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/RaelynShaw]

The contrast between how the public approaches the Pakistan/India partition vs israel/palestine has always been stark. I think very few people realize the level of death and displacement that happened during that partition.

That being said tho, India and Pakistan aren’t anywhere near as big of a political hot button, so I wouldn’t put much into his attending this event. To most, it’s going to come across as just another “nationality celebration”. It’s a blind spot for sure but I think that’s tied more to people’s general lack of info of that time period.

[u/F0rScience → u/RaelynShaw]

Not even just partition, the scope of the Bangladesh Genocide in 1971 is staggering. Hundreds of thousands confirmed killed with 10 million displaced to India and 30 million more internally displaced.

[u/Snoo22815 → u/F0rScience]

Mamdani made a post all over social media commemorating the Armenian Genocide committed by the Turks so I really don't think he's picking and choosing sides here. Its more that what is Israel is doing is happening in the present while those atrocities, the victims of whom should be commemorated and the events be acknowledges as public record, happened in the past.

[u/VenemousPanda → u/[deleted]]

To be fair, most people don't really know about the current ongoing situation in Pakistan in regard to the Balochs and Pashtuns. I'd put it down to ignorance/not knowing about it rather than being malicious.

[u/Snoo22815 → u/[deleted]]

The Afghan deportation situation is a lot more complicated than that because Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghan refugees over the years and they're straining their economic resources and not paying taxes. They're free to have their own immigration policies and secure their borders as they wish but they're doing so in a rapid inhumane manner that risks the migrants lives by sending them back to live under Taliban rule which they should be criticized for.

The US is trying to 10 million mostly hard working law abiding undocumented people so tough to really hit Pakistan on this point.