David Kaufman: Will Zohran Mamdani condemn jihadists before New York is attacked?

NEW YORK — Any doubt that calls to “globalize the intifada” have fallen on deaf ears were dispelled over the weekend by the shooting in Sydney that has left 16 Jews dead and dozens injured at a beachside Hanukkah party in the heart of the city. The pair of gunmen, a father and son of Pakistani origin, were only prevented from causing further carnage by Sydney police — along with a brave bystander who literally body-slammed a shooter into submission.

The attack, which sent hundreds of sun-seekers scurrying for safety, is the literal definition of Islamic terror. It is not the first assault on either Jews or the West to emerge from this now global ideology — nor is it likely to be the last. That it came on the first night of Hanukkah — a celebration of Jewish faith and heroism — only reinforces the ungodlyness of a belief-system that knows no bounds nor borders.

Here in New York City, the Sydney tragedy is being received with a mix of shock and resignation. After 14 months of violent pro-Palestinian protests, an escalation to mass-murder hardly feels impossible. And with the arrival on Jan. 1 of our new anti-Israel Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the conditions for such a horror to happen in New York City are far more combustible than ever before.

There was no greater example of Mamdani’s apparent commitment to jihadi sympathies along the campaign trail earlier this year than his refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada.” Time and time again Mamdani — who once quipped he “had no opinion” about Hamas — was charged with rejecting the phrase and conceding its power to intimidate and cause harm.

He never actually did so, declaring instead that he would “discourage” the use of the term during a meeting with prominent New York business leaders in mid-July. Four months on, the intifada has been globalized and Mayor-elect Mamdani will soon lead its most logical, if not likely, next target.

On a purely practical level, New York State — despite relatively strong gun-control laws — is still a far easier place to acquire deadly firearms than New South Wales (NSW). There were nearly 1,000 gun-related homicides in New York in 2023; while the total number of murders (by any method) in NSW, that year, was just 79.

But just as worrisome for New Yorkers as free-flowing firearms is the fiery rhetoric of Mayor-elect Mamdani himself. Despite ample photo-ops to virtue-signal his support for Jewish safety, Mamdani’s words fail to reflect his actions. Take his recent response to the antisemitic mob that descended upon a Manhattan synagogue in late November.

Rather than condemn the violence outright, a Mamdani spokesperson chastised the synagogue itself for being “used to promote activities in violation of international law.” Barely a day later, Mamdani repeated one of the most heinous libels used to incite “globailizing the intifada” — Israel’s supposed “genocide” in Gaza — while meeting with President Trump at the White House.

Such language not only reaffirms Mamdani’s commitment — if not obsession — with demonizing Jews and Israel, but his open invitation for his supporters to follow suit. And as was so heinously displayed on Sunday in Australia — whose Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been accused by Australian Jewish groups and politicians of stoking anti-Zionism via his recognition of a Palestinian state — where leaders lead, the volk will follow.

Here in New York, that volk is even likelier than in Australia to be very well-armed and very dangerous. Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams was successful in removing some 25,000 illegal firearms off New York City streets during his time in office. But while notoriously imprecise, the number of those remaining have at times reached seven figures.

Meanwhile, a handful of laws enacted under New York State’s progressive-led 2019 judicial reform have made it almost impossible to prosecute even the baddest of bad guys. Back during the height of the city’s pandemic-induced crime surge, just 20 per cent of shootings actually resulted in arrests. Things improved under Adams, most dramatically following the arrival of new NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. But remember all of those pro-Palestinian agitators who marauded through Columbia University last year terrorizing Jews? Virtually none of them actually saw jail time.

But while Mamdani has announced he’s keeping Tisch in his job, he will still be beholden to the anti-police posturing that helped get him elected in the first place. As a candidate, Mamdani pledged to dismantle the NYPD’s elite Strategic Response Group, which specifically focuses on large-scale criminal situations like the shooting in Sydney. There is no indication he has shifted this controversial commitment.

Easy-access to deadly firearms — check! Elected leader tacitly encouraging violence against Jews — check! State-wide legal system that fails to prosecute offenders despite the offense — check! This is what it takes to globalize an intifada — and this is what those globalizers can expect to find in a New York City soon to be led by Zohran Mamdani.

National Post

David Christopher Kaufman is a New York-based journalist and former New York Post editor and columnist. Sign up for his Substack newsletter, Counterintuitive.