existence of the one Jewish State should take action–not cover–against the coming storm.