Mamdani and Kirk

Tomorrow, as I write this, there are “off-year” elections throughout the USA, with most eyes focused on the mayoral election in New York City. That’s because a young, charismatic Iranian Muslim immigrant has defied all odds to be the leading candidate in the region with the largest number of Jews in the country. About a thousand rabbis signed a statement asking their followers not to vote for Mamdani, which is a tacit endorsement of his opponent, Andrew Cuomo. In response, a competing petition endorsing Mamdani garnered the signatures of about 250 rabbis. 

There is no doubt, and it is a matter of simple fact, that as a younger man, Mamdani made statements which are anti-Zionist, anti-Israel, and antisemitic, and he has maintained anti-Zionist and anti-Israel positions reflecting his deep opposition to Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza. There is also no question that he has renounced antisemitism, welcomes the support of Jews, and has stated clearly that as mayor of New York, he would be focused on New York, and not the Middle East. 

Meanwhile, his opponent left an earlier office in disgrace having been denounced by more than a dozen women for sexual harassment. Jewish New Yorkers are therefore left with the question of whether to vote for an anti-Zionist or a misogynist. That will certainly be an interesting race to watch!

What interests me as a student of world religions is the willingness of some of my Jewish friends to denounce Mamdani for his anti-Zionist and anti-Israel positions, while giving someone like Charlie Kirk a pass on his deeply antisemitic views. Like Mamdani, Kirk had an evolution of his views on Jews and Israel which allowed him to retreat from the outright antipathy of his earlier years to mere antisemitism. Jews wishing to excuse Kirk point to his strong support for Israel in recent years, but without understanding where that support is originating. Mr. Kirk belonged to a branch of fundamentalist Protestant Christianity which espouses a theology that requires all Jews to return to the Holy Land for Armageddon. At the end of that period, all Jews must either convert to Christianity or be consigned to Hell. No Jews will be left in the glorious kingdom to follow. 

So that is how you can be pro-Zionist and pro-Israel, and yet be deeply antisemitic. 

Complicated times we live in!