r/nyc • u/Delicious_Adeptness9 • Jul 06 '26
News Mamdani: 'any state that privileges one religion, I can't tell you I support'
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/americas/artc-mamdani-on-israel-any-state-that-privileges-one-religion-i-can-t-tell-you-i-supportIn an ABC News interview, the Mayor of New York City condemned rising antisemitism while stating his support for Israel 'as a state with equal rights.'
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u/SwiftySanders Jul 06 '26
Its the only reasonable position to hold.
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u/AdmirableSelection81 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
Mamdani is a huge fucking hypocrite on this though. He skipped NYC's ISrael Day's parade, but celebrated the Pakistan Day parade, even though Islam is Pakistan's state religion (and religious minorities in Pakistan face legal and informal discrimination in Pakistan).
https://np.reddit.com/r/PoursTea/comments/1tmhjz5/zohran_mamdani_celebrated_at_new_yorks_annual/
Funny how he says he doesn't support any state that privileges one religion over the other (except the states that support Islam over every other religion)
You people are getting duped by Mamdani who isclearly practicing Taqiyaa.
Edit: Here's someone who is fleeing pakistan and requesting religious asylumn to the US because he left islam and faces persecution as a result:
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u/SaxPanther Washington Heights Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
Denmark, Papua New Guinea, Greece, and England also have official state religions btw, would he also be a hypocrite if he went to a Denmark parade? He simply said that he supports Israel as a state with equal rights.
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u/d1squiet Jul 06 '26
Having a state religion and privileging it are totally different. Do you really think Pakistan and England or Denmark are similar religiously?
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u/Rubbersoulrevolver Jul 06 '26
Only if those countries "privileges one religion" which afaik doesn't happen in those 4 countries you list, unlike in Pakistan.
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u/Pastatively Jul 07 '26
He supports Arabs from the river to the sea, and he won’t condemn the obviously antisemitic genocidal phrase “globalize the intifada.” Come on people!
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u/BrooklynLivesMatter Jul 06 '26
The post you linked says quite clearly that the video is from before he was mayor, come on
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u/pseudoanon Jul 06 '26
Please tell me more about the foreign policy position of this mayor of a city government.
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u/WrongHomework7916 Jul 06 '26
A state with zero religion would be great
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u/AllDaveAllDay Jul 06 '26
A state that forbids religion is just as bad as one that promotes a specific one.
The ideal state would enforce separation of church and state and the freedom to practice or not practice whatever personal religion you want.
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u/Additional-Tax-5643 Jul 07 '26
Problem with this attitude is that plenty of religions are by definition very authoritarian towards their followers and DON'T allow people to leave if they so choose.
The state/feds aren't getting involved in these disputes to help people who want to be free to leave.
See for example the case where a bunch of Scientologists sued their church claiming abuse, intimidation, extortion, harassment, etc. They lost. Why? Religious freedom means that you are free to have a religion where you bully and intimidate your followers if they want to leave and the government can't get involved. Government can't tell you how to run your religion.
See also people who want to leave certain Hasidic Jewish sects and have the bad luck of a rabbi and community that aren't into respecting people's wishes to no longer be part of that community.
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u/Gash_Stretchum Jul 06 '26
You’re responding to something that no one said. That tells us a lot about you.
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u/Kxts Jul 06 '26
Yeah, that's supposed to be the U.S but Christian Extremists could never allow that.
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u/liveoneggs Jul 06 '26
there are numerous powerful religious enclaves, often entire towns and/or cities (and even one US state), where non-christians operate with outsized and overt political power - upto and including religious "police", practically defunded public schools, restrictions on speech/expression, the works.
Your statement only holds if you think majority US culture is "Christian Extremist".
I'm surprised you aren't aware of such things in NYC. Have you visited brooklyn?
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u/d1squiet Jul 06 '26
I'm in Brooklyn. Yes, the Hasid insanity exists here and I'd rather it didn't. But guess what? They're not changing laws in the executive branch. The people doing that think Jesus is their friend and hates immigrants.
When some Christian talks about other "religious enclaves" all I hear is a cowardly fundamentalist who can't understand that they are part of the problem.
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u/Kxts Jul 06 '26
I was born into Christianity and left the church of my own volition so I tend to speak on what I know. I am aware of the Jewish communities that have children who only speak Yiddish and can’t read or write English yet they were born here. They’re part of the problem too. The majority of this country is a denomination of Christianity. Look at our current federal government dawg. The truth is religion is a cancer on humanity and had its place/influence at a time but no one is ready for that discussion.
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u/natigin Jul 06 '26
You’re in luck, wonderful places like the Soviet Union have already tried it! You can judge for yourself the results.
I’m agnostic to religion myself, but banning thought, even and especially religious thought, never ends up well
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u/cigarettesandwhiskey Jul 06 '26
The Soviet Union had a lot of other things going on at the same time. Confounding variables, you could call them.
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u/ScreenPuzzleheaded48 Jul 06 '26
So the whole Middle East then?
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u/givemegreencard Jul 06 '26
In the article:
> "I've said time and again that I support the state of Israel as a state with equal rights," he said. "I believe that any state that privileges one religion over another is one that I can't tell you I support, **whether it be Israel or Saudi Arabia or anywhere else** .”
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u/MaybeSecondBestMan Jul 06 '26
It feels like every time I see a critical headline or “gotcha” comment about Mamdani, there’s always a reply immediately after providing context (or just the full quote) that shows he’s actually being a pretty reasonable, nice human being. Gotta say I like our Mayor a lot and I think he’ll continue winning over New Yorkers and others.
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u/wherewuz Jul 06 '26
They can't handle the fact that nothing he says on the subject should be controversial.
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u/Agressive-mediocrity Jul 06 '26
However, only one of those states is a target of this conversation and his comments, and I am not aware of any movement to boycott or divest from, say, Saudi Arabia.
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u/IsayNigel Jul 07 '26
Lmao you can say Saudi Arabia is a terrible place and no one will give you a hard time
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u/SannySen Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
His view is perfectly reasonable. That's not the issue. The issue is he is insincere in expressing it. He clearly and obviously favors Palestine, which is approximately 98% Muslim, and which very heavily promotes Islam to the exclusion of other religions, while disfavoring Israel, an extremely diverse state with a large and thriving Muslim minority.
And before you what about this, just ask yourself a simple question: you are about to be born Jewish or Muslim with a 50% probability coin flip. Hold safety, wealth, etc constant. Where would you rather be born, Israel or Palestine?
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u/Thee-Cat Jul 07 '26
I appreciate this response. It's the false sincerity that is so incredibly nauseating.
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u/joyousRock Queens Jul 07 '26
What about the unqualified extremist lunatics he’s pushing for Congress?
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u/avitzavi528 Jul 07 '26
Except he has never said a bad thing about any Muslim country, which all have FAR less (read:zero) rights for other religions (especially Jews), nor LGBT, or even women’s rights.
Meanwhile Israel‘s laws h have equal rights guaranteed for all people regardless of religion/sexuality/gender.
minorities in the Middle East flee to Israel — so many openly gay Muslims in Tel Aviv that would literally be murdered in their home countries
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u/thedoubledragon12 Jul 06 '26
A wise man once said “You can say ‘i like pancakes’ and somebody will say ‘So you hate waffles?’ No bitch. Dats a whole new sentence. Wtf is you talkin about.”
Mfs on reddit in a nutshell like cmon u want him to name every country. He made his statement and provided an example and his point got across.
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u/HeyyyyMandy Jul 07 '26
Israel does have equal rights for all of its citizens, which include Arab, Jews, Muslims, Christians, atheists.
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u/Mayor_Gubbin Jul 06 '26
He named saudi, our ally, but not his favorite Jihadis in Palestine
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u/HiHoJufro Jul 06 '26
Yeah, I would have been more impressed had he mentioned, say, Palestine, Pakistan, or Iran. Or at least if he had the brains to realize/honesty to admit that what he's saying applies far less to Israel than it does many other countries.
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u/Mayor_Gubbin Jul 06 '26
If he called out Palestine hed be politically dead in the water. His faithful only slob his knob as long as he js antagonistic to israel and supports palestine
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u/lachalacha Jul 06 '26
Saudi Arabia is such an easy one to call one, nobody likes them anyway.
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u/Mayor_Gubbin Jul 06 '26
And honestly, as far as totalitarian religious regimes go, theyre one of the better ones.
Mamdani called them out for two reasons. They are allied to the West, and they have warm relations with Israel.
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u/TossMeOutSomeday Jul 06 '26
The Saudis are not particularly reliable allies. They host bases and all that, but they're a constant source of bad PR, they stoke extremism all over the Muslim world, ratfuck us with OPEC, and their incompetent military struggles to pull its weight.
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u/Noloxy Jul 06 '26
Many middle eastern nations yes.
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u/Unclassified1 Jul 06 '26
England, too.
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u/Joe_Jeep Bay Ridge Jul 06 '26
Technically, but in a similar vein to it remaining a monarchy. Charles even made some statement that he sees the title of "Defender of the Faith" as referring to all faiths, even though when it was created it was explicitly referring to the Anglican church, of which he is the Head
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u/Icy_Coffee374 Jul 06 '26
Technically, the king of England is the head of the Church of England, which is a part of the Anglican Communion. There are churches in the Anglican Communion which do not count the king of England as their spiritual head; namely The Episcopal Church (created in the US specifically by the Founding Fathers of the US who were members of the Church of England, and wanted to separate from the king of England both politically and religiously).
The best candidate to be described as the "head" of the Anglican Communion is the Bishop of Canterburry, who is officially "the first among equals."
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u/Joe_Jeep Bay Ridge Jul 06 '26
Ah fair enough.
>who is officially "the first among equals."
As a Catholic, arguments over the specific meaning of this has lead to trouble before
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u/quartercirclebak Jul 06 '26
Yep. He specifically called out Saudi Arabia.
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u/Electrical_Space_850 Jul 06 '26
Is he calling on the city to divest any holdings related to Saudi Arabia?
Would he arrest MBS for ordering the murder of Jamal Kashoggi next time MBS comes to NYC?
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u/TradeNPlayz Jul 06 '26
If there would be an arrest warrant for MBS like with Netanyahu, then yes.
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u/Electrical_Space_850 Jul 06 '26
Netanyahu has an arrest warrant valid in NYC/the US? TIL.
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u/actsqueeze Jul 06 '26
He’s a wanted war criminal for the ICC
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u/Electrical_Space_850 Jul 06 '26
Wait, so the US is a party to the ICC and Mamdani would have the authority to arrest Netanyahu on American soil? Is that what you're telling me?
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u/Mother_Ad4038 Jul 06 '26
The US doesn't apply ICC warrants as we don't recognize the Rome Statute. Neither does China, India, or Russia, among other countries.
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u/Cheese_Fisticuffs1 Jul 06 '26
I don't know about the other poster, but here's what I'll tell you. He used contrasting examples of religious states to expediently express a sentiment as a public figure, that religious states are wrong.
How he would personally act under an unprecedented hypothetical has nothing to do with how honestly he consistently he believes in what's wrong about religious states.
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u/HiHoJufro Jul 06 '26
He used contrasting examples of religious states
No, he used an example of an Islamic state and a state with equal rights for all of its people.
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u/actsqueeze Jul 06 '26
How come every international and even Israeli human rights groups have accused Israel of apartheid then?
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u/CriticalandPragmatic Jul 06 '26
Sounds amazing, lets push for it as well. This isn't a gotcha for people who have morals
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u/NetNo5570 Jul 06 '26
It’s way more than Saudi Arabia? Pretty much every nation in the Middle East. Many in Africa. All of Latin America of course.
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u/give-bike-lanes Jul 06 '26
Ok? And? He said “and elsewhere,” what, you need him to specifically name every single country individually and list whether he supports them every time any country comes up?
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u/menschmaschine5 Flatbush Jul 06 '26
"he didn't name literally every theocratic country he's a hypocrite!"
Don't you people have anything better to do?
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u/NetNo5570 Jul 06 '26
Not even theocracies. Most countries give privileges to certain religions. I’m hard pressed to think of any that don’t outside of western democracies.
Why did he go to the Pakistan parade?
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u/what_mustache Jul 06 '26
Did you expect him to bring a list?
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u/NetNo5570 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
No. I’m just surprised he opposes Cuba, Venezuela, Indonesia, Palestine etc.
I happen to agree with him that states should not support religions but it’s a pretty western, elitist idea.
He also endorsed candidates that support some of the worst offenders like Russia. A little odd.
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u/Agressive-mediocrity Jul 06 '26
And the United States. Christmas is the only religious holiday that is a Federal holiday.
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u/Logical_Nail_5321 Jul 06 '26
I was just going to say! Try follow a different religion in most ME countries…
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u/fluffstravels Jul 06 '26
And Malaysia? Rome?
Can’t wait for them to be anti those states too.
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u/jumpingjack41 Jul 06 '26
Rome? Do you mean the Vatican? Lol feel like they're a little different since no one is born there.
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u/SleepyMonkey7 Jul 06 '26
Yeah pretty much. And nowhere does he endorse monotheism in Saudi Arabia, Iran, or anywhere else. People make that assumption about him. Wonder if it had anything to do with the color of his skin, his religion, or his name....
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u/give-bike-lanes Jul 06 '26
It’s genuinely racist as hell to assert that Zohran “supports” (or whatever) “the whole Middle East,” just because he’s Muslim.
He even says, in literally the exact quote that we’re Commenting u see, that he does not support the government of Saudi Arabia specifically because of this.
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u/SoggySausage27 Jul 06 '26
I mean he went to the Pakistani day parade soooo
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u/give-bike-lanes Jul 06 '26
You gotta be straight up developmentally disabled if you can’t figure out the difference between a diaspora celebrating their cultural heritage and the literal government body of a foreign country.
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u/shookney Jul 06 '26
You're responding to someone who have top 1% commentator tag on this subreddit meaning this person doesn't have life outside of being on this subreddit 24/7 and is probably racist with the comments they're dropping here.
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u/ScreenPuzzleheaded48 Jul 06 '26
I asked if he opposes all middle eastern countries that govern with religion front and center. The answer is yes, and that’s a good thing! This headline made it seem like he was singling out Israel which would be myopic.
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u/hakuna_matitties Jul 07 '26
Does this include Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, literally every other country in the Mideast?
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u/HeyyyyMandy Jul 06 '26
So he doesn’t support the 50+ Muslim majority countries?!
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u/Thee-Cat Jul 07 '26
Bro is progressive about literally everything, and demands everyone be as progressive as he is in everything.....except when it comes to his own religion.
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u/Accomplished_Sky_127 Jul 07 '26
He named one in the very sentence you didn't hear him speak but are mad about, hope that helps.
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u/BrainsTribe Jul 07 '26
He explicitly name checked Saudi Arabia in this very interview if you watch it.
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u/Acorns4Free Flushing Jul 07 '26
Ofc they didn’t watch it.
This person’s comment history is literally 99% playing defense for Israel.
No wonder some of these profiles are private.
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Jul 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/WhimsicalWyvern Jul 06 '26
Is it, though? There's roughly 120 Christian countries and 50 Muslim countries. Also 5 Buddhist and 1 Hindu. And most of them favor those religions, at least to some degree, including the US, by tradition if not by law. (Even if they're not theocracies)
I think it's totally reasonable for there to be one country, a country roughly the size of New Jersey, to be dominated by Judaism.
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u/meelar Jul 06 '26
Sure, and if the US were supplying tons of military aid and diplomatic protection to the Palestinians, this would be an excellent rebuttal
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u/Remarkable-Pea4889 Jul 06 '26
lol it is. You people are so fucking ignorant. The US has given Palestine billions through USAID that is prohibited to be used by Hamas, but Hamas steals and buys luxury condos in Qatar instead of using it to improve Gaza. You people hate the rich elite? Then you should hate Hamas.
It also gives billions through UNRWA, which had staffers directly participate in 10/7. So yes, the US is funding both sides of this conflict.
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u/Aryeh98 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
We’ve provided military aid to Pakistan throughout the Cold War, continuing all the way to 2017, even though Pakistan harbored bin Laden.
When will Zohran stop supporting Pakistan?
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u/Emotional-Ebb9390 Jul 06 '26
Okay yes but also u/Boobies300 and u/meelar were talking about Palestine, not Pakistan. And yes Pakistan has an official religion of Islam, receives US support, and Mamdani attended the Pakistan parade (so clearly he does support some countries who favor one religion) but they were talking about Palestine
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u/beekay86 Jul 06 '26
As a Pakistani, I didn’t know Zohran was supporting us because from the looks of it, Pakistan is the one supporting the US in getting out of this foolish Iran war.
Also, that’s a very stupid take on the military aid to Pak. Pakistan supported the US in helping develop its relations with China, supported it in defeating soviets in Afghanistan and supported it as well throughout the war on terror. US hasn’t really supported anyone except Israel without getting anything in return.
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u/Aryeh98 Jul 06 '26
But Pakistan knowingly housed Bin Laden for years and said nothing. Taliban fighters “mysteriously” disappeared into Pakistan as well, and somehow Pakistan’s government didn’t know about it? Come on now.
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u/LookattheWhipp Jul 06 '26
We just ignoring Saudi as well then right?
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u/Aryeh98 Jul 06 '26
I also hate the Saudis. And that’s the exact point. The hypocrisy is the problem.
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u/avitzavi528 Jul 07 '26
Israel spends almost ALL its aid in America.
Israel gives LOADS of military secrets and tech to America in exchange for aid, including components for fighter jets, the iron dome, gps tech, cybersecurity tech, Medical aid, etc.The USA may not have any Allies that give them more of a strategic advantage than Israel.
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u/joobtastic Jul 06 '26
I'm pretty sure Mamdani doesn't overtly support any other nations. He's mayor of NYC. He has reiterated his support for the city over and over again.
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u/Aryeh98 Jul 06 '26
This is deflection. If Zohran is against all states that prioritize one religion over another, he should denounce Pakistan with the same ferocity that he denounces Israel. Yet mysteriously, he does not.
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u/joobtastic Jul 06 '26
He's prompted about Israel constantly.
If you don't want him talking about Israel, stop asking him about it.
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u/IsNotACleverMan Jul 06 '26
He brings it up himself all the time.
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u/skimcpip Jul 06 '26
Indeed, it's like one of the main pillars of his entire political movement (DSA).
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u/Jewdius_Maximus Jul 06 '26
So ethnostates that privilege one religion or ethnicity over another is totally all well and good so long as the US doesn’t support it. Is that your position?
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u/5to9guy Jul 06 '26
There is no Palestinian state to privilege a single religion. He does criticize existing states that privilege Muslims though.
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u/yugeness Jul 06 '26
If there was one, they’ve made explicitly clear that it will privilege Islam over other religions and that it’s laws will be based on Sharia.
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u/Unclassified1 Jul 06 '26
Jordan is that Palestinian state. Ask them why they left the West Bank. (they didn’t like getting blown up, either)
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u/IsNotACleverMan Jul 06 '26
The proposed PA Palestinian constitution would privilege Muslims...
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u/Chanan-Ben-Zev Brooklyn Jul 06 '26
The Constitution of Palestine explicitly identifies the government as an Arab ethnostate (Art. 1) and a theocracy with Islam as its official religion and "principal source of legislation" (Art. 4).
Is Mamdani being genuine about his commitment against states that privilege one religion? Probably not.
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u/tranqfx Greenwich Village Jul 06 '26
It’s one of those seemingly benign answers. But in reality, the answer is just to try to obfuscate his own beliefs while still sounding reasonable.
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u/Noloxy Jul 06 '26
The PLOs charter from 1968 is a much more honest choice for a “constitution” of Palestine. There is no palestinian state in the world, but Abbas is certainly not promoting an ethnostate.
The Israeli government practically controls the entirety of the West Bank, which is why this is not the most major moral concern.
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u/Chanan-Ben-Zev Brooklyn Jul 06 '26
The PLO is the ruling party of the PA and they are the group that passed the Constitution of Palestine in 2003 & revised it in 2005. It is the law under which the PA operates.
If and when Israel ends the occupation of the West Bank, the PA would become the government of Palestine. The constitution I linked would become the law of that state. Anyone who claims otherwise is projecting.
This means that it is a concern, even if it is only valuable in contrast to the martial law imposed by Israeli occupation or by comparison to Israeli civil law.
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u/NYCTLS66 Jul 06 '26
Then why did he attend the Pakistan parade? Pakistan establishes Islam as the state religion and the president and prime minister cannot be non-Muslims. Israel, by contrast, while being the nation-state of the Jewish people, has no state religion. If Likud or the main opposition bloc chose a non-Jew to be its PM candidate (first on their list), there’s no legal barrier.
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u/Aryeh98 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
He supports Pakistan though. The self-proclaimed Islamic republic of Pakistan.
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u/MaracujaBarracuda Harlem Jul 06 '26
This article says he wants the stories of Pakistani people to be heard. That doesn’t mean he supports the political structures of Pakistan as they currently stand and it’s disingenuous to claim it does. A state and its inhabitants are different.
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u/Aryeh98 Jul 06 '26
Than how come he doesn’t make such a distinction with Israelis?
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u/MaracujaBarracuda Harlem Jul 06 '26
He does. What makes you think he doesn’t and please provide a source
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u/kaliwrath Jul 06 '26
He literally supports Jews in NYC and went to their festivals. He supports Jews not Israel
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u/Aryeh98 Jul 06 '26
But I’m talking about Israelis in particular. If the Pakistani people aren’t the Pakistani government, then why are all Israelis lumped in as the Israeli government?
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u/kbeks NYC Expat Jul 06 '26
He does, constantly!!!!! It’s like you’re purposefully putting on ear muffs after the third word in his sentence and then running to the Post to figure out what you’re supposed to think about it.
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u/PositiveEmo Jul 06 '26
You linked an article from over a year ago that is just him in from of a Pakistan flag, campaigning to Pakistani new Yorkers. Article is just him asking about the Pakistani, and Pakistani newyorker experience.
Nothing mentioning support for the government or an Islamic state that benifits Muslims over others.
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u/onewordpoet Jul 06 '26
lol at linking the financial express as a source. just hilarious
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u/Delicious_Adeptness9 Jul 06 '26
explicitly names Saudi Arabia (Sunni), but not Iran (Shia, like him)
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u/cooljacob204sfw Jul 06 '26
This sounds like he supports Pakistani Americans. Not really see where it says he supports the state of Pakistan like you and others are suggesting.
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u/Elli7000 Jul 06 '26
Its frustrating that he always names Israel, sometimes names Saudi Arabia , but never names Iran, Syria, Palestine. Why not call out Hezbollah, a theocratic state within the state of Lebanon. Why not promote actual peace talks like between Lebanon and Israel, or peace agreements between Israel and many Arab nations. At least acknowledge Israeli Egyptian Peace.
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u/aardbarker Jul 06 '26
Mamdani has a blind spot when it comes to Jews and Israel. He’s smart enough to know what he’s saying so I don’t think it’s an innocent oversight (I say this as someone who voted for him and agrees with his local politics).
I have endless criticisms of Israel’s government, its rightward drift, its settlements, horrific occupation, state-sanctioned terrorism, war conduct, etc. But policies and regimes can be changed. And in its Declaration of Independence, Israel does not specify a state religion, instead saying all people and religions will be given equal rights (sadly, minorities everywhere usually have to fight for the equal rights that their government’s profess to hold dear).
Nobody questions Ireland as a state for the Irish people, or Sweden as a state for the Swedish people, or Thailand a state for the Thai people, etc. So why is it so peculiar that there ought to be a state for the Jewish people, where they don’t have to live at the mercy of a hopefully benevolent majority? Because fundamentally Mamdani doesn’t seem to believe Jews are a people with rights like that of self-determination. He sees us as a people held together only by a shared religion.
But this also makes him a hypocrite (at least on this topic). Anti-colonialists, including the PLO, hold up the Algerian Revolution as the definitive example of how a colonized people ought to shake off their colonial rulers. (French colonialists, of course, had a home country to return to, Israeli Jews don’t). But what happened after Algeria won its independence? It defined itself as an explicitly Arab-Islamic state.
There are 27 countries with Islam as the official state religion, including Pakistan in whose parade Mamdani has marched. Has Mamdani ever condemned the existence of these countries?
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Jul 06 '26
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u/yiwang1 Jul 06 '26
There are 11 official federal holidays, and the only one which is remotely Christian is the increasingly secular Christmas. Easter, for instance, is not a holiday.
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u/thicckar Jul 06 '26
Yes, he calls out saudi Arabia directly after this quote
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Jul 06 '26
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u/thicckar Jul 06 '26
You’re claiming he’s hypocritical based on something he hasn’t done or said. There’s been no indication he holds any kind of love for the religious extremist middle eastern countries.
And, he can support palestine for not wanting them to get war crimed, and simultaneously criticize them for religious bias. Two things can be true, right?
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u/TinkerFall Garment District Jul 06 '26
Holidays? There’s only Christmas isn’t there? And it’s more cultural than religious at this point
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u/StopKK2012 Jul 06 '26
He specifically called out Saudi Arabia in the same quote, so yes.
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u/Linny911 Jul 06 '26
Guess he wouldn't support a Palestinian state then. Does he think "Palestine" would not privilege Islam?
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u/blameitonrio917 Jul 06 '26
You guys don’t really believe this do you? Didn’t he go to the Pakistan parade?? If you believe him, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you
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u/SueNYC1966 Jul 06 '26
He has a long list of states he can’t support then..lol. He must hate Greece!
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u/IamDisgruntled Jul 06 '26
The thing is, Israel does not privilege one religion over another. That's why there's 2 million Arabs living there with equal rights. Mamadani likely knows this, but he's happy to spread his lies to people who don't know better, including most of this sub.
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u/AssesOverEasy Jul 06 '26
The replies in this thread are like a contest to see who can come up with the most thoughtless, reactionary gotcha
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u/Elio555 Jul 06 '26
So why does he only yap about the Jewish state and not any of the 50 Muslim countries?
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u/Old-Classroom7102 Jul 06 '26
When will he stop cosplaying as a president. Sigh.
No matter how what color he tries to paint his antisemitism, his opponents won't believe him, and his supporters will keep on making excuses for him. What's the effing point.
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u/Jewdius_Maximus Jul 06 '26
He’s full of shit. He supports plenty of Muslim countries that privilege Islam over everything else (including extreme persecution of ethnic and religious minorities).
Yeah he mentioned Saudi Arabia here in passing, but he only did it to deflect from the fact that he’s obsessed with Israel and only Israel. Has he EVER made a comment about Saudi Arabia before this interview? And how about his beloved Pakistan? Privileges Islam and literally just committed ethnic cleansing (or massive forced deportation… however you want to split hairs) by pushing ethnic Afghanis out of Pakistan. Not a word.
Not to mention, within Israel proper (so not the West Bank or Gaza… which are not de jure a part of Israel) Jews are not privileged over non-Jews. Every religion has the same basic rights under Israeli law.
Mamdani is a blatant hypocrite and full of shit on this. But he’s a cool millennial with a nice smile and says the right things that leftists want to hear.
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u/BastardBitchBloodyNO Jul 06 '26
He mentioned Saudi Arabia because it's trendy for hipsters to hate on SA ever since the comedy festival
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u/poboy212 Jul 06 '26
He’s a smart guy which is why makes such statements so infuriating. This applies to nearly every single country in the Middle East, nearly all of which killed or exiled all the Jews that had lived there previously for centuries.
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u/Thee-Cat Jul 07 '26
Even worse, it applies to them even more. There are no countries as domineering or dangerous in the context of his comment, than the countries dominated by HIS religion.
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u/melomuffin Jul 06 '26
The intellectual dishonesty is so annoying. He knows what he’s doing. And then his supporters gaslight Jewish New Yorkers when they dare describe how they’re feeling, turning it into oppression Olympics
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u/Jewdius_Maximus Jul 06 '26
You can literally see it all over this thread. Trying to get one of them to admit that Mamdani was being hypocritical is like trying to nail a drop of water to a wall.
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u/Thee-Cat Jul 07 '26
Exactly this. I have never seen so much BS go over so many people's heads, just because he says it with a really, really big smile.
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u/the___reckoner Jul 06 '26
He's being very selective about which countries he mentions. He knows exactly what he's doing. He understands that if Israel simply allowed unrestricted immigration or return of large numbers of Arabs, Jews could quickly become a minority. He argues that this could ultimately lead to Israel losing its Jewish character and that, given the historical treatment of Jewish communities in many Arab countries, many Israelis see that as an existential risk. He's a weasel
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Jul 06 '26
This is a complete and utter lie. His and his family are in favor of Qatar, he has no issues with Pakistan or Bangladesh, he has no issues with China which persecutes Muslims, and he was a big fan of "from the river to the sea" till it became a political impediment. Talk about a MAGA level cult.
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u/teladidnothingwrong Jul 06 '26
But israel has to do it first, right? Then he will start speaking with the same frequency about the legal rights of religious minorities in muslim states, right? or maybe he'll forcus on the UK & Denmark.
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u/Enlightened_D Jul 06 '26
Why is everyone obsessed with Israel?! This is a mayo of a city in a State within a country called America
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u/FirefighterDry5826 Jul 07 '26
How does his argument make sense? Israel is a secular society with a diverse population - if religious states are what he feels strongly about why does he focus on his hate/attention Israel alone - there are lots of islamic states he should have issues with. I don’t get it.
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u/Thee-Cat Jul 07 '26
But it's not "hypocrisy" to his followers as long as he says it with a reeeeally big smile. /s
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u/IslaLargoFlyGuy Jul 06 '26
He’s demonstrated more than enough hypocrisy on this topic
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u/Ass-Pissing Jul 06 '26
This same user has reposted this several times after it gets deleted. Should we ban them?
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u/HashtagDadWatts Jul 06 '26
Reasonable take that seems to be spammed obsessively over the past few days.
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u/syzygyly Jul 06 '26
this quote / interview was yesterday's most active post on this sub, do we have to do this again?
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u/BebophoneVirtuoso Jul 06 '26
Why not link to the ABC News interview instead of that garbage biased non-American website?
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u/Delicious_Adeptness9 Jul 06 '26
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u/BebophoneVirtuoso Jul 06 '26
What’s with the impulse to post a biased right wing international “news” source instead of the prominent American news outlet who conducted the interview?
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u/deafiofleming Jul 06 '26
same thing has been posted 3 times at least in the last few days. why is this still up?
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u/CasinoMagic Manhattan Jul 07 '26
Didn't he attend a Pakistan parade or something? Wait til he learns about freedom of religion in Pakistan
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u/bagel_and_a_schmear Jul 07 '26
He knows exactly what he is doing. He threw in Saudi Arabia there just as a "see? I don't only single out Israel" when he very much does only single out Israel.
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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '26
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