On the Nose

On Tuesday, Democratic New Yorkers went to the polls and elected a democratic socialist as their candidate for the November general election for mayor. Zohran Mamdani’s wide margin of victory—and the decisive defeat of Andrew Cuomo—shocked the political establishment and upended assumptions about who can win an election. In particular, Mamdani’s refusal to back away from his record as an unabashed pro-Palestine candidate proved that vocal opposition to Israel’s destruction of Gaza is not necessarily a political death knell, and in fact may be a political asset in some contexts. Jewish Currents staffers Peter Beinart, Arielle Angel, Mari Cohen, and Alex Kane gathered in the immediate aftermath of the election to discuss Mamdani’s victory and what it might mean for the issue of Israel in US electoral politics and the New York City Jewish vote. We discussed the Jewish reaction to the win, how Mamdani spoke about Palestine on the campaign trail, what his success  means for pro-Israel groups that focus on electoral politics, and the role that City Comptroller Brad Lander and groups like Jews for Racial and Economic Justice played in the election. Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Articles and Videos Mentioned“The Most Detailed Map of the N.Y.C. Mayoral Primary,” Martín González Gómez, Saurabh Datar, Matthew Bloch, Andrew Fischer and Jon Huang, The New York Times“What Zohran’s Victory Means,” Peter Beinart, The Beinart Notebook“Zohran Mamdani’s Moral Stand,” Jewish Currents“Colbert Talks NYC Mayoral Race With Candidates Zohran Mamdani & Brad Lander,” The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, CBSAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez interview, Firing Line with Margaret Hoover, PBS“States Don’t Have a Right to Exist. People Do,” Peter Beinart, The New York Times“Escape from New York: Business Leaders Say They’ll Flee If Mamdani Wins,” Olivia Reingold, The Free PressX post from Republican Jewish CoalitionX post from BetarX post from Blake FlaytonX post from Jacob Kornbluh “Why Are Progressive Legislators Opposing New York’s First Anti-Settlement Bill?,” Alex Kane and Mari Cohen, Jewish Currents“Palestine Is a Proxy Fight in a Fractious DSA,” Alex Kane, Jewish Currents“Jamaal Bowman’s Trip to Israel Sparks Debate in DSA Over Electoral Strategy,” Alex Kane, Jewish Currents

On Friday, June 13th, just days before the sixth scheduled round of US–Iran talks over the country's nuclear energy program, Israel carried out a series of punishing airstrikes in many different parts of Iran. The bombings were unprecedented in targeting Iran’s nuclear energy infrastructure, and have since expanded to target Iranian state television, the energy industry, and high-rise apartment buildings. Israel’s bombing campaign has so far killed over 240 people, and has scuttled US–Iran nuclear diplomacy—at least for now. In response, Iran has launched drones and missiles at Israel, killing over 20 Israelis. Now, the escalating conflict, which has prompted thousands of Iranians to flee their homes and brought Israelis into bomb shelters, threatens to grow even deadlier as news outlets report that the Trump administration is weighing a US strike on Iran.In this episode of On the Nose, senior reporter Alex Kane assesses Israel’s war with Daniel Levy, president of the US/Middle East Project, and Ellie Geranmayeh, the Deputy Director for the European Council on Foreign Relation’s Middle East and North Africa program. They discuss the Trump administration’s position on the conflict, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war goals, and where the region might be heading in the wake of this bombing campaign.Articles Mentioned and Further Reading“Israel Built Its Case for War With Iran on New Intelligence. The U.S. Didn’t Buy It,” Alexander Ward, Lara Seligman, and Dustin Volz, The Wall Street Journal“How Trump Shifted on Iran Under Pressure From Israel,” Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman, Mark Mazzetti, and Ronen Bergman, The New York Times“America First or Israel First? Will Trump Join Netanyahu's War on Iran?” Daniel Levy, Zeteo“Europe must act now to prevent a major war between Israel and Iran,” Ellie Geranmayeh, European Council on Foreign Relations“Unpacking the Rift Between Trump and Netanyahu,” Alex Kane, Jewish Currents“Israeli Army Estimates It Can Hit All Planned Targets in Iran Within Week, Including Fordow Nuclear Site,” Yaniv Kubovich, Haaretz

Andrue Kahn, Executive Director of the American Council for Judaism and former associate rabbi at Congregation Emanuel in NYC, discusses the rich history of Reform Judaism and its anti-nationalist roots. He delves into the significance of the Pittsburgh Platform and how the early Reform movement tackled Zionism. Kahn highlights the ACJ's modern efforts to advocate for Palestinian rights and redefine Jewish identity outside of nationalist frameworks. His insights challenge contemporary notions of Jewish heritage and what it means to be Jewish today.

Join Devin Naar, a Professor of Sephardic studies, Ira Temple, a musician focused on language revival, and Yiddish singer Isabel Frey as they dive into the captivating world of language reclamation. They discuss Kneecap's impact in advocating for the Irish language amidst political strife. The conversation highlights the profound role of music in preserving cultural identities, from Ladino to Yiddish. Explore the connections between artistic expression and solidarity in marginalized communities, and how these movements resonate with broader struggles for decolonization and resilience.

Ben Ratskoff, a contributing editor at Jewish Currents and a scholar of antisemitism, joins Mari Cohen and Alex Kane to discuss a tragic shooting of Israeli embassy aides in DC. They delve into the complexities of political violence and the twisted narratives surrounding it. The conversation highlights the intersection of anti-Semitism and government policy, examining how the incident reflects wider societal tensions. The group emphasizes the need for nuanced understanding of the Palestine solidarity movement and the challenges it faces internally amidst rising violence.

Shaul Magid is a Harvard Divinity School scholar focusing on modern Jewish thought, while Hadas Binyamini is a doctoral candidate at NYU studying Jewish politics. Together, they dive into Chabad's unexpected alignment with Israeli extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir, questioning its anti-Zionist past and newfound quasi-Zionism. The guests discuss internal community tensions in Crown Heights, evolving identities among younger Chabad members, and the movement's struggle between outreach and exclusionary practices amid rising radical ideologies.

In September 2024, an Israeli sniper shot and killed Turkish American human rights activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi outside of Nablus in the northern West Bank. Her murder was a devastating example of a sharp uptick in military and settler violence against both Palestinian residents and the international and Israeli activists who work with them. For years, solidarity activists such as Eygi have responded to the violent reality in the West Bank by physically accompanying Palestininans in the hopes that their “protective presence” will serve as a buffer to prevent attacks. This strategy has received heightened attention thanks to the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, which features Palestinians resisting colonialism in the villages of Masafer Yatta, and Israelis engaging in protective presence with them. For those engaged in solidarity work in the West Bank, this moment of increased violence has amplified ever-present moral questions: What is my responsibility to intervene when someone else is in danger? How much risk must I take upon myself to try and protect my Palestinian comrades? And to what extent must I recruit others to join me in taking that risk? In this chevruta, Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein explores these quandaries with Jewish Currents assistant editor Maya Rosen. As a long-time protective presence activist, Rosen is regularly weighing the danger that she and the activists she recruits will take on in the course of their work: How can she adequately prepare people without scaring them off? And how can she communicate the rewards of the work alongside the risks? Bernstein and Rosen discuss these questions through the lens of three texts—two Talmudic texts, and one Holocaust-era responsum—with the aim of helping those who are attempting to share the burden of serious risk find pathways to greater collective courage.This podcast is part of our chevruta column, named for the traditional method of Jewish study, in which a pair of students analyzes a religious text together. In each installment, Jewish Currents matches leftist thinkers and organizers with a rabbi or Torah scholar. The activists bring an urgent question that arises in their own work; the Torah scholar leads them in exploring their question through Jewish text. By routing contemporary political questions through traditional religious sources, we aim to address the most urgent ethical and spiritual problems confronting the left. Each column includes a written conversation, podcast, and study guide. You can find the column based on this conversation here, and a study guide here.Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).” Articles Mentioned:All Jewish sources are cited in the study guide, linked above“‘It was revenge for our movie’: Oscar winner says soldiers helped settlers attack him in West Bank,” Lorenzo Tondo, The Guardian“Justice for Ayşenur Eygi: Family of U.S. Citizen Killed by Israel Meets with Blinken Demanding Probe,” Democracy Now!“Shocking spike in use of unlawful lethal force by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank,” Amnesty International“Co-Resistance at a Crossroads,” Maya Rosen, Jewish Currents

Sophia Elena Gurulé is a seasoned deportation defense lawyer from the Bronx Defenders, while Tanvi Misra is an immigration reporter known for her insightful work on migration and justice. They delve into the aggressive immigration policies implemented by the Trump administration, discussing the alarming rise of warrantless detentions and the implications for lawful residents. The conversation highlights the historical ties to past discriminatory laws and the ongoing erosion of rights for marginalized communities, urging listeners to understand and engage with these critical issues.

In October 2024, Zohran Mamdani launched his New York City mayoral campaign in relative obscurity. Half a year later, excitement about the state assemblymember from Queens is palpable. Mamdani, whose campaign is focused on housing justice and transit affordability, is the first in the race to hit its fundraising cap, raising $8 million dollars from more than 17,000 donors. A member of the Democratic Socialist of America, he boasts over 15,000 volunteer canvassers. Mamadani is now polling in second place, behind Andrew Cuomo, former New York governor who resigned in disgrace following sexual harassment allegations. Meanwhile, Cuomo, who began a lackluster second act in Israel advocacy following his resignation from office, is attempting to make Israel and antisemitism central issues in the campaign. In a speech earlier this month at a Modern Orthodox synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, he blasted Mamdani, as well as fellow competitors Brad Lander and Adrienne Adams, for being insufficiently supportive of Israel, while asserting that anti-Zionism is unequivocally antisemitism. He also zeroed in on Mamdani’s “Not On Our Dime” legislation, which targets charities funding Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Mamdani has continued to stress an adherence to international law, and a commitment to the principle of the equality of all human life. As the mayoral race enters its final months, Jewish Currents editor-at-large Peter Beinart interviewed Mamdani in a conversation that first appeared in the Beinart Notebook on Substack. They discussed how Israel/Palestine is making its way into New York politics, how Mamdani would stand up to President Trump, and his detailed plan for public safety. Jewish Currents is a non-profit organization and does not endorse candidates for office. We hope that our listeners in New York City will vote in the primary on June 24th.Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).” FURTHER READING: “Cuomo’s ‘most important issue,’” Jeff Coltin, Nick Reisman, and Emily Ngo, Politico“Cuomo and Mamdani gain ground as Democratic primary turns into two-person race,” Adam Daly, amNY“Socialist Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani Wants to End Columbia and NYU’s Tax-Exempt Status,” Sarah Wexler, Jacobin“Feds seized $80 million in FEMA funds given to NYC to house migrants, city comptroller says,” Jennifer Bisram, CBS News“Migrant family swept up by ICE allowed to return home,” Brian Mann, NPRZohran Mamdani’s public safety plan

In a recent article in Jewish Currents, Jon Danforth-Appell proposes that the Jewish left is operating under a paradigm of what he calls “Zionist realism.” This idea draws on theorist Mark Fisher’s notion of “capitalist realism,” which describes the way capitalism makes it impossible to imagine alternative world structures; Zionist realism, in Danforth-Appell’s conception, similarly makes it difficult for Jews to separate from a received sense of Jewish collectivity, and imagine alternative futures. Danforth-Appell writes that particularist Jewish organizing, typified by the slogan “Not in Our Name,” reinforces a picture of Jews as a monolith, while contributing to an overemphasis on Jewish culpability for Israel’s actions. This approach may underemphasize “material processes of capital and geopolitics,” like the weapons industry’s bottom line and American interests in the Middle East. “What ultimately matters is not an abstract notion of Zionism as a totalizing spiritual contaminant upon the Jewish people,” he writes, “but the ways in which American Jews, alongside all other Americans, hold multiple kinds of material relationships to Israel.”In the episode, Jewish Currents editor-in-chief Arielle Angel and associate editor Mari Cohen talk with Danforth-Appell about his article and the questions it raises. Even given the diversity among Jews, can we abandon collective complicity while so many Jews materially support Zionism? Why aren’t we seeing more mass anti-war organizing, where people can show up as Americans? And what are the limits of a Jewish politics of collective complicity? Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Texts Mentioned and Further Resources:“Against Zionist Realism,” Jon Danforth-Appell, Jewish CurrentsCapitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? by Mark Fisher“Canary Mission’s Newest Funders,” Alex Kane, Jewish CurrentsThe Cultural Politics of Emotion by Sarah Ahmed“Can Genocide Studies Survive a Genocide in Gaza?,” Mari Cohen, Jewish Currents