A few days ago a thread was posted here and remains up, showing Mamdani at a NYC Pride March, questioning whether we'd see that from an islamist (or apologist, as Sam Harris has mentioned)

Now this is interesting because from what we've seen of islamists/apologists, they will participate in/allow for some things out of political saliency. Mamdani may be genuinely for that, but this says nothing about other goals t hat are aligned with islamists or their apologists. The "anti-Israel" hate rallies that are attended by islamists/apologists who will happily march alongside people wearing with pride colors comes to mind. I mean even Qatar, during the 2022 FIFA world cup permitted displays of rainbow flags in its stadiums.

Recently Mamdani in interview said:

>Interviewer: "And the idea of a jewish state, Israel as a jewish state, that's the way it is now, do you support that?" Mamdani: "I believe that any state that privileges one religion over the other is one that I can't tell you I support, whether it be Israel or Saudi Arabia or anywhere else."

>Source

Israel doesnt have an official state religion, this is a game of weasel words by Mamdani because when he says "privileges" this is loaded to infer some kind of faith-based discrimination. Yet what he's referring to here isnt about Israeli citizens at all, but rather a law for obtaining citizenship based on humanitarian reasons and runs separate and parallel to Israel's immigration framework. Non-jews are not prohibited from becoming citizens in that framework. But many democracies have blood-based laws for citizenship as well, but again, Mamdani's goal is to uniquely single out Israel.

Saudi Arabia is tossed in as a sort of concession, but in reality its not. Mamdani's foreign policy political activism has been aimed at Israel, no where else. The trick being played here is to falsely equate Israel as an option for refuge for Jewish people as being the "oppressive equivalent" that Saudi Arabia is for non-muslims and its people. And then pretend he's opposed to that. But he's not really.

Because when it comes to other Islamic states, like Pakistan, he'll speak great things and even celebrated Pakistan Independence Day in NYC last year! Link to that at the end, but imagine the below excerpt being said about Israelis:

>"I've glad the pleasure of visiting Pakistan once, it is a beautiful day to see the vibrancy of that county here with us today. Because for far too long, the story of pakistanis has been told by others. And it is a story that has not embraced the full humanity of pakistani people. Its time that pakistanis tell their own stories. Im so glad to be here [...] to hear what it means to be pakistani, to be pakistani American." ~ Mamdani 3/23/25, APAG speech (American Pakistani Advocacy Group)

...

Pakistan, or rather, The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is also a funny case study when we're talking about "religious states", or pride celebrations and marches.

1. Israel's Pride Month was June 2026. You can see how its celebrated here Example

2. Pakistan's Pride Month is ____ you can see how its celebrated here _____

Great comparison right?

In Pakistan, its best to imagine "pride month" as how many months you'll spend in prison with pride. Because same-sex sexual acts are criminalized, sentences ranging from two years to life. Public displays of pride are not permitted. Recently, a man who merely filed an application with his city to open a gay club, was immediately detained in a mental hospital.

Islam is the state religion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Sharia and societal level beliefs are as follows:

1. Death penalty for leaving Islam? 76% yes (pg. 55)
2. Is stoning for adultery justified? 89% yes (pg. 54)
3. Should women be compelled to obey husband? 88% yes (pg. 93)
4. Whipping/Cutting off limbs of criminals? 88% yes (p. 52)
5. Are honor killing women permissible? 55% yes (pg. 89)
6. 2013, Mega Pew Research Survey of world's muslims by country

Pakistan was even created under somewhat analogous circumstances as Israel. A partition took place on British administered territory (British Raj) in 1947 largely along religious lines as it was determined the two largest groups of peoples there could not live peacefully together. The minority group (muslims, 1/3 of the population) were demanding their own state and didnt want to be ruled by the majority. Once partition happened, there were mass population transfers, violence, and death. Except for creating Pakistan, the displaced populations transfers was 13x (10+ million) and the amount of death was up to 133x worse (2 million dead) compared to the "nakba".

Now, has Mamdani ever suggested Pakistan one-state solution itself with India because conflict remains today? No. Does Mamdani oppose celebrating Islamic states like Pakistan getting independence? No. In fact he happily joins the festivities.

And this is exactly how many Islamists and their apologists operate.

Sam Harris has often spoken about the far left, campus radicals, wokeism, anti-white racism, antisemitism, etc.

Well an all-in-one package it appears will be seated in the House of Reps in the near future, Darializa Chevalier, and the few other wins the DSA had last night.

But she checks so many of these domains Harris has touched on:

1. Hates the west, NATO, etc

2. Wants to seize private property

3. Cofounded Columbia University CAUD

4. Took to the streets after 10/7 to celebrate Hamas

5. Condemns interracial marriage, has made disparaging remarks about white people

6. Wants to abolish police and prisons

When asked in an interview what should happen to a convicted murderer, whether they should be incarcerated, she refuses to give an a concrete answer.

There's more obviously, but she's like a made to order gift for republicans/Trump to saddle dems with and force them to "answer for" her nutty beliefs. Remember how much traction and inroads republicans made with things like the "they them" ads.

In center left circles, I'm also anecdotally at least seeing a complete 180 on Mamdani, they are now perceiving him to be a DSA first snake. Though Sam Harris had him figured out months ago.

Haviv has a video short out today from his earlier discussion with Sam Harris.

An interesting take by Sam, the video short is linked. His argument is that the word zionist/zionism adds a layer of confusion in the broader discourse because essentially its a label describing a Israel's right to exist.

Haviv's response is:

>The irony with what you're saying is and this doesnt at all mean you're mistaken, the irony is the Jews became zionist in direct correlation to the failure of any alternative to zionism.

Haviv is getting at the broader meaning of the term, referencing the Jewish people's right to self determination and a homeland. And now we're squarely in the territory of Israel's identity/character as a Jewish county. This is what many people tend to oppose. After all, the arabic chants at the anti-Israel hate rallies are "palestine is arab" not "palestine is arab and jewish".

Sam's correct in that such a term seemingly doesnt exist anywhere else, but "double clicking here" (as Sam would say) within Haviv's context we see that the "thing" Israel is, is not unique. So many other nations that have their national character and identities espoused in their constitutions, or sometimes even their formal names. Like the Arab Republic of Egypt, or the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, or the United Arab Emirates.

These examples and more affirming a peoplehood, culture, religion, national identity, etc. are below:

1. Islamic Republic of Pakistan: Part 1. Islam shall be the State religion of Pakistan

2. Arab Republic of Egypt: Article 1. Egypt is part of the Arab nation and enhances its integration and unity. It is part of the Muslim world, belongs to the African continent, is proud of its Asian dimension, and contributes to building human civilization. Article 2. Islam, Principles of Islamic Sharia: Islam is the religion of the state and Arabic is its official language. The principles of Islamic Sharia are the principle source of legislation.

3. Syrian Arab Republic. Chapter 1, Article 1: The Syrian Arab Republic is a democratic state with full sovereignty, indivisible, and may not waive any part of its territory, and is part of the Arab homeland; The people of Syria are part of the Arab nation.

4. United Arab Emirates. Article 6, The UAE is a part of the greater Arab nation to which the UAE is linked by the ties of religion, language, history and common destiny. The people of the UAE are one people, and a part of the Arab nation. Article 7, Islam is the official religion of the UAE. The Islamic Shari'a is a main source of legislation in the UAE.

5. Denmark: Part 1, sec 4: The Evangelical Lutheran Church shall be the Established Church of Denmark, and) as such, it shall be supported by the State.

6. Greece: Section 2. The prevailing religion in Greece is that of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ. The Orthodox Church of Greece, acknowledging our Lord Jesus Christ as its head, is inseparably united in doctrine with the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople and with every other Church of Christ of the same doctrine, observing unwaveringly, as they do, the holy apostolic and synodal canons and sacred traditions.

7. Latvia: Preamble: The State of Latvia, proclaimed on 18 November 1918, has been established by uniting historical Latvian lands and on the basis of the unwavering will of the Latvian nation to have its own State and its inalienable right of self-determination in order to guarantee the existence and development of the Latvian nation, its language and culture throughout the centuries, to ensure freedom and promote welfare of the people of Latvia and each individual.

8. Estonia: Preamble: [...] the inextinguishable right of the people of Estonia to national self-determination and which was proclaimed on 24 February 1918, which is founded on liberty, justice and the rule of law, [...] which must guarantee the preservation of the Estonian people, the Estonian language and the Estonian culture through the ages, the people of Estonia

Nations also protect their national character, cultures, peoplehood by restricting immigration or through citizenship policies. Be it Japan, China, Qatar, whatever. Israel is no different here, it has an immigration framework that doesnt preclude non-Jews,. Separately is the Law of Return, offering means for refuge to Jews or those with Jewish family members. This being necessary due to the unique and pervasive persecution Jews have faced over the millennia across the diaspora. But many nations also allow for citizenship based on whatever criteria they deem fit, Germany and Italy for example if you can prove ancestry.

As Haviv pointed out, Zionism came into contemporary discussion because Jews had no alternatives, and zionism means different things to Jews and Israel's critics. Getting rid of the word "zionism" from the discourse as Sam suggests, doesnt eliminate the bad faith critics of Israel from latching onto something else, especially when its used by them to uniquely malign one nation's character or right to exist.

In his recent substack article, Sam Harris correctly noted about the I/P situation that:

>"If the Palestinians laid down their arms, there would be peace. There could be a two-state solution; there could even be a one-state solution; it wouldn’t matter. If the Palestinians simply stopped killing Jews and stopped building a culture that celebrates pointless murder and martyrdom as its highest values, there could be a diverse, tolerant, and prosperous society between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. There could have been one eighty years ago. But if the Israelis laid down their weapons, there would be a genocide. This was obviously true on October 7th, 2023. And for anyone who has been paying attention, it has been true on every other day since the founding of the state of Israel."

>https://samharris.substack.com/p/why-i-wont-debate-critics-of-israel

He’s right of course, but this also maps 1:1 onto Lebanon situation, which he should speak more about.

Sam Harris’s point about the Palestinians is the same for Hezbollah. At any point in the below decades of war and conflict, Lebanon could have peace if Hezbollah laid down its arms and gave up on its quest to kill jews. Egypt and Jordan have enjoyed peace now with Israel for nearly 50 and 35 years respectively. Why? Because they ceased hostilities.

1. Oct 8, 2023, the day after 10/7, Hezbollah starts attacking northern Israel, causing up to 80,000 Israelis to be displaced/relocated. Israeli/Hezbollah remain in conflict between (Oct 2023 – Sept 2024) trading strikes, this is the period when the pager attacks happen and Nasrallah is killed.

2. Oct 2024, Hezbollah continues its attacks, conflict evolves into a full blown war when Israel invades Lebanon to forcibly remove Hezbollah from the south.

3. Nov 2024, Israel/Hezbollah agrees to a ceasefire, Hezbollah promises to remove itself up to the Litani river. Dec 2024 – Feb 2026, ceasefire largely holds with both sides conducting the occasional strike against one another.

4. March 2026, Hezbollah formally breaks ceasefire and resumes attacks on northern Israel as retaliation for the Iranian regime decapitation strikes. The war resumes, and Israel proceeds to keep pushing its ground operations north.

….and all this Hezbollah belligerency and aggression beginning Oct 8, 2023, comes after Hezbollah violated UN Security resolution 1701. 1701 was negotiated to end the 2006 Lebanon war, it was supposed to demilitarize Hezbollah and remove them from southern Lebanon to the Litani river.

…and the 2006 Lebanon war started when Hezbollah began conducting cross border attacks into Israel.

…and this occurred because Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, which Israel occupied beginning in 1982 as a result of ongoing cross border attacks by Palestinian “liberation” and Lebanese militia groups.

…and those groups were allowed to build up and attack Israel because UNIFIL was a failure, and UNIFIL came to be in 1978 as a “solution” to end the 1978 Israel invasion of southern Lebanon (that too, a conflict started by the PLO using Lebanon as a base of operations to attack Israel).

...

The WSJ has a piece out yesterday describing how Lebanon is teetering on a civil war thanks to a variety of economic and domestic troubles foisted onto the Lebanese people/state as a byproduct of the ongoing war and conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. The WSJ article notes that Israel is trying to pass operations/security where possible over to the Lebanese army, “On Thursday, Israeli troops pulled out of the southern municipality of Dibbin and were replaced by the Lebanese.”

Sadly the main violator of Lebanese sovereignty that seems intent on prolonging the conflict, never committing to peace, and refuses to lay down its arms, is Hezbollah. Even to the extent that civil war may break out.

Sam has repeatedly pointed out that leftists are being manipulated by Islamists, and has said that Mamdani may very well be at least an apologist for Islamists.

We see imagery emerging out of NYC definitely shows the former, and from what I can tell Mamdani's office either puts out very tepid or lukewarm responses on the protestors, or nothing at all.

The protest last week were "anti-zionists" fighting NYPD in the streets, and another protest was last night. In both, hezbollah flags were flying high, along with screams that jews be cleansed from the territory (river to sea, no two state, etc). Another is scheduled this weekend.

The organization holding these protests is PAL-Awda / Al-Awda. You can read about their National Board here.

I'm kidding, it appears to have been scrubbed/purged.

But you can see an archived page with some names. I grabbed one at random and checked: Charlotte Kates

1. Charlotte Kates is cofounder to Samidoun, a designated terror organization by Canada and has been sanctioned by the US and Germany. She also attended Nasrallah's funeral, etc.

What a surprise.

The DOJ has taken notice of the protests:

Leo Terrell, chair of the U.S. Justice Department’s task force on Jew-hatred, called on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to take action following a protest outside the Young Israel of Midwood in Brooklyn on Monday night that led to four arrests. Terrell criticized city leadership over what he described as insufficient enforcement following incidents targeting Jewish New Yorkers. “Let me be clear, I am sick and tired of Jews being harassed in New York City,” Terrell said. “Did you see what happened in Brooklyn? Where is the mayor? Where is the district attorney? Where are the hate crime charges?”

But again...it looks like Sam is spot on in his assessment in what's going on here.

So last night a protest was held outside a NYC synagogue by "anti-zionists". They purportedly were opposing a real estate expo being held there about settlements.

I say purportedly because I'm not sure what opposition to west bank settlements has to do with celebrating hezbollah, or screaming that Israel should not exist, or chanting mottos suggesting that jews should be cleansed from the territory.

1. Here we have video of the protestors, with a Hezbollah flag held high, fighting against NYPD

2. Protestors also screaming "no two states, we want all of it" and "there is only one solution intifada revolution" and "end the zionist state" and chanting in arabic "from water to water [river to sea] palestine is arab"

Now what has Mamdani's office said about this? Were their words about these protestors as harsh as what they told The Intercept about the Expo Event?

>"Mayor Mamdani is deeply opposed to the real estate expo this evening that includes the promotion of the sale of land in settlements in the Occupied West Bank,” said Sam Raskin, a spokesperson for Mamdani, in a statement to The Intercept. “These settlements are illegal under international law and deeply tied to the ongoing displacement of Palestinians"

Hmmm....

Seems we have lots to say about purported "international law violations" within the west bank.

Now how much was said about protestors waving a hezbollah flag? Or demanding Israel doesnt have a right to exist or suggesting that jews should be cleansed from the territory?

How seriously is Mamdani's office taking this?

***Edit.

The Expo is merely about making Aliyah and dissemination of info relating to insurance, tax advisors, mortgages, assisted living, etc when moving. Covered locations include Jerusalem, Tel aviv, Haifa, Ashkelon, etc.

Sam has discussed the influence of the Qatari state in many domains (academic, foreign affairs, etc) and at times expressed skepticism on the impartiality of international bodies and their biases, especially as it relates to Israel.

So curious what his thoughts would be on the WSJ story yesterday that it appears Qatar had influence over the ‘independent’ ICC prosecutor (Karim Khan) with regard to his 2024 decision to charge Israeli leaders?

Even more grotesquely, they hired intelligence firms to target a woman he allegedly sexually assaulted, to see if she had any Jewish blood.

Background:

1. Just weeks prior to the arrest warrants, both Khan and the ICC were made aware of sexual assault allegations from a victim (Malaysian muslim ICC attorney) alleging that Khan had sexually assaulted her. At the time, the victim confided in colleagues about what happened, but a whistleblower complaint resulted in the ICC‘s oversight board/mechanism (IOM) also becoming aware. The IOM then approached the victim in what she felt was an unprofessional manner, she didn’t trust them, and felt their goal was to have her say the allegations were fabricated, so she declined to pursue a formal complaint. However a second victim came forward in 2025.

2. Last year, the Guardian reported that Qatar commissioned two intelligence firms to target the victim in a covert operation to discredit her by ‘establishing connections between her and Israel’. However nothing was found.

Yesterday's WSJ story was that they reviewed a new witness statement and audio recordings from someone familiar with the operation (which was also submitted to the FBI, as the operation targeted Americans as well).

In one of the recordings reviewed by WSJ, its revealed that Khan ‘wanted to issue the warrant, but was terrified to do it’, but he was then reassured that if he does, “they” would look after him. When Khan inquired who “they” was, the firm’s intelligence operations manager said it was the Qatari state.

In another recording, its revealed the extent the firms went to try and establish the victim’s connection to Israel or Jews. Again, the victim being a Malaysian muslim woman. They note that she “didn’t have a Jewish grandmother”, but that her husband ‘once worked at kosher food subsidiary’, which therefore would be ‘associated with a Rabbi’.

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/karim-khan-icc-prosecutor-benjamin-netanyahu-qatar-israel-7b62d474