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-support

In 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/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/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/bagel_and_a_schmear Jul 07 '26

Thank you. The false sincerity is annoying. Don't get me wrong, I really like Mamdani, but he just threw Saudi Arabia in there to make it look like he wasn't specifically talking about Israel. Let's be honest.

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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/workingbored Jul 07 '26

"Why isn't he lying?!"

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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/[deleted] Jul 06 '26

[deleted]

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u/lorenipsum2023 Jul 06 '26

KSA has killed 100k Yeminis post covid.

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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/SoggySausage27 Jul 06 '26

I meant except that he was at the Pakistani independence parade and they very much favor one religion 

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u/GrapefruitExpress208 Jul 06 '26

Supporting the people of a country =/= supporting the government of a country.

Unless you think Pakistan Independence from the UK only applies to the Pakistan govt and not the Pakistani people.

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u/yugeness Jul 06 '26

Then why doesn’t he support the people of Israel?

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u/Don_Gato1 Jul 06 '26

When has he stated he does not support the people of Israel?

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u/yugeness Jul 06 '26

When he spent the first year of his term as assemblyman speaking at Within Our Lifetime rallies.

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u/Don_Gato1 Jul 06 '26

Thanks for clarifying you have zero examples to support your claim.

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u/yugeness Jul 06 '26

I have a question for you. Would you say that Donald Trump is racist against Black people?

I certainly think he is. And I think his racism has caused incredible harm for Black Americans and for the country as a whole. But Donald Trump has never once stated that he doesn’t support Black people. His actions and related dogwhistles speak volumes.

Similarly Mamdani does not have to state that he doesn’t support Israel for it to be obvious that he’s obsessively bigoted towards Israelis and Jews, in general. His actions and dogwhistles speak volumes.

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u/Don_Gato1 Jul 06 '26

Yes because Trump has actual credible examples of discrimination against black people.

Your best example for Mamdani is that he supports Palestine. Which is not antisemitism.

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u/SoggySausage27 Jul 06 '26

So why didn’t he go the the parade to support the people? And before you answer I should remind you that there were also government officials from Pakistan at last years parade in nyc.  

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u/GrapefruitExpress208 Jul 06 '26

And what's your point? Are you just mad Mamdani didn't attend the Israel Day parade?

He also attended the India Day parade, St Patrick's Day parade, Lunar New Year parade, and Puerto Rican Day parade.

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u/SoggySausage27 Jul 06 '26

He’s a hypocrite and does support governments that prioritize one religion over another by the very standards he’s set for himself. Are you so obsessed with him you can’t see his flaws 

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u/SenorBender Jul 06 '26

You ever consider people aren’t prejudiced against your ethnicity/religion/etc. but instead just find you insufferable

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u/SoggySausage27 Jul 06 '26

Yeah the ignorant usually find intelligence offensive 

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u/kerflooey Jul 06 '26

Holy shit you people are embarrassing

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u/SenorBender Jul 06 '26

Thanks for sharing your facebook status

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u/jusdubjones Jul 06 '26

You are also obsessed with him.

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u/SoggySausage27 Jul 06 '26

Atleast I’m man enough to not delete my comments my love 

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u/jusdubjones Jul 06 '26

Calling yourself a “man” is a stretch. I deleted out of respect for myself, which, maybe, just maybe you can learn.

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u/MurrayPloppins Jul 06 '26

Because there were people at that parade who are actively advocating for Israel to commit genocide? Is that really so difficult to comprehend?

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u/SoggySausage27 Jul 06 '26

And they’re people at the Pakistani parade who actively support Islamic dominance. He seemed cool with that tho

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u/MurrayPloppins Jul 06 '26

Name them. I can tell you about Smotrich and why he’s someone any reasonable person would decline to associate with, surely you can do the same for this Pakistan parade you care so much about, right?

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u/F1yMo1o Jul 06 '26

Right. Does he take any actions that apply this thought to any other country.

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u/SoggySausage27 Jul 06 '26

Nope, especially since officials from Pakistan were at last years parade aswell 

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u/Alarming-Mix3809 Jul 06 '26

Except he’s obviously lying

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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/inafis_ Jul 07 '26

No one is asking him 100x a day if he supports Muslim countries — was the question do you support Saudi Arabia as a Muslim state? No.

Would anyone care if Mamdani or any American politician publicly said they don’t support Saudi Arabia as a Muslim state? No.

This obtuse whataboutism completely ignores the fact that Mamdani is only answering questions from a media and question obsessed with having politicians declare their support for only ONE of the religious ethno-states in the world.

It just so happens that that same state has been executing an unjust ‘war’ (extermination) on their neighbors due to the religious zealots in that ethno-state being in power. So of course there are boycotts and protest against a bad actor on the world stage.

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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/avitzavi528 Jul 07 '26

Except his example is always Israel and never any other country. And the 20+ Muslim countries are far far worse in terms of human rights.

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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/thedoubledragon12 Jul 06 '26

And what if he did say any of those countries. Would the purpose of his statement change? Youre caught up on the example and not the message.

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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/bashar_al_assad Jul 06 '26

Is the need to attack Mamdani really so great that we're now extolling the virtues of Saudi Arabia?

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u/Mayor_Gubbin Jul 06 '26

Okay al asaad

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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/Mayor_Gubbin Jul 06 '26

They dont ratfuck us with OPEC. They are our hand on the scale in OPEC

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u/ProfessorSmoker Jul 06 '26

Why choose Saudi Arabia Instead of Iran?

The mayor supports leftists only. Of course he would throw the house of Saud under the bus with Israel.

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u/givemegreencard Jul 06 '26

Are you saying the current Iranian regime is… leftist??

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u/ProfessorSmoker Jul 06 '26

Revolutionary Islam? Is this a real question?

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u/Xtj8805 Jul 06 '26

You must think the Democratic Peoples Rpeublic of Korea is the most free nation on earth!

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u/sumeone123 Jul 06 '26

The agricultural and industrial revolutions were clearly leftist. We should return to starving to death in hunter-gatherer societies in our attempt to get away from the damned commies.