Unexpectedly positive/informative exchange. Brad Lander had been my first choice but I voted for Mamdani. I agree, the lock of what are international real estate interests on NYC must be broken. The point about a Mamdani tracker & the absence of anything similar for Trump was well taken. Not said is that at a national level, the Council of Presidents has been irrelevant for a very long time. (For reasons connected to my family history, I do support two member organizations: HIAS & the NCJW. Both continue to do very important work.) I looked at the primary & election voting maps of the City. For both events, the Upper East Side& Upper West Sides, which are core to retiring Rep Jerry Nadler's district, voted for Cuomo. Also Midtown East. Should there be midterm elections, would this traditionally liberal CD flip Republican in 2026? Citywide, the largely Orthodox & sometimes Ultra Orthodox neighborhoods in central Brooklyn, south Williamsburg, central Queens & Riverdale, all went for Cuomo. So, too, the ethnic Catholic redoubts of southern & central Staten Island, southern Brooklyn, Howard Beach & the east shore of the Bronx + heavily East Asian Northeast Queens. Though it's not J Street's issue, I hope it's on the side of YAFFED re the deliberate absence of secular education in the Haredi Yeshivas. I was pleased that Breaking the Silence was mentioned with the eye opening discussion of the West Bank - a hidden war zone. Is this an area where Bimkom might effectively operate? Anyway, apologies for the length of my response & thanks!
@Bruce Rosen - So much you referred to that I don’t know about, as an unaffiliated Jew, whose family fled to Chicago, from Europe. Never had the East Coast experience. Very interesting.
Jeremy, I am so glad you are speaking out on the "Established Jewish Community," and the attendant fear mongering. It is so infuriating, and adds to splitting ofJewish factions even further. It is like if you are supportive of Mamdani and Jewish, you are met with shock, disapproval, andy pointed to as a self-hating Jew. And yes, it does not help to build bridges.
Any American Jew has a huge amount of skin in the game. we are fed up with AIPAC and ADL controlling electoral politics. We are thorughly disgusted with Israeli Ethnic Cleansing, starvation of Gaza, illegal settlements and the billions of dollars the US sends to Israel for the above.
Mandami speech: "And we will build a City Hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism. Where the more than 1 million Muslims know that they belong, not just in the five boroughs of this city, but in the halls of power. No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election." Full transcript here: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/zohran-mamdani-victory-speech/, worth widing sharing.
Why are you saying--more than once just in this podcast--liberal, not liberal and progressive? Certainly in the earlier national New Jewish Agenda and in J Street and other PIN groups we are not all "liberals". Of course I would hope we support liberal values of democracy and free speech and so forth, but we are also progressive many if not most of us in our overall outlook. Young people in particular these days rarely identify politicall as liberals, and as we can see many also identify as democratic socialists. If your goal is to be relevant to the younger generation, it seems to me you need be more clear in messaging that a range of political views are welcome in J Street. I am fully aware there have been very problematic points of view emanating from within progressive groups and individuals, but it seems to me we should not pander to elements within our commnity who are outright hostile to those, young and old, who identify from a more democratic left perspective. If there is one thing the NYC and other elections results say is that, as Phylisa Wisdom pointed out, we have to have a broader tent, one that is welcoming of a range of views. I support Jeremy's view that we have to link the fight against antisemitism, we have to link it to educating about and opposing all forms of hatred and discrmination. We need to form alliances beyong our community to find ways to engage in such work. I wonder what roles the PIN groups can play in initiating this?
Unexpectedly positive/informative exchange. Brad Lander had been my first choice but I voted for Mamdani. I agree, the lock of what are international real estate interests on NYC must be broken. The point about a Mamdani tracker & the absence of anything similar for Trump was well taken. Not said is that at a national level, the Council of Presidents has been irrelevant for a very long time. (For reasons connected to my family history, I do support two member organizations: HIAS & the NCJW. Both continue to do very important work.) I looked at the primary & election voting maps of the City. For both events, the Upper East Side& Upper West Sides, which are core to retiring Rep Jerry Nadler's district, voted for Cuomo. Also Midtown East. Should there be midterm elections, would this traditionally liberal CD flip Republican in 2026? Citywide, the largely Orthodox & sometimes Ultra Orthodox neighborhoods in central Brooklyn, south Williamsburg, central Queens & Riverdale, all went for Cuomo. So, too, the ethnic Catholic redoubts of southern & central Staten Island, southern Brooklyn, Howard Beach & the east shore of the Bronx + heavily East Asian Northeast Queens. Though it's not J Street's issue, I hope it's on the side of YAFFED re the deliberate absence of secular education in the Haredi Yeshivas. I was pleased that Breaking the Silence was mentioned with the eye opening discussion of the West Bank - a hidden war zone. Is this an area where Bimkom might effectively operate? Anyway, apologies for the length of my response & thanks!
@Bruce Rosen - So much you referred to that I don’t know about, as an unaffiliated Jew, whose family fled to Chicago, from Europe. Never had the East Coast experience. Very interesting.
https://www.instagram.com/stories/jewsforzohran/3761580721492807410?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=ZHp5dHhsandibXdh
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQuq6fBgKY3/?igsh=dWY1c3l0dnc5Mjhk
What about the threat of the corrupt felon maga Trump regime on ALL Democrats that don’t agree with his Nazi authoritarian dictatorship?
No Other Land, the movie filme from before October 7th, exclusively depicts one small village after another being demolished. So upsetting
Jeremy, I am so glad you are speaking out on the "Established Jewish Community," and the attendant fear mongering. It is so infuriating, and adds to splitting ofJewish factions even further. It is like if you are supportive of Mamdani and Jewish, you are met with shock, disapproval, andy pointed to as a self-hating Jew. And yes, it does not help to build bridges.
A little to pro Israel for me. I am no longer in any way a zionist but I appreciate your perspective
Do you live in Israel? Because no one really cares how you define yourself if you have no skin in the game.
Any American Jew has a huge amount of skin in the game. we are fed up with AIPAC and ADL controlling electoral politics. We are thorughly disgusted with Israeli Ethnic Cleansing, starvation of Gaza, illegal settlements and the billions of dollars the US sends to Israel for the above.
Mandami speech: "And we will build a City Hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism. Where the more than 1 million Muslims know that they belong, not just in the five boroughs of this city, but in the halls of power. No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election." Full transcript here: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/zohran-mamdani-victory-speech/, worth widing sharing.
Why are you saying--more than once just in this podcast--liberal, not liberal and progressive? Certainly in the earlier national New Jewish Agenda and in J Street and other PIN groups we are not all "liberals". Of course I would hope we support liberal values of democracy and free speech and so forth, but we are also progressive many if not most of us in our overall outlook. Young people in particular these days rarely identify politicall as liberals, and as we can see many also identify as democratic socialists. If your goal is to be relevant to the younger generation, it seems to me you need be more clear in messaging that a range of political views are welcome in J Street. I am fully aware there have been very problematic points of view emanating from within progressive groups and individuals, but it seems to me we should not pander to elements within our commnity who are outright hostile to those, young and old, who identify from a more democratic left perspective. If there is one thing the NYC and other elections results say is that, as Phylisa Wisdom pointed out, we have to have a broader tent, one that is welcoming of a range of views. I support Jeremy's view that we have to link the fight against antisemitism, we have to link it to educating about and opposing all forms of hatred and discrmination. We need to form alliances beyong our community to find ways to engage in such work. I wonder what roles the PIN groups can play in initiating this?