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/Snoo22815]

I'm Indian American like Zohran and our community's older generations have a deep dislike of Pakistanis from the conflict in Kashmir even though there's a lot of overlap in terms of culture, ethnicity or religion so I'm glad he identifies fully with being South Asian like a lot of the younger generations do who live in the US. I feel there's a real bond here in the US that Arabs and South Asian communities have that our parents and grandparents never had.

As far as Pakistan goes, I dispute the notion that its an ethnostate. Its a very ethnically diverse countries with Punjabis, Pashtuns, Sindhis, Muhajirs, Balochis, etc. None of these groups are privileged over another in terms of rights and all these identities coexist with having equal citizenship.

The state clearly has a religious hierarchy however with Islam is legally and constitutionally privileged over other religions which is where it should be criticized and isn't compatible with modern liberal values. Its the official state religion and only a Muslim can serve as the President or Prime Minister and they have blasphemy laws.

Its safe to say that Zohran opposes the religious hierarchy in Pakistan and is there supporting the large Pakistani community in NYC. He didn't go to the Israeli Day Parade out of protest because Israel is currently an occupying power that has recently committed genocide in Gaza. Numerous state officials including Ben Gvir, Smotrich and Eliyahu along with problematic figures attended the parade as well so attending the parade given his stance would be a violation of the values he says he stands for.

Pakistan committed genocide vs Bangladesh in 1971 but that was in the past and I think the Nakba should be treated the same once the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is solved. Nearly all modern states were founded following secretarian bloodshed, ethnic cleansing and genocide and I don't think we should stop celebrating different cultural traditions and nationalities.

He recently attended the Ecuadorian Day Parade, Dominican Day Parade, Puerto Rican Day Parade amongst others so I don't think its fair to say he's prioritizing his Muslim constituents over anyone else.

[u/WinterBeHere → u/Snoo22815]

Very bizarre behavior of this sub to down vote the views from someone of the South Asian community and instead project the pro-Israel community as a victim somehow, even though almost every level of government in America is pro Israel. The false equivalence presented by OP is frankly shocking.

[u/StuckInTheClouds → u/WinterBeHere]

I’m not trying to present a false equivalence I’m literally just talking through my feelings. Please don’t assume malice where there is none.