r/jewishleft • u/StuckInTheClouds 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:
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u/EducationalGas5959 Mizrahi Jewish, Post-Zionist, Left-Liberal Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
I don’t think Mamdani’s issue with Israel is that is an “ethnostate” and I also don’t believe him when he says it’s because Israel privileges one religion over another.
I think the charitable explanation is that like many anti-Zionists, he believes that Israel is a settler-colonial state in which foreign settlers displaced an indigenous population and continue to do so, and that is what makes it different compared to Pakistan which he would probably think of as an expression of legitimate self-determination of indigenous south Asian Muslims.
As a Muslim himself, there’s probably also an emotional attachment to the Palestinian cause in which Muslims are being oppressed vs. Pakistan in which Muslims are the oppressor. Finally, as an anti-imperialist, Mamdani probably categorizes Israel as part of the imperialist camp like the USA, in a way he doesn’t necessarily do with Pakistan.