Mammani realized that people who tried to demonize him did not: that voters no longer buy the same old smears about Palestine.
Mary’s candidate for New York Zohran Mammani travels on the subway “Without Kings” to Bryant Park, New York, June 14, 2025.
(Melissa Bender / Nurfat via AP)
Zohran Mammani shocked the country win The Democratic Mayor of New York is easily with ease. His high -profile victory over Andrew Kuom’s opponent – who did not predict the observers and polls – not only created it as a potentially important figure in the American left in the coming years. It also made people look at the many ways that Mamman broke with the usual wisdom during the democratic campaign. Nowhere, this was no more obvious than in the issue of Israel and Palestine-where the unsuccessful attempts of Kuom and the media institutions will arouse fear over the views of Mammani should be a call for how the Democratic Base has changed.
Mamdani was primarily focused on housing expenses such as rent and bus tariffs. But Kuoma tried very hard to turn it into a referendum on Mamman’s views on Israel and Palestine – and the media accepted the bait.
At every step, let it be in time appearance On the current -Strven Colbert, a pipeline since BoulevardOr even Mary -Debaths, Mammani was subjected to questions after Israel. Mammani’s long views on this topic-he said exactly that Israel is guilty of apartheid and genocide and he advocate The BDS movement, among other things, was no secret. It didn’t matter. Israel prevailed in a conversation about him, mainly focused on the prerequisites that a strong Jewish city, like New York, will automatically depart from Mamman Palestine’s support.
For example, at the first Mary’s Mamman discussion, he was the only candidate who said he would not visit any foreign country if the mayor wins – unlike most of his competitors who promised to visit Israel. Immediately, the moderators took the opportunity to press the Mamman on whether he admits “Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state”.
No one else asked this question. It may be even more important that no one else asked if they believe that Palestine has the right to exist, not to mention the “Arab state”. And no one asked Kuom why he chose join The legal team is trying to avoid Benjamin Netanyahu from The Hague. The fact that the only Muslim candidate for the mayor was nominated his views on Israel-Palestine, testified how the Arab, South Asian and anyone tries to stand with Palestine remained dirty.
But the perfect answer was prepared in Mamman. In response to the poor question of the moderator, he said: “I believe that Israel has the right to exist as a state with the same rights … I believe that every state should be a state of equal rights.” Instead of signing up for a prerequisite for the question that any state is entitled to an ethnically party legal and political nature, it turned to the concept of universal freedom and rights for all. This language resonates well with the Americans, especially the younger and non -non -Americans who see Israeli over the Palestinians and thinks about apartheid South Africa or Jim Cape south.
Similarly, if pressed Boulevard“Tim Miller about whether he was comfortable with phrases such as” globalization intiffada “or” free Palestine “, Mammani did not equate and apologize for the support of the Palestinian release. Mammani is an anti -Semite, but it did not give the media with the sound bite they hoped.
The communicative discipline of the Mamman was at a full exhibition from the first to the final call, and it paid off for it. But it wasn’t a good messaging that helped. Mammani also understood what his attackers did not do: that overcoming anyone to conduct pro-Palestinian views was simply not as effective as before when you were running like a democrat.
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The evidence continues to be attached. Quinnipac poll published earlier this month found “Low Time” in sympathy for Israelis and all the time for the Palestinians “since December 2001. Despite the fact that some in the pro -Israeli block can believe, the reason is simple: people do not like genocide.
University of Maryland ballot Since March this year, it turned out that 56 percent of the Democratic voters believed that Israel had committed war crimes, and 44 percent say that Israel’s actions are genocide or something. The most interesting thing is that negative views on Israel grew up among Democrats at every demographic age. According to drink71 percent of the Democrats, aged 18-49, has a negative view of Israel in 2025, and 66 percent of the Democrats are 50 or older too.
So, it is clear that it is no longer an albatross among US liberal voters. Mamman’s refusal to compromise on this issue was not just a fundamental and morally correct. It is also a reasonable policy, taking into account the new media and political landscape that its opponents refused to see.
However it would be a mistake to overcome the argument and say that Mammani won the nomination as his strong pro-Palestinian beliefs. In the end, kuom is a person with an exceptionally tarnished reputation: sexual disorders, misconduct public health, racism, indifference to the city in which he ruled. A name recognition can transfer you so far into the race when your name is related to these things. And Mamdani has held an exceptional company that was focused almost exclusively on life costs, with an optimistic tone and download style. Mammani created a coalition that united around Kuoma’s rejection; Jewish American Progressive Brad Lander was almost constantly in the crime and held an exciting position against Trump’s authoritarianism. These factors probably made significance much more than Mamman’s personal views on the Israeli Apartheid regime of over 7 million Palestinians.
Nevertheless, it cannot be said that the question was not relevant to the result. Despite the best (and the overall successful) efforts of Mammdani to make this race on the kitchen table, cuomo, The New York TimesAnd others very much wanted it to be “radical” views of Mammani on Israel. It is often said that left-wing activists are those who turn Palestine into a litmus office test, but have shown the last few months that there has been a pro-Israel consensus, which requires support for the improper status quo in the Middle East. Attempts to impose these requirements on the Zakhan could not, and they could not disrupt his candidacy and eventually. It is clear that it is not so much a violator of transactions for democratic voters, but it was expressed.
If both Sylberstein Place in Chair The day before the main institution is not afraid of the mayor, which will be anti -Semitic, but the one who symbolize the permanent collapse of pro -Israeli hegemony in the Democratic Party, and perhaps in American politics as a whole. “
For the sake of justice, the institution is right to fear it. While the Mayor of New York will never be the actual state secretary or control the end of conflicts abroad, it is important that the largest city in the country – and the city with the city More Jews What in any other city on Earth, except Tel Aviv, will be a leader who believes that Palestinians and Jews deserve freedom and self-determination equally. It is important that, since the moods, both in the Democratic Party, continue to move to a more Palestinian point of view, there will be a politician there as a Mammani to help formulate it. Previous attempts to stifle this perspective may have worked in the short term, but over the next decade or two are likely to be more mamman than Scoop of jackson Admission to the political arena.
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Sooner or later, Palestine’s democratic policy will have to start reflecting it.
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Katrina Vanden Hievel
Publisher, Nation
More than Nation
Once they overcome the shock, the Democrats posted on the national level should study in the Mammani: they actually give citizens something to vote.
Mammani won with the help of the elevation and unification of some of the most forgotten voters in New York. Now its coalition has the opportunity to transform what is possible for people everywhere.
Neither Bill Clinton nor Jim Klibourne, nor all billions of Michael Bloomberg could save Andrew Kuoma from the defeat he deserved.
Surprisingly, he translated it into a real -life victory that will forever change the way of conducting elections.
Mammani outlined a strategy. The left should now follow his example and the primary Richie Torres, Hockey Jeffreis, Chumer Shumer and many others.
