The story of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani begins decades earlier — in his father’s distortions about colonialism, nationalism, the Holocaust, Israel, and terrorism.
Excellent post from a new and young contributor. Encouraging to see a college age student show such effort in providing a well written, detailed, well researched essay. Hope to see more from Shoshana.
A Jewish child walking into school should never have to pass an ideological test to deserve protection. That’s where my patience with academic excuses ends. Aufzien takes on a dangerous habit: explaining violence so elaborately that the people committing it almost disappear from the argument. Historical context matters. So does the person being threatened right now. As a Columbia graduate, I expect intellectual rigor from that institution, especially when fashionable theories make cruelty easier to rationalize. Zohran answers for his own choices as mayor. Every New Yorker deserves his protection, including Jews whose views on Israel offend his political allies. No exceptions. No seminar required.
A tour de force of insightful information. Excellent scholarship and presentation. I admit that early on there was an unintended laugh line. Mandani Sr was recognized for “the Herskovitz award“ for African Asian studies. Anyone else see the dual irony here?
He's so disgusting. I can't believe NYers would fall for his crap. These people describe themselves when pointing the fingers at others. They are the guilty perpetrators. They are the genocidal maniacs.
They are all singing the same story - accuse Israel of committing the crimes they are doing!
Very informative. It's quite scary how many follow the Mamdanis like blind sheep. Underlying it all is hatred of the Jewish people. It's (almost) laughable that the hatred and violence of radical Moslems is fine, but Jewish defense is condemned.
Prof. Mamdani might benefit from a bit of introspection. Has he never wondered how the Indian community in Uganda became its separate over-class? Perhaps the British Empire had something to do with it. Certainly Indians are not native to Uganda.
In fact, as primarily merchants and financial middlemen, Indians in Uganda provided services not unlike those of Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews and, with Amin’s expulsion of Indians, a similar fate. Yet, this similarity breeds no empathy.
Even today, Prof. Mamdani is oblivious to his privileged position in Uganda - his close ties to its dictator no doubt ensuring his enjoyment of his well appointed villa in an exclusive section of the capital. “Settler-colonialism for me, not thee” would appear to be his guiding principle.
Columbia itself is at an interesting crossroads. With the resignation of Rashid Khalidi, the Said Chair needs a new occupant. The candidate offered by MESAAS is telling of its ideological capture, she was fired from Harvard in part for statements deemed antisemitic. It’s likely that this selection will not get past the Provost.
But whomever is ultimately selected should be a scholar and not an ideologue in the field - which would be an irony given that Said was a scholar in Victorian English literature but an ideological actor (and, it follows, a notoriously poor and selective historian) in the area subject to the Chair named in his honor.
So, follow that selection process carefully. Its result will mark the direction Columbia will follow.
Sorry Shoshana, that wasn’t much of a response to your article. Truth is I very very rarely comment on articles and certainly not on something I know so little about. I’m also trying to read more books and less articles but then I downloaded Substack 😂
Anyway I’m very much an outsider to the topic. I’m in the North of England for a start and although very much on the left politically I have no definitive opinion on the Israel/Palestine issue beyond sympathies for both Israelis and Palestinians, the same I have for all peoples in conflict zones. It’s not an obsession basically which I think is a normal position for anyone not Jewish or Palestinian. That’s not to say I won’t read a book from time to time say by a Palestinian, on Jewish history or a general history of the area.
My real interest is the one that lead me to the article and that’s this explosion of anti semitism which even now for a non Jew still doesn’t feel quite real (though of course I’m well aware for Jewish people it certainly is). See in most places in England you will hardly knowingly meet a Jewish person or be aware of Jewish people. My awareness growing up was basically bible stories of course, the 40th anniversary of the founding of Israel, WWII and a great uncle who was killed in Palestine in 1947. I only ever saw Jewish people in a certain area of Manchester when we visited relatives there. So that’s why when I began to notice the persistence of anti semitic tropes maybe 15 years ago it was eye opening. However it seemed the preserve of certain types of middle aged men who spent to long on line, conspiracy theories were still niche and it was only reading Jon Ronson’s book extremists that I learnt the what seems obvious connection with extremism, conspiricism and anti semitism. Still though it seemed cranky more than anything.
And then gradually even as someone casually observing it’s been growing even before October 7th where of course something that to a non Jew which seemed impossible has happened. Something that was intriguing to a non Jew but of course happening elsewhere has become mainstream. It was happening of course on the left in the UK in the Labour Party under Corbyn. And my two weeks i lasted on Twitter pre Musk was a real eye opener to how mainstream racism AND anti semitism had become but I must admit I had no idea that it was so widespread beyond the fact that at Labour meetings any mention of the Palestinian issue would get far older cheers than say the Saudi/Yemen conflict.
So yeah, really excellently written article. Although I was aware of these issues in academia I’d no idea of the details. I’d always thought that one day I’d read some anti colonial literature. I understand that at times it had needed to be polemical but I was unaware of the narrow interpretations that you describe some of it working with.
And keep writing. It takes optimism because it feels as if no one is listening. And even those who often listen are not wanting to read nuance but simply want to use any article like this as part of their culture war. I’ve not done a Christopher Hitchens style volte face from Palestine to Israel. I’m just sick of slogans and posturing, and performance and would like to see more self criticism and epistemic humility on these issues and an end to all the polarisation. So keep writing these articles Shoshana! ♥️♥️
Great artcle! As to the Mamdanis, Columbia and everyone else ... f'm. Annexation is the only way to stop this recurring cycle of madness. With annexation comes the removal of all the bad actors and re-education for the rest who want peace, and a future with live children.
I can remember REALLY „Progressive“ times in which it was ‚normal“ and self-evident that for every human it was perceived as essentual to set apart oneself from „what Daddy and Mummy say“ and find ones decisive specific OWN spot . These days, „progressives“ - to veil their intellectual inferiority - demand aggressively obeyance with a „Father“ who a.o. adores Brutal Terrorist Fascists like Idi Amin. Assumedly that is the reason for Mamdummy grinning all the time : he got slashed into his face by his adored father who adores Fascists until he loved it and smiled on it. In some other better world this would (have) be(en) acknowledged as perverse. Nowadays we get reigned by Perverse. That“ s „progress“, for sure.
Excellent post from a new and young contributor. Encouraging to see a college age student show such effort in providing a well written, detailed, well researched essay. Hope to see more from Shoshana.
Between Mandani and Edward Said, Columbia has become the heart of darkness
Brilliantly detailed, and even more terrifying to read. Am Yisrael Chai!
A Jewish child walking into school should never have to pass an ideological test to deserve protection. That’s where my patience with academic excuses ends. Aufzien takes on a dangerous habit: explaining violence so elaborately that the people committing it almost disappear from the argument. Historical context matters. So does the person being threatened right now. As a Columbia graduate, I expect intellectual rigor from that institution, especially when fashionable theories make cruelty easier to rationalize. Zohran answers for his own choices as mayor. Every New Yorker deserves his protection, including Jews whose views on Israel offend his political allies. No exceptions. No seminar required.
SO TRUE ...........
Great exposure of something few will ever take the time to explore, and so important to "air" this research of deep-rooted hate and prejudice.
A tour de force of insightful information. Excellent scholarship and presentation. I admit that early on there was an unintended laugh line. Mandani Sr was recognized for “the Herskovitz award“ for African Asian studies. Anyone else see the dual irony here?
He's so disgusting. I can't believe NYers would fall for his crap. These people describe themselves when pointing the fingers at others. They are the guilty perpetrators. They are the genocidal maniacs.
They are all singing the same story - accuse Israel of committing the crimes they are doing!
And, New Yorkers, AMERICANS, they elected this creature??
The world is truly inverted.
I’m finished blaming Mamdani - your correct the folks who elected him - deserve him
Very informative. It's quite scary how many follow the Mamdanis like blind sheep. Underlying it all is hatred of the Jewish people. It's (almost) laughable that the hatred and violence of radical Moslems is fine, but Jewish defense is condemned.
Prof. Mamdani might benefit from a bit of introspection. Has he never wondered how the Indian community in Uganda became its separate over-class? Perhaps the British Empire had something to do with it. Certainly Indians are not native to Uganda.
In fact, as primarily merchants and financial middlemen, Indians in Uganda provided services not unlike those of Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews and, with Amin’s expulsion of Indians, a similar fate. Yet, this similarity breeds no empathy.
Even today, Prof. Mamdani is oblivious to his privileged position in Uganda - his close ties to its dictator no doubt ensuring his enjoyment of his well appointed villa in an exclusive section of the capital. “Settler-colonialism for me, not thee” would appear to be his guiding principle.
Columbia itself is at an interesting crossroads. With the resignation of Rashid Khalidi, the Said Chair needs a new occupant. The candidate offered by MESAAS is telling of its ideological capture, she was fired from Harvard in part for statements deemed antisemitic. It’s likely that this selection will not get past the Provost.
But whomever is ultimately selected should be a scholar and not an ideologue in the field - which would be an irony given that Said was a scholar in Victorian English literature but an ideological actor (and, it follows, a notoriously poor and selective historian) in the area subject to the Chair named in his honor.
So, follow that selection process carefully. Its result will mark the direction Columbia will follow.
Islamist settler colonizers.
Very interesting
Sorry Shoshana, that wasn’t much of a response to your article. Truth is I very very rarely comment on articles and certainly not on something I know so little about. I’m also trying to read more books and less articles but then I downloaded Substack 😂
Anyway I’m very much an outsider to the topic. I’m in the North of England for a start and although very much on the left politically I have no definitive opinion on the Israel/Palestine issue beyond sympathies for both Israelis and Palestinians, the same I have for all peoples in conflict zones. It’s not an obsession basically which I think is a normal position for anyone not Jewish or Palestinian. That’s not to say I won’t read a book from time to time say by a Palestinian, on Jewish history or a general history of the area.
My real interest is the one that lead me to the article and that’s this explosion of anti semitism which even now for a non Jew still doesn’t feel quite real (though of course I’m well aware for Jewish people it certainly is). See in most places in England you will hardly knowingly meet a Jewish person or be aware of Jewish people. My awareness growing up was basically bible stories of course, the 40th anniversary of the founding of Israel, WWII and a great uncle who was killed in Palestine in 1947. I only ever saw Jewish people in a certain area of Manchester when we visited relatives there. So that’s why when I began to notice the persistence of anti semitic tropes maybe 15 years ago it was eye opening. However it seemed the preserve of certain types of middle aged men who spent to long on line, conspiracy theories were still niche and it was only reading Jon Ronson’s book extremists that I learnt the what seems obvious connection with extremism, conspiricism and anti semitism. Still though it seemed cranky more than anything.
And then gradually even as someone casually observing it’s been growing even before October 7th where of course something that to a non Jew which seemed impossible has happened. Something that was intriguing to a non Jew but of course happening elsewhere has become mainstream. It was happening of course on the left in the UK in the Labour Party under Corbyn. And my two weeks i lasted on Twitter pre Musk was a real eye opener to how mainstream racism AND anti semitism had become but I must admit I had no idea that it was so widespread beyond the fact that at Labour meetings any mention of the Palestinian issue would get far older cheers than say the Saudi/Yemen conflict.
So yeah, really excellently written article. Although I was aware of these issues in academia I’d no idea of the details. I’d always thought that one day I’d read some anti colonial literature. I understand that at times it had needed to be polemical but I was unaware of the narrow interpretations that you describe some of it working with.
And keep writing. It takes optimism because it feels as if no one is listening. And even those who often listen are not wanting to read nuance but simply want to use any article like this as part of their culture war. I’ve not done a Christopher Hitchens style volte face from Palestine to Israel. I’m just sick of slogans and posturing, and performance and would like to see more self criticism and epistemic humility on these issues and an end to all the polarisation. So keep writing these articles Shoshana! ♥️♥️
Please also remember that lots of American top universities are paid by Qatar
- ISGAP.org has the full details of this next 4 decades of horror from the new university students
Educated by the 'Muslim Brotherhood.'
Jewish people are the original‘Palestinians”-
Arab Muslims appropriated that moniker.
Great artcle! As to the Mamdanis, Columbia and everyone else ... f'm. Annexation is the only way to stop this recurring cycle of madness. With annexation comes the removal of all the bad actors and re-education for the rest who want peace, and a future with live children.
I can remember REALLY „Progressive“ times in which it was ‚normal“ and self-evident that for every human it was perceived as essentual to set apart oneself from „what Daddy and Mummy say“ and find ones decisive specific OWN spot . These days, „progressives“ - to veil their intellectual inferiority - demand aggressively obeyance with a „Father“ who a.o. adores Brutal Terrorist Fascists like Idi Amin. Assumedly that is the reason for Mamdummy grinning all the time : he got slashed into his face by his adored father who adores Fascists until he loved it and smiled on it. In some other better world this would (have) be(en) acknowledged as perverse. Nowadays we get reigned by Perverse. That“ s „progress“, for sure.