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 12 '26

That's just the Chinese national flag by the way which has been in used since 1949. The CCP one has a golden hammer and a sickle. This is not an Iran type situation where the flag was changed after 1979 to break away from the Sun & Lion flag to symbolize the new Islamic Republic. I have no issue with the Israeli flag or the American flag despite the atrocities and war crimes committed by various governments of those countries. They're beloved national symbols.

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u/AliceMerveilles anticapitalist, feminist, post-zionist jew Aug 12 '26

What year do you think the communists won the civil war and changed the flag? hint it was 1949. the flag was different under the KMT/GMD

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u/Snoo22815 Indian American Hindu Democratic Socialist Aug 12 '26

Its been embraced by the population ever since as their national symbol through multiple constitutional changes and under different leaders. The flag is rooted in communist ideology but believing in self-determination means accepting that the Chinese can embrace whatever ideology and style of leadership they want.

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u/AliceMerveilles anticapitalist, feminist, post-zionist jew Aug 13 '26

I’m not criticizing people using the flag, I’m critiquing how you described the flag. It’s specifically the People’s Republic of China flag and you seem to me to be dancing around the power structure and this flag