The Shift: The impact of Mamdani’s victory could go far beyond NYC

Zohran Mamdani’s improbable victory has inevitably generated some hysterical reactions, with many coming from pro-Israel voices and Islamophobes.

Far-right activists Laura Loomer and Charlie Kirk say another 9/11 will befall New York.

“After 9/11 we said ‘Never Forget.’,” tweeted Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC). “I think we sadly have forgotten.”

“The city with the largest Jewish population in the world will likely have as its mayor a man whose worldview and convictions stand in opposition to the fundaments of Judaism itself,” declared Commentary editor John Podhoretz. “I’m not kidding when I say that people like Mamdani are why there has to be a Jewish state.”

The Zionist group Betar says all Jewish people should evacuate the city.

“It’s finally happened, the Democrats have crossed the line. Zohran Mamdani, a 100% Communist Lunatic, has just won the Dem Primary, and is on his way to becoming Mayor,” President Trump posted on Truth Social. “We’ve had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous. He looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he’s not very smart, he’s got AOC+3, Dummies ALL, backing him, and even our Great Palestinian Senator, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, is groveling over him. Yes, this is a big moment in the History of our Country!”

Pro-Israel hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman says he will bankroll any candidate that can beat Mamdani in the general election, but who would that possibly be?

I asked political consultant Peter Feld if he thought there was any chance of Mamdani being stopped, and he was skeptical. “Who are they going to beat him with?” he asked.

Here’s Feld:

Cuomo is disgraced and has already failed and is not going to get better and may not even want to do this. He may lose so decisively after the ranked choice vote tabulations come in, especially since Brad Lander campaigned so closely with Mamdani and came in third.

Eric Adams, for his part, has an 83% unfavorable rating among Democrats. That’s pretty steep.

The moderate establishment is divided, and they don’t like each other. Cuomo doesn’t like Adams anymore. Adams doesn’t like Cuomo. They will battle each other if they both run. There’s a Republican clown in Curtis Sliwa, who will take a lot of Republican votes.

This doesn’t mean progressives are able to let up at all. It’s going to take a lot of work to ensure this result and then to ensure that Mamdani can succeed as mayor. The threats against progressive change are constant and, as we’ve learned many times, the empire strikes back.

However, I believe a lot of the Democratic establishment is going to see the writing on the wall.

There have been a few Democrats expressing concern, but multiple establishment Dems are publicly backing Mamdani.

“Today, voters made their voices heard, demanding a more affordable, more livable New York City,” tweeted New York Governor Kathy Hochul. “I hear them loud and clear. Zohran Mamdani built a formidable grassroots coalition, and I look forward to speaking with him in the days ahead about his ideas on how to ensure a safe, affordable, and livable New York City.”

“I have known Zohran Mamdani since we worked together to provide debt relief for thousands of beleaguered taxi drivers & fought to stop a fracked gas plant in Astoria,” wrote Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “He ran an impressive campaign that connected with New Yorkers about affordability, fairness, & opportunity. I spoke with Zohran Mamdani this morning and am looking forward to getting together soon.”

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) says she had a “lovely call” with Mamdani and that they will meet soon. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) has already endorsed Mamdani in the general.

“Voters in New York City demanded change and, with Zohran’s triumph, we have a direct repudiation of Donald Trump’s politics of tax cuts and authoritarianism,” said Nadler.

These are all pro-Israel lawmakers and strong opponents of the BDS movement, which Mamdani publicly supports. Like Feld says, they see the writing on the wall and have to realize that Israel is no longer a third rail issue in Democratic politics.

In addition to backing the boycott, Mamdani called for Netanyahu’s arrest and referred to what’s happening in Gaza as a genocide. These positions didn’t hurt him. In fact, they probably helped him with the youth vote.

In contrast, Cuomo embraced his pro-Israel reputation and lost by a sizable margin.

Mamdani’s victory wasn’t the only race where the issue came up.

Incumbent Shahana Hanif, the first Muslim woman elected to the City Council in NYC, fended off a challenge from candidate Maya Kornberg in Council District 39. Kornberg had criticized Hanif over her support for Gaza, saying the issue shouldn’t be centered in council campaigns.

In Council District 38, Alexa Avilés easily beat challenger Ling Ye, who was backed by the Israel lobby.

For years, the polling has shown that Democratic voters care less and less about Israel, but few politicians have dared to question the “special relationship.”

At the site, Palestinian scholar Abdaljawad Omar says Mamdani’s victory marks the end of Israel’s central role in U.S. politics.

“Increasingly, the insistence upon Israel as a litmus test is no longer heard as a signal of moral seriousness, but as the worn-out reflex of a ruling class—political, media, institutional—whose ethical coordinates are collapsing under the weight of their own contradictions,” he writes. “The repetition of allegiance now functions less as a marker of conviction than as a symptom: of fear, of ideological decay, of a desperate clinging to an order whose foundational myths are beginning to unravel.”

Feld believes that Mamdani’s support for Palestine helped him secure the win:

In all the polling that that we’ve discussed before, over and over again it shows that the Democratic base is siding heavily with Palestine. In New York City, you had an Emerson poll showing that 53% of Democratic primary voters don’t believe it’s important for the next mayor to be pro-Israel, compared to 31% who said it is important.

The question I’ve been asking and we’ve discussed before is, will anyone ever be able to take all that support for Palestine to the bank and cash it in?

It was going to take somebody who wasn’t afraid of embracing the issue, and Mamdani wasn’t. I would say he cashed it in.

Supreme Court ruling

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled, in a unanimous 9-0 vote, that American anti-terrorism laws apply to foreign entities.

For years, this has been a big issue for pro-Israel groups looking to launch lawsuits against Palestinian political groups.

The ruling applied to several lawsuits, but the central case was Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization. Ari Fuld was Israeli-American settler in the illegally-occupied West Bank who was fatally stabbed to death by a Palestinian teenager in 2018. His family sued the Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA), claiming that they “encouraged, incentivized, and assisted” the attack.

The legal effort found widespread support among pro-Israel lawmakers, who pushed the issue in Washington.

Back in December, legal journalist Ian Millhiser published an article in Vox about the potential implications of the case.

Here’s Millhiser:

The Fuld case could potentially reshape the rights of many Americans, who currently enjoy broad protections against being sued in a faraway court located in a state they’ve never visited. The Supreme Court has long held that the rules of personal jurisdiction are grounded in the Constitution, specifically the guarantee that no one shall be denied “due process of law.”

As the federal appeals court that heard Fuld explained, moreover, “the ‘due process analysis’ in the personal jurisdiction context ‘is basically the same’” regardless of whether someone is sued in federal or state court. That means if the Supreme Court rules that two foreign organizations with few, if any, relevant ties to the US can be “deemed to have consented” to being sued in federal court by an act of Congress, a state legislature could also potentially deem that people who’ve had few contacts with that state may be sued in its courts.

Texas’s legislature, for example, could potentially pass a law stating that abortion providers and clinics throughout the United States are deemed to have consented to suit in Texas courts — where they might be sued for violating a Texas law allowing bounty hunters to collect money from abortion providers, especially if the state legislature also amended that law to specifically provide for such out-of-state suits.

“It is permissible for the federal government to craft a narrow jurisdictional provision that ensures, as part of a broader foreign policy agenda, that Americans injured or killed by acts of terror have an adequate forum in which to vindicate their right,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in his ruling.

Odds & Ends

❗ Mamdani stuns Democratic Party establishment, declares victory in NYC mayoral primary

🗳️ ‘It’s proven that Zionism is a paper tiger in Democratic politics’: breaking down Zohran Mamdani’s stunning New York victory

🇮🇱 Zohran Mamdani’s victory marks the end of Israel’s central place in U.S. politics

✝️ World Council of Churches denounces Israel’s apartheid and occupation, calls for divestment and sanctions

🪖 Republicans, AIPAC Dems unite in support of Trump’s war

🇺🇸 How to understand Tucker Carlson’s criticism of Israel

🫨 The Nation: Zohran Mamdani’s Win Could Change Everything

🫏 Truthout: Mamdani’s Massive Victory Should Show Democrats Where the Party’s Future Lies

🪧 New York Magazine: Zohran Mamdani Just Remade American Politics

💰 Responsible Statecraft: US senator: ‘War industry’ quiets Dems on Iran

📺 Electronic Intifada: CNN goes gentle on Genocide Gallant

🗣️ Axios: Trump wages all-out fight for control of Iran strike narrative

🇮🇷 Counterpunch: Why the US Strikes on Iran Will Increase Nuclear Weapons Proliferation

📄 Common Dreams: President Trump’s War on Iran Was Illegal and Unconstitutional—Congress Must Act Like It

🚫 Jewish Currents: How Support for Palestine Became a Hate Crime

👀 Zeteo: AIPAC Has Too Much Influence on Congress, Says Rep. Ro Khanna

⏳ Drop Site News: “Waiting Mode”: After the Iran Ceasefire, Is a Gaza Deal on the Horizon?