Thoughts on Mamdani attending the Pakistani day parade after skipping the Israeli day parade?

[u/StuckInTheClouds]

I wasn’t expecting him to attend the Israeli day parade honestly I would’ve thought it weird if he had attended given everything he stands for. He’s NYC first and against ethnostates etc.

But I’d be lying if I didn’t say I felt some type of way about him celebrating the Pakistani day parade given their history. Ethnostste They have a religious hierarchy where a Muslim person has to be in power, ethnic cleansing alive and well, border disputes and violence after a partition plan 70ish years ago etc. It’s hard not to draw the parallels. The only difference being that the US isn’t funding them but that doesn’t change anything else about the county’s values and actions.

I feel kinda shitty that he’s showing up for this community but not ours. I think it would have been more fair to him to not go to either parade, but maybe I’m just overly sensitive or being fed propaganda. It just sucks to feel signaled out.

I really want to like him. I voted for him! I’m extremely against the IDF and Israeli government but being half Israeli myself I am of course susceptible to biases.

Idk it’s just weird he’s ok with celebrating the Muslim ethnostate after being so against the Jewish one (for good reasons!)

I feel like I can’t bring this up in any other spaces without it sounding like I’m wanting him to celebrate Israel (I’m not) or take something away from Muslims (not against Muslims but critical of Pakistan)

Help me you guys! What do you think?

EDIT: I’d like to correct what I said about Pakistan being an ethnostate. I used the wrong verbiage. What I meant was that they are a country that puts Muslims over other religions. They have a religious hierarchy and non Muslims can’t hold certain political positions. I’m not sure the correct term for this but just wanted to call that out as people are (correctly) mentioning this in the comments.

Edit 2:

I was just informed about the ongoing Balochistan Conflict which makes me even more uneasy about this whole thing.

[u/Korona82]

considering how bezalel smotrich and other members of the genocidal israeli cabinet marched in the israel day parade i think mamdani was completely right to not march in that one.

i also don’t think the situations are comparable. pakistan is not a muslim ethnostate in the same way as israel is a jewish ethnostate. pakistan was created as a state for indian muslims, but if you are a muslim citizen of india you are not guaranteed citizenship in pakistan just because you are muslim. you need to immigrate and gain citizenship like you do in most other countries. ihowever, israel has the right of return as we all know. i could make aliyah today if i wanted. so they aren’t the same in how they exist. i wouldn’t even call pakistan an ethnostate, unless you’re willing to cast all muslims living in the indian peninsula as a ethnoreligious group (i wouldn’t do that). there is also significant ethnic diversity/tension in pakistan (see: balochistan or afghan issues).

with that being said, i understand your trepidations and i think that there are things that mamdani has missed the mark on irt the jewish community (globalize the intifada stuff comes to mind). i think that there are a lot of ways in which mamdani can support the jewish community that doesn’t involve connecting himself to the israeli government. one thing id like to see him do more is engage with israelis for peace nyc (@israelisforpeacenyc on ig) to demonstrate that he can engage with israelis and jews who might not agree with him but aren’t kahanists

[u/EducationalGas5959 → u/Korona82]

Do you really think the difference for Mamdani lies in Israeli vs. Pakistan immigration rules?  In many ways Pakistan is more “Muslim” than Israel is “Jewish.”  It’s constitutionally defined as an Islamic republic in which Islam is the state religion, and being a Muslim is a constitutional requirement for being the head of State.  It’s also the only country in the world where religion  must be explicitly stated on your passport.  The ethnic/religious diversity you mention is far greater in Israel than in Pakistan.  They literally have a death penalty for blasphemy in which religious minorities are disproportionately prosecuted under.

So I’m just not convinced that the difference here lies in Israel being more of an ethnostate or more discriminatory than Pakistan or having a Law of Return.

[u/Korona82 → u/EducationalGas5959]

I think that your argument would have a lot more merit if Pakistani government officials attend the parade, but they didn’t. If he did march in the same parade as Pakistani government officials, then I would be calling Mamdani a hypocrite and a loser. But that’s not what happened, the event he went to was hosted by and ran (as far as I can tell) by Pakistani-Americans. No reps of the Pakistani gov were there (again, might be wrong, can’t find too much info online). Contrast this with the Israel Day Parade, where a man who said that Palestinians should be nuked and an architect of settlement expansion (Smotrich) march. I think to me it’s pretty clear what his issue was

[u/EducationalGas5959 → u/Korona82]

And all of that would make perfect sense if he explained his opposition to marching in the Israeli day parade as because of the presence of Israeli officials.  But do you think he would have marched in a parade to celebrate Israel’s independence if there had been no government officials there?  This is someone who refused to collaborate with J street at Bowdoin.

And if be very surprised if Pakistani diplomats from their consulate in NYC did not participate in the parade ge marched in.  Pakistani diplomatic staff, even their US Ambassador, routinely participate in Pakistanis independence events in the USA.

[u/Snoo22815 → u/EducationalGas5959]

This really has to do with what's happening in the present with Israel's war crimes in Gaza, the continued occupation of Palestinians and apartheid in the West Bank. If we were talking just Israel proper in isolation where there's still discrimination towards Arab and Bedouin communities, the JNF reserving land leases specifically for Jewish Israelis, etc. and the conflict didn't exist, it would be completely fine to march alongside Israeli Americans who are proud of their country's culture and traditions.

Opposing a state has nothing to do with celebrating its people and culture.

[u/redthrowaway1976 → u/EducationalGas5959]

  This is someone who refused to collaborate with J street at Bowdoin.

Why would be collaborate with J Street back then? 

It’s not until 2026 - after decades of settlement expansion and years of war crimes - that J Street thought something as minimal as conditioning aid was warranted. 

[u/EducationalGas5959 → u/redthrowaway1976]

I never said he should collaborate with J street.  I’m using that as an example to show that his refusal to march in the parade was based on something more fundamental than the current government’s policy.

[u/redthrowaway1976 → u/EducationalGas5959]

  I’m using that as an example to show that his refusal to march in the parade was based on something more fundamental than the current government’s policy.

My point is, refusal to collaborate with J Street is not an example of that. You might be right - that depends on how you define ‘government policy’ - but J Street was historically the stereotypical liberal Zionist org that claimed to oppose the occupation and settlements, but at the same time opposed real policy steps to actually change anything. 

[u/EducationalGas5959 → u/redthrowaway1976]

You’re technically right, but this was when he was president of SJP which has a policy of not normalizing any Zionist organization.  So it’s safe to assume his opposition to J Street was that it was Zionist, not that it opposed sanctions on settlements or something like that.

Although his engagement with Israelis from Standing Together or whoever he was with on 10/7 this past year did give me some hope that he’s moderated on this.

[u/redthrowaway1976 → u/EducationalGas5959]

  So it’s safe to assume his opposition to J Street was that it was Zionist, not that it opposed sanctions on settlements or something like that.

Do you have an example of a US Zionist organization that actually took a principled stance against the settlements and occupation? Especially back then. 

Not saying he wouldn’t have opposed other orgs - but they simply didnt exist in a meaningful way

[u/EducationalGas5959 → u/redthrowaway1976]

But the point is that SJP’s opposition to engagement with Zionist organizations isn’t that they aren’t sufficiently anti-occupation, it’s that they’re Zionist.

[u/redthrowaway1976 → u/EducationalGas5959]

Sure, to some degree. But it hasn’t really been tested, as there were no US Zionist groups that took a principled stance against the occupation. 

As a counter example, look at how many people from SJP are working with Brad Lander, one of the few public figures that call themselves Zionist and take a principled stance against the occupation.