NY Mayor: Defining Antisemitism Is Not Critiquing Israel
Zohran Mamdani, a New York Assembly Member (not mayor, as the headline mistakenly states), has done the unthinkable: recognized the IHRA definition of antisemitism is specifically designed to conflate criticism of the Israeli government with hatred of Jewish people. This isn’t a new debate; the definition has been widely criticized by human rights organizations like Amnesty International and over
100 Jewish scholars for stifling free speech and legitimate critiques of Israeli policies. When organizations like AIPAC pour millions into lobbying – OpenSecrets shows AIPAC spent $3.1M in Q1 2024 alone influencing policy – maintaining this definitional ambiguity is a feature, not a bug, for those aligned with Israel's military goals. So, a New York politician simply clarifying that calling for
Palestinian human rights isn't antisemitic sends shockwaves through the establishment. One might wonder if the outcry is less about protecting Jewish individuals and more about protecting unfettered military aid to a foreign government. How many more times must we hear that questioning state policies is equivalent to bigotry before the media acknowledges the strategic value of this rhetorical
sleight of hand?