Imagine inviting a dinner guest to your home who, between courses, is able to justify the slaughter of 1,200 people as “a desperate attempt to tell the world that Palestinians are here, and they are part of the equation” (Mamdani sends troubling message by hosting Mahmoud Khalil, Jerusalem Post, March 12).
The conversation must have been fascinating between New York’s first socialist Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, and the infamous Palestinian activist who was invited, along with his family, to share the traditional iftar meal following a 15-hour fast.
The flies on the walls of Gracie Mansion must have been especially attentive as the subjects likely jumped from the successful media campaign, following the events of October 7, to how Khalil cagily evaded deportation back to his native Syria.
But who else would be the suitable dinner companions of Zohran and his wife, Rama Duwaji, whose more than 100 likes of posts celebrating October 7 have come to light in recent days. As the saying goes, “Birds of a feather, flock together,” and these two couples are the perfect fowls, whose foul stench of antisemitism reeks to the high heavens.
It’s almost incomprehensible to imagine being that hardened in one’s soul to the point where you think that the best way to call out your plight is to massacre innocents, burn down their communities, rape, pillage, and kidnap, as being the key to notoriety. But that’s exactly what Khalil believes when he uses the term “desperate attempt.”
So, here’s a tardy revelation to all the liberal Jews who voted for the man who ran on the very popular “affordability” issue that plagues New Yorkers. You essentially chose an individual who thinks nothing of hosting a heartless, soulless demon who can excuse the slaughter of your own people for the purpose of calling attention to those he defines as victims.
But even if there was any legitimacy to his chosen group of oppressed people, why murder, mutilate, and take captive those who had absolutely nothing to do with the so-called Palestinian cause?
Because the last time I checked, it was their Hamas leaders who led them down the path of despair and further degradation – something they eventually came to internalize as they found themselves homeless.
Yet, to a bottom-feeder like Khalil, people are expendable commodities if they can be useful in shining the light on a forgotten injustice, which emanated from their own bad choices.
Mamdani, for all his bravado in claiming that “hate of any kind will not be tolerated in the City of New York,” somehow has turned a blind eye to the immense hatred held within the deepest recesses of Khalil.
As horrifying as his words are, Khalil demonstrates, through them, that, for a cause, he has allowed himself to become a subhuman beast, devoid of all ability to care, display empathy, or deep pathos, all of which are derived from having been created in the image of God.
What else can one say about someone who thinks that way? Likewise, the New York mayor has to confront his own immorality in all of this, because inviting such an individual to dine with him is to also give a wink and a nod to the hatred that he contends has no place in the city he now runs.
There is no denying this choice or trying to cover up what is clearly a very disturbing message that is being sent, not just to New Yorkers, but to Jews worldwide, who are witnessing, in real time, the adage, “Show me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are.”
Let’s also not forget all the others who are watching Mamdani’s every move – either coming to terms with the truth of what he really espouses or, on a darker side, picking up signals that it is socially acceptable to openly host evil people, in a blatant disregard for how that will affect one’s reputation or political standing.
In short, Mamdani is neither hiding his true colors nor is he endeavoring to conform to a more mainstream position, seeking to camouflage his obvious leanings towards the employment of terrorism, for the sake of publicity.
In fact, it seems to be a deliberate move, poking the Jewish community in the eye while purposely showing everyone that he will dance to his own beat without feeling the need to conform to what’s been held as the acceptable social standards of the past.
After all, politics is known for the need to shift from time to time – just for the sake of pleasing your constituency. Who cares if you don’t personally believe in whatever it is you are forced to compromise? Just so long as it keeps you in power – that’s all that matters.
But in this case, there seems to be something else at play, because you don’t self-sabotage if you think that it will adversely hurt you. Consequently, it’s very plausible that Mamdani, seeing the changing winds, has come to believe that there is a great shift in ideology.
Mamdani’s calculations and political strategy
In other words, by his reckoning, there is an ever-growing spread of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment, which is moving the electorate to a change of heart and, subsequently, values, where an invitation to an avowed Jew-hater will not be seen as the proverbial shot in the foot.
Mamdani might be banking on many factors that he hopes will mitigate his own clear prejudices as well as those of his wife. That could include the war involving Iran and its outcome.
It could also rely upon rising gas prices, the American military death toll, and a newfound isolationism that is being marketed as nationalistic patriotism, meant to shut out everyone else who is deemed irrelevant to the US.
And most importantly, when you are someone who looks upon the media as a weapon of mass destruction, as does Khalil, you understand the importance of amplified voices, such as Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, who are forging a campaign against Israel, fomenting hatred in ways that are extremely helpful to anyone who believes that their preferred end justifies the means.
When viewed from that perspective, inviting Khalil is not at all a liability, but, rather, a plus in setting the new rules by which Mamdani hopes his supporters will play!
The writer is a former Jerusalem elementary and middle school principal. She is the author of Mistake-Proof Parenting, based on the time-tested wisdom found in the Book of Proverbs, available on Amazon.