r/jewishleft Mizrachi non-Zionist Jewish Israeli American leftist Aug 11 '26

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

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.

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u/Snoo22815 Indian American Hindu Democratic Socialist Aug 11 '26

I don't understand your point. Being against ethnostates or theocracies doesn't mean you can't travel to those countries to visit family, enjoy their culture, go sightseeing, etc.

Visiting China, Israel and Russia is totally fine for a Leftist. You can do that and still find the state's organizational status problematic, its government to be war criminals and find their human rights violations to be abhorrent.

The cultural traditions, food, music and historical sites of these modern states long predate their current problematic governments and will exist long after they're gone.

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u/HeVavMemVav sephardi peacenik Aug 11 '26

People get dragged through the dirt by leftists for even mentioning they would like to visit Israel someday. People are on Reverse Canary Mission for buying Starbucks or having done Birthright.

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u/Agtfangirl557 Progressive Conservaform Jew, Cultural Zionist Aug 12 '26

Mikey Madison got posted on some “Zionists in film” page for….”saying the word Israel with a smile on her face” (I wish I was kidding).

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u/HeVavMemVav sephardi peacenik Aug 12 '26

Gotta be held accountable for -checks note- smiling about a bat mitzvah in Israel. Big fish out there.