Jewish supporters of Mamdani are ill-informed
Stony Brook, L.I.: There’s a bitter irony in watching “Jews for Mamdani” like Brad Lander rally behind a politician whose platform trivializes Jewish concerns about Israel and antisemitism. These supporters — well-educated, ambitious, left-leaning, often detached from Jewish life — believe they’re on the right side of history. They’re not.
History has seen this performance before. In the 1930s, Jewish figures like Walter Lippmann and Arthur Hays Sulzberger convinced themselves that their embrace of moral universalism made them immune to antisemitism. They confused social standing with safety, and allegiance for acceptance. Oh how they were wrong. Today’s “good Jews,” eager to prove their universalism and sophistication, repeat the mistake. They see themselves as the enlightened ones who won’t let ethnic identity cloud their judgment. When Zohran Mamdani dismisses Jewish fear as “moral panic,” they applaud his nuance. But nuance has its limits. Slogans like “From the river to the sea” are not metaphors for coexistence, they are calls for erasure.
The mechanism is always the same: Jewish participation is welcomed, then Jewish concerns are dismissed as particularist distractions. Finally, Jews themselves become suspect, their very identity marking them as obstacles to the cause. They ignore these warnings because acknowledging them would require admitting that their sophisticated worldview offers no protection against ancient hatreds in modern dress. Supporters will call this alarmist. Their predecessors said the same thing.
History has already run this experiment. The results were catastrophic. The intellectual vanity that mistakes detachment for virtue has never offered protection. The intellectual and elite Jews of the 1930s could plead ignorance. Their successors can not. Todd Pittinsky
A textbook case
Milwaukee, Wis.: Many prominent opponents of Mamdani’s candidacy are claiming he is falsely accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza. However, Israeli Holocaust and genocide researchers Amos Goldberg, Omer Bartov, Daniel Blatman, Raz Segal and Shmuel Lederman have all identified Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide. Goldberg asserts: “What is happening in Gaza is genocide because the level and pace of indiscriminate killing, destruction, mass expulsions, displacement, famine, executions, the wiping out of cultural and religious institutions… and the sweeping dehumanization of the Palestinians — create an overall picture of genocide, of a deliberate conscious crushing of Palestinian existence in Gaza.” Other genocide scholars who have reached this conclusion include Martin Shaw, author of the book “What is genocide?”, Melanie O’Brien, president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars; and Dirk Moses, senior editor of the Journal of Genocide Research. By rejecting credible evidence of genocide, the U.S. is betraying its promise of “never again.” Terry Hansen
Proven leader
Mineola, L.I.: Unless Andrew Cuomo stages a Trumanesque comeback on Nov. 4, Mamdani is poised to become Gotham’s 111th mayor. In addition to hogtying the NYPD and eviscerating the private sector, the neophyte assemblyman will fan the flames of antisemitism with his incendiary rhetoric vis-à-vis Israel. Mamdani was influenced by his parents’ anti-American ideology. Cuomo embraces and champions our history, from Christopher Columbus to Abraham Lincoln to Fiorello LaGuardia. The former governor may not be everybody’s cup of cappuccino, but Sheriff Andy is the only candidate who possesses the leadership ability, administrative skills and political know-how to govern millions of his fellow New Yorkers. Though he lacks his father’s Ciceronian oratory, Cuomo is well-versed in the art and practice of governance. Moreover, as a pugnaciously effective politico, he is imbued with more than a little of Machiavelli’s virtue. Rosario A. Iaconis
Siphoning votes
Manhattan: In 2000, Ralph Nader had no chance of winning the presidency running on the Green Party ticket. Nonetheless, he stayed in the race until the bitter end against Al Gore and George W. Bush. The election came down to Florida, where Nader garnered 97,421 votes. Without those votes, Gore lost to Bush by 537 votes, won that state’s 25 electoral votes and became our 43rd president. Curtis Sliwa is on the verge of becoming the new Nader in this week’s New York City mayoral election. Ego is back in the saddle. If he stays in the race, which he has no chance of winning, he is likely to deny Cuomo enough votes to beat Mamdani. Mamdani’s policies on public safety, Israel and taxation are outside the sphere of most of New York’s voters. Here’s hoping Sliwa gets out. Cary Goodman
Privileged victimhood
Bronx: Why is there an antisemitism law and no “anti” law for any other group? Why are they treated with this special designation? Others have been mistreated also. This special treatment leads to more resentment toward them. Edwin Garcia
Go high-tech
Troy, N.Y.: I think the solution to the horse-and-carriage issue in NYC is for the carriage industry to start using robot/animatronic horse machines. I have full confidence that the movie-effects folks can create lifelike horse robots. No dung, no feeding (except for the electricity to charge it) and easy to board. Timothy Case
Money walks
Hauppauge, L.I.: In response to Voicer Fred A. Stock and his Christian nationalist views from the land of religious ignorance (Florida) on draining the swamp in D.C., he’s correct. With the pardoning of the Binance crypto criminal who’s in bed with the orange fascist’s own crypto company, we no longer have a swamp in D.C. — we have a sewer. Greg Arnold
A brighter future
East Meadow, L.I.: After President Trump finally admitted that based on our Constitution, he would not be allowed to run in 2028, I can now look forward to not seeing his smug face every day on the news. It’s always nice having things to look forward to. Jeff Tuck
Prepare to fight
Rochdale Village: I just got through reading S.E. Cupp’s piece (“Donald Trump isn’t joking about a third term,” column, Oct. 31) and to be quite frank, I am scared to death. To think that we could possibly have to suffer through a third term of Trump makes me seriously want to consider leaving this country altogether. Mind you, this is not something I’ve thought about lightly. Despite what you may think, I do love this country, but my love does not include blind obedience, which is what certain factions of the Republican Party would want. If Trump is to be thwarted in November 2028, the time is nigh to come together as a nation — one voice, one message united behind one candidate, whoever he or she may be. In baseball, it’s three strikes and you’re out. Please do not let this be the same for this great country of ours. Carlos R. Edwards
Living above us
Bronx: Government shutdowns are a pain in the butt under any circumstances, but those legislators who are currently on vacation are being paid by us, the taxpayers, while those in essential jobs are working without pay. And those on furlough are living without paychecks and may be fired. What in the world have we come to? I often wish that I had a magic wand that would turn these politicians into poor and lower middle-class people so they could experience what everyday folks go through on a daily basis. Maybe they could begin to understand what real life is like and think twice before pulling the shutdown lever. I am grateful for the existence of food pantries, but in a country as wealthy as the United States, why should anyone go hungry? Or be homeless? Claudette Mobley
Eating their hearts out
Manhattan: Trump gorges himself while withholding SNAP benefits from hungry Americans. Junior Dictator JD Vance smugly indulges his well-fed children while furloughed and DOGE’d federal workers depend on overwhelmed food pantries. House Speaker Mike Johnson and his GOP collaborators play games with the government shutdown while their own constituents suffer. Each Republican and Democratic officeholder across the country should be asked, “What are you having for dinner tonight?” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, “How was your breakfast today?” Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas, chairman of the Agriculture Committee, and the minority chair, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, “How many courses will you be serving this Thanksgiving?” Each American can ask these questions of their representatives, and donate to their local food banks, and support local farms to feed our hungry brothers and sisters. To the rest of you: As you stuff your faces, may you puke on the lies you tell yourselves. Susan Kain
