The battle outside ragin'

To the editor:

Zohran Mamdani decisively won the election for mayor, receiving more votes than any other mayoral candidate since 1969. Bob Dylan and Stephen Sondheim offer some timely advice to the wary political establishment. Dylan wrote, “Don’t stand in the doorway, don’t block the door … for the times they are a-changin’.”  Stephen Sondheim in “Our Time” from “Merrily We Roll Along,” wrote, “Our time, breathe it in, worlds to change and worlds to win … it’s our heads on the block, give us room and start the clock.”

On Jan. 1, Mamdani will take the oath of office, and the battle for affordability in the most expensive American city will begin. Unfortunately, the monthslong attacks on Mamdani accusing him of being an antisemite who poses a danger to the safety of Jewish New Yorkers continue with the Anti-Defamation League’s “Mamdani Monitor,” a “public-facing tracker monitoring policies, appointments and actions by the Mamdani Administration that impact Jewish community safety and security.”

In a separate statement, the ADL and four other Jewish organizations wrote, “Mamdani [will be held] … accountable for ensuring that New York remains a place where Jewish life and support for Israel are protected and can thrive!” The mayor-elect responded that he takes “the issue of antisemitism incredibly seriously.” He pledged “to protect, celebrate and cherish Jewish New Yorkers.” J Street, the liberal, pro-Israel Jewish advocacy group, called the ADL tracker “alarming” and criticized Jewish leaders who demonize Mamdani and call his election a “grim milestone.”

It must be emphasized that Mamdani’s forceful criticism of Israel is neither a sign that he is antisemitic, nor that he poses a threat to the safety of Jewish New Yorkers. Indeed, it’s a moral outrage to support a country that, according to the vast majority of genocide scholars, multiple U.N. agencies and human rights organizations, has carried out genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank.

Howard Elterman