What Zohran Mamdani’s win means for peace?
[TL;DR: This isn't your typical political story. Discover how Zohran Mamdani's unique mixed heritage and his commitment to human dignity, inclusivity, and challenging injustice offer a powerful new model for peace and leadership. For a more in-depth exploration, watch the video version here: https://youtu.be/Dkf--1crJHw ]
New York has a new mayor. Zohran Kwame Mamdani. A lot has been said about the election and what it means. Most of the commentary is about his identity and ideology but only as far as our political system characterizes people. Islam vs Christianity, Recent immigrants vs immigrants who came over on the Mayflower. Socialism vs capitalism. But what if were to dig deeper into the identity of Zohran Mamdani to explore the peace forming and peace protecting traits of our journey as a human race. How should we as people who want peace in the world, understand the situation?
Only time will tell how much he does to fulfill the promises he has made but he certainly has the support and hope of a very large number of people. My letter to you is about some specific aspects of Zohran Mamdani’s identity and politics that encourage me as a peace educator.
Baby Zohran with his parents.
Identity of Zohran Mamdani – religion and region
Let us begin by examining a basic flaw in the understanding of identity – the categorization of either/or. In other words, a binary view of human beings. A man is either Hindu or Muslim, an Asian or European and so on. In the case of Mamdani, for instance, the foremost personal attribute being ascribed to him is that he is Muslim. The other major identity attributed to him is South Asian. His Wikipedia page is now showing him as South Asian-Ugandan but that is not how he has been largely identified.
This is problematic. It is true that Mamdani has self-identified as a Muslim but it does not change the fact that he is of a mixed Hindu-Muslim heritage. His mother, the renowned filmmaker, Meera Nair hails from a Hindu family. He grew up celebrating Diwali, Rakshabandhan and Holi and is at ease visiting temples and even donning a tilak/teeka on his forehead. Perhaps the most visible sign of his Hindu heritage is the often-present red thread on his wrist. Called a mauli aur kalava, it is worn by many Hindus with the belief that it wards off evil or protects the wearer from negative energy. Mamdani often wears it reflecting his mixed cultural background.
In addition to giving his vote and full public support as a member of New York State Assembly to the bill that established Diwali as a public holiday, he has visited temples and cultural centres of Hindu communities of not only India but Nepal, Trinidad and Guyana. He has also publicly participated in Diwali celebrations.
In terms of a regional identity, while Mamdani is defined as a South Asian, we must be clear that it is a vast-encompassing term. I do not mean this only with respect to South Asia being the vast territory it is. His campaign and support has certainly reflected that – from Bangladesh to Nepal to India to Pakistan to Sri Lanka, he has been quite visible in all these communities. This is commendable but I would like to draw attention to two less talked about aspects of the South Asian vastness that is reflected in Zohran Mamdani’s identity.
Meera Nair, his mother, is a Punjabi woman who was born and spent her childhood in Orissa which is quite a different part of India (from Punjab). This was in the late 1950s when India was a young nation. As a teenager, she was educated in a high school in Himachal Pradesh and the Delhi University.
Mahmood Mamdani, Zohran’s father is of Gujarati Shia Muslim descent. He was born in the Bombay of British India’s concluding phase in 1946. But interestingly, neither of Mahmood’s parents were born and raised in India. They were part of the Indian diaspora. Indian diaspora communities exist across the globe and they have their unique characteristics that are distinct from India. In Tanganyika (that merged with Zanzibar to form the present day Tanzania) where Zohran’s paternal grandparents were born and Uganda where they raised his father, Indians were a very small minority (they still are). As such, the shared Indian identity was a much more defining feature of Indians there than their personal religious or caste backgrounds.
This, coupled with the fact that the racist policies of the British instituted segregation and a racially tiered society, both in Tanganyika (Tanzania) and Uganda, led these diaspora Indians to develop a very different sense of identity than Indians in India. While India was also ruled by the British, Indians were the majority there whereas in African countries they were tiny minorities with their own complex relations with the Black majority. Additionally, while India achieved independence in 1947, Tanzania and Uganda became independent in the early 1960s. This meant that Mahmood Mamdani grew up in a legally enforced racially segregated country – separate housing, separate schools, separate entrances, exists, benches, water fountains, toilets and so on.
To this interesting mix of Punjab, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh and Bombay as well as Dar es Salaam and Kampala in East Africa, one must also add the influence of some time spent in Cape Town, South Africa where Zohran and his parents lived for a while. This was actually just a couple of years after South Africa gained freedom from apartheid. This is significant in understanding the worldview that Zohran Mamdani was exposed to.
Significant is also Zohran’s middle name – Kwame – in understanding his upbringing. Francis Kwame Nkrumah is a highly respected name from the anti-colonial struggles of our world and in the building of a post-colonial society as well. This Ghanian leader fought bravely against colonialism, advocated for Pan-Africanism, led his nation post-independence with socialist policies of a welfare system, community support programs, building educational and healthcare institutions, railway and industry and promoting unity across tribes and nations. In Zohran Mamdani’s middle name, Kwame, we find the appreciation and dream of a world that is free of the bondage of colonialism and full of promise to provide better lives for all who were disadvantaged due to this bondage.
And finally, we must remember that the longest part of his life has been spent in the US. Of course, the fact that both his parents studied in the US – his father at the Universities of Pittsburg, Tufts and Harvard and his mother also at Harvard – link him to the US even prior to his moving there at the age of seven. He has lived in the US since then and is now 34. He became a US citizen in 2018. Like many immigrant children who have grown up in the US, he has the experience of observing and absorbing this country in a very different way. This is a huge asset.
Having understood the diversity of his upbringing in terms of religion and geography and also touching on some of the politics he was exposed to, let us now pay attention to some specifics of his politics from our peace perspective.
Human dignity, inclusivity and anti-bullying
As I said at the beginning, only time will tell what Mamdani does going forward but analyzing his politics from the actions he has taken in his short but impressive political career, his mayoral campaign and post-victory statements and also his political views as a university student, I can ascribe three very recognizable values:
Human dignity
A politician whose primary concern is for his working-class constituents to be able to live with dignity is commendable. In a city that boasts of immense riches and yet makes life so difficult for those who keep it going with their hard work, is nothing to be proud of. Affordable housing and transport, collective bargaining power at work, healthcare and childcare are not luxuries. These are necessary for people to be able to live life with dignity. A person is not a peg in a machine called the economy. His mental and physical well being are of extreme importance. The dignity of his family – how they live, the quality of food they eat, the opportunities they are able to utilize, the care they receive when they need it and so on are of utmost importance. Their lives are not to be seen as serving an economy that must make profit at all costs – even at the cost of these very lives.
In other words, putting lives over profit. This may come across as something that political leaders should naturally stand for but unfortunately it is rare. Most political leaders, despite rhetoric for votes, defend and promote the interest of the super wealthy.
Mamdani proved that this norm can be broken by going on a 15-day hunger strike in 2021 in solidarity with the taxi drivers of New York city in their fight for debt relief. Due to lack of government regulation, purchasing a license (medallion) to drive a cab in NYC was costing hundreds of thousands of dollars – sometimes even to a million dollars! Many cab drivers were in debt because of this and were targeted by lending scams.
The hardships resulting from this crushing debt were immense for these taxi drivers without whom NYC cannot run. Some were even ending their lives. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) decided to start a protest with vigils, sit-ins and a number of drivers also went on a hunger strike. Mamdani joined them on this hunger strike that lasted 15 days. In our peace education vocabulary, it was a satyagrah. This act of non-violent but powerful protest by the taxi drivers joined by Mamdani bore fruit. The city government offered a deal which was accepted - the debt of taxi medallion owners was now capped to a maximum of $170,000 which was far less than the average medallion debt of around $600,000.
The solidarity shown by Mamdani – in action and not just words - to this campaign of a very significant section of the working-class population of NYC earned him a trust that he continued to nourish as a member of the New York Assembly. While I cannot give in this article an entire list of prime-sponsored and co-sponsored bills by Mamdani, it is clear which people are his primary concern. Some examples of Mamdani’s prime-sponsorship bills are:
1. Prohibit landlords, lessors, sub-lessors and grantors from demanding brokers' fees from tenants
2. Requiring average annual wage and average weekly wage of the state to be adjusted for inflation each year
3. Phasing out of bus fares
Some examples of Mamdani’s co-sponsored bills are:
1. Establish a child and family well-being program and fund for the distribution of grants to nonprofit community-based providers for children's and families' needs
2. Prevention of wage theft
3. Insurance coverage for one rescue and one maintenance inhaler at no cost.
4. Preserving access to affordable drugs
5. Stop Violence against sex workers
Zohran Mamdani does not come from a working-class background. In many ways, he had a privileged upbringing – not in any way ultra rich but not lacking anything. In his own words, “I never had to want for something, and yet I knew that was not in any way the reality for most New Yorkers." It is very probable that the sensitivity and empathy his parents have – visible in their work and public stands on issues – contributed significantly to his desire to work for the larger world.
To give just one example, the movie, Salaam Bombay (1988), the first feature film directed by his mother Mira Nair, tells a story of male children living on Bombay’s streets and girl children pushed into prostitution in Bombay’s brothels - from their own perspective. The children in the movie are not seen through the gaze of someone else which is often the case when dealing with the subjects of poverty and exploitation. The children tell their own story and it almost feels like a documentary but without any commentary!
Inclusivity
I have already talked about the mixed nature of Zohran Mamdani’s personal heritage and in my three decades of work on peace, it is a firmly positive feature for society. When our identities are mixed and we have been taught to appreciate and celebrate them, we become inclined to inclusivity by default! The very simple reason for it is that we do not see ourselves as either/or. This brings me back to the initial discussion of the binary understanding of identity. A mixed identity is a direct challenge to such an understanding. Therefore, it is not surprising that Mamdani has very comfortably gone from mosque to temple to gurdwara to Christian prayers and from Hindostani to Arabic to Spanish to Bangla.
An appreciation for diversity also makes it easier to accept and respect identities that may unfairly face censure and rejection in society. Mamdani has been a vocal supporter of LGBTQIA+ rights. His election, both in the primary and general elections, was widely celebrated in the LGBTQIA+ community. Formal statements praising him were issued by one of the largest LGBTQIA+ advocacy organization GLAAD. He was praised for representing the values of fairness, dignity, and respect for all community members, including LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers.
He has also stood for the rights of sex workers and their protection from violence and exploitation. While his position on the legality of sex work seems to have changed over time, he has continued to advocate for the safety and well-being of sex workers over criminal prosecution. He also supported a bill aimed at decriminalizing certain aspects of sex work.
Both the above examples may appear to be in contradiction to what our societal conditioning leads us to believe of practicing Muslims or what they may believe of themselves. Yet, Zohran Mamdani has so often said and also shown through the legislations he has proposed and supported that inclusivity is a hallmark of his vision. He has used the terms, acceptance and celebration for the diversity of NYC which is truly music to my ears as a peace educator. It has been my endeavour to teach that difference (which can be both diversity and disagreement) is to be accepted and celebrated as a precondition for peace. Tolerance is not enough.
This however does not mean that a non-inclusive, bigoted, oppressive and exploitative set up should be ignored or not protested just because it happens to exist! Therefore, it is not only normal but imperative that an inclusive person stands against any system which discriminates against and denies rights to people based on a perceived understanding of superiority and inferiority. It is only natural that a truly inclusive person will stand against Israeli apartheid and for Palestinian rights. This brings me to the last but not the least of the values being discussed.
Anti-bullying
Having unlimited power that has no accountability is one of the most dangerous things for the world. An example could be a head of the state and his cronies who decide the fates of their country men and women with unbridled executive powers. They can arrest people, take their jobs away and do away with social support programs that help the vast majority.
It could also be a government that does the same to other people. With military might, it can control other countries with no fear of accountability for such actions.
In both these cases, we find that the perpetrators do not like to follow rules and regulations. Whether it is the law of the land or international law, they want to do away with it. They bypass legislatures and go straight to barking orders and they try to dismantle international organizations that could challenge their acts of aggression.
Anyone who wants peace in society knows that where there is no recourse to justice, there can be no peace. Indeed, the oft-repeated no justice, no peace is the most precise way to describe it. It is actually the duty of elected representatives along with the members of the judiciary to ensure that no person or a select group of people can rise above the law or change it altogether to make their bullying legal and long term.
It is here that the importance of legislators like Zohran Mamdani cannot be overstated. Even his declaration to run for office is a challenge to bullying. A non-white immigrant man who clearly states that he is Muslim and wants to be the mayor of New York city is surprising to say the least. With a federal government that is blatantly racist, anti-immigrant and Islamophobic, he knew well what filth it would throw at him. The fact that the tragedy of 9/11 is inextricably linked with New York only made this more inevitable.
In addition, several bigwigs of his own party were slow in endorsing him or stayed silent about his candidacy despite his landslide victory in the Democratic primary in June. As if this wasn’t enough, some decided to even support the disgraced governor Andrew Cuomo. A reminder that Cuomo had to resign from the governorship of New York amid sexual harassment allegations
But Zohran Mamdani persisted and despite the vile propaganda against him from the Presidency, the Republicans and some from his own party, he did not dilute his messages of justice and dignity for all and respect for diversity. In fact, he went beyond it to challenge even international bullying by Israel supported by the US government.
Palestine
One might ask why Palestine should be an issue in a mayoral election in the United States. The most simple and straightforward answer to that is that nearly every cent given to Israel by the United States comes from American taxpayers. Therefore, they have the right to know where their candidates stand on foreign policy so they do not end up supporting someone who is paying for a genocide with their money.
Going even deeper of course are a thousand moral and legal arguments one can put forth to make Palestine an issue wherever the two major political parties of the US fight an election. This is even more important since both Republican and Democratic leaders have been shamelessly canvassing for Israeli apartheid and mass murder. I can unfortunately give numerous examples but one statement from Cuomo (remember he is a Democrat) will do: “If you boycott Israel, New York State will boycott you."
Well, the people of NYC decided to boycott Cuomo instead, in favour of a candidate who has clearly spoken for legal action against Israel for crimes against humanity on the Palestinian people.
Perhaps this should not come as a surprise, given that hundreds of thousands of people have marched in just the last two years on the streets of NYC in support of Palestine. And just like in these marches, the people who voted for Mamdani have been a mix which includes Jews. It is indeed heartening that despite the propaganda which uses ethnocentric identity politics to create fear and hate, one thirds of the Jewish voters who turned out to vote, voted for Mamdani.
This is definitely a verdict on his pro-people agenda (as opposed to the pro-ultra rich agenda of his opponents) which has trumped any hate politics at play. But we can’t ignore that it is also a verdict on his open opposition to fascism, both at home and abroad.
Hindutva
This becomes further clear from the way many Indian Americans came together to support him. Mamdani has been a strong critic of India’s prime minister Modi and his government’s anti-minority policies and human rights abuses stemming from the fascist ideology of their mentor organization RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh).
As a result and simply by virtue of being a Muslim, the supporters of Hindutva – the right wing philosophy of the RSS and Modi – actively campaigned against him. They called him a jehadi, an Islamist, anti-Hindu and anti-Indian. A recently formed group, Indian Americans for Cuomo hired a plane to fly a banner over NYC with the words: “Save NYC from Global Intifada. Reject Mamdani.”
Despite this, many Indian and desi (broadly anyone from the Indian subcontinent) groups endorsed Mamdani. Notable among them is DRUM Beats (Desis Rising Up & Moving Beats) which is affiliated to DRUM (same full form), one of the oldest organizations for working class people of desi origin in the US.
While I do not have data on how many Hindus voted for Mamdani, he received over 87% of South Asian votes which is an overwhelming majority. He also received almost 50% of the overall Asian vote which is the biggest share of all the three candidates. And to the claim that it was the “Muslim vote” that made him win, only 4% of NYC voters are Muslim. This makes it clear that neither the Islamophobic propaganda nor the vitriol of Hindutva was too successful. It must have worked to some extent though as ethnocentric identity politics – as stated before – is a powerful political tool.
While it is clear from the previous points I have made about inclusion that Mamdani has gone across his class, religion, region, etc., to stand with a wide diversity of communities, it is also important to recognize that the specifics of his identity make it natural for him to stand against Hindutva. In more than one way, Hindutva is the antithesis of Zohran’s identity that we have already discussed. It is a philosophy of homogeneity and rejection of the syncretic and pluralistic society of India. It neither accepts nor promotes the mix that Zohran represents. I can’t help but recognize this connection because apart from Palestine, his other major outside concern has been India.
He has spoken about the pogrom of Muslims in Gujarat (2002).
He has strongly criticized the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) under which the Modi government targeted Muslims in an attempt to make them second class citizens. The Ugandan and South African connection further intensifies this for him. As discussed, both these countries followed racial profiling which determined what rights you had and CAA is an example of the same idea.
Mamdani has also highlighted the plight of student activists who have been in jail for years for protesting CAA and defending the secular and democratic constitution of India. Just ahead of Modi’s 2023 visit to the US when the media spotlight was going to be on him, Zohran spoke to a gathering in New York that aimed at highlighting the rising fascist tendencies of the government of India. Zohran read aloud from the Prison Diary of a student leader, Umar Khalid who has been in jail since September 2020 for protesting CAA. Umar is seen as a symbol of the struggle to save the constitution which emerged from the anti-colonial struggle of the Indian people who united across religious lines. This constitution and the pluralist heritage behind it are under threat because of the current government’s philosophy of religious nationalism.
Conclusion and crucial words of caution
Hope
My biggest hope for peace from Zohran Mamdani’s win is that he represents peace-establishing traits of our journey as human beings. Elected to a high-profile job in a very diverse city with not too distant memories of a tragedy that fueled hate, divisions and wars, is a person whose identity gives us hope for peace. This hope is multiplied significantly because of his commitment to economic and social justice.
He is of a mixed heritage of two religions that have often been cited as each other’s enemies. In fact, the Hindutva regime in India would prefer if no such examples can ever exist. Syncretic, blend, mix and combined are words that fascists fear. It is what challenges the very basis of their ideology of separation, hierarchy and hate. It is the reason why “race-mixing” was banned in Hitler’s Germany and apartheid South Africa.
Mamdani also has an anti-racist heritage. His father grew up in a racially segregated Uganda which shaped his highly regarded work on colonialism, African politics, political violence and majority-minority relations. He also suffered expulsion from Uganda because of his ethnicity (under Idi Amin) and became stateless later when he criticized the policies of the Ugandan government under the leadership of Apollo Milton Obote. These experiences, including that of being a refugee, are part of Zohran’s heritage.
In 1965, as a student in the US, Mahmood Mamdani took the bus journey to Montgomery, Alabama, organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to participate in the civil rights movement. He was arrested and when the Ugandan ambassador asked him why he was interfering in the internal affairs of another country, Mahmood replied that this was not an internal affair but a freedom struggle – just like in Uganda which had got his freedom recently. A Ugandan of Indian origin showing solidarity for the struggle of African Americans is a wonderful example of how ideas of freedom and justice are far stronger than borders and ethnicities. This too is part of Zohran’s heritage.
Both his parents, Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani are famous people who have not shied away from taking a stand against Israel’s occupation and genocide of Palestinian people. There is a lot of material on the internet about Mahmood Mamdani’s criticism of Israel. Here, I am sharing only this statement of Mira Nair from 2013 when she declined an invitation as "guest of honor" to the Haifa International Film Festival. Nair wrote a number of tweets for all to see: "I will go to Israel when the walls come down. I will go to Israel when occupation is gone...I will go to Israel when the state does not privilege one religion over another. I will go to Israel when Apartheid is over… I stand w/ Palestine for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) & the larger Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Mov't.”
The last tweet is particularly remarkable as it specifies collective action – something concrete that she is doing/supporting so that the refusal to attend the film festival is seen as part of a larger movement by civil society to challenge Israel. Her action turns the focus on the movement and that is what true solidarity should be.
This is also Zohran’s heritage - using your fame and privilege to speak clearly against injustice and show solidarity with movements that aim at real change. Most famous people shy away from taking political stands or show associations with activist movements for fear of ruining their careers. We do not see this in the case of Mahmood, Meera and Zohran.
To summarize, in Zohran Mamdani, we see an identity that is not only normalizing diversity but also the mixing of people. This is a pre-condition for peace. Human civilization is the story of mixing. A society that segregates people can never be peaceful. Secondly, fighting injustice and showing solidarity with others fighting injustice is also inextricably linked with establishing a peaceful society. Additionally, using one’s position of influence to build a more egalitarian world and promote ideas of respect and co-existence is another significant way to build peace. So, hope for peace is what I see in the election of Zohran Mamdani.
Caution
Having said that, it is imperative that we do not look at any person as a superhero for the values we stand for. Putting all our hopes into an individual has three major flaws. One is that all of us, including mayors, work in limiting environments. There are powerful forces at play that want the staus quo of inequality to continue. They are often the ones controlling the structures we operate in. This is not to say that they cannot be challenged and that structures cannot be changed but that it is not possible for one person or a few individuals to change everything magically.
Secondly, even heroes can change for the worse or become lax or even fearful. We must remember that. Our task then is to make sure that our heroes stay accountable and justify the faith we put in them. This means constant monitoring and involvement in the politics that impacts us. It means taking our leaders to task when they falter and to give them our full support when they are genuinely trying.
Thirdly and this may be the trickiest to come to terms with – loyalty to a party should reflect our hopes, not helplessness. Zohran Mamdani won because of the large support he had from the public. That support was not reciprocated by the leadership of the Democratic Party. The last two Democratic presidents - Barrack Obama and Joe Biden – did not endorse him despite his win in the Democratic primary. Just to be clear, this is a candidate that was voted by Democratic voters as their choice for representing them. The Democratic presidents did not show their support for the verdict of the Democratic base. Unsurprisingly, both of them had messages of praise for Mamdani after his win in the general election.
Highly shameful also is the conduct of all those Democratic leaders who actually endorsed or showed support for Andrew Cuomo. This is a disgraced Democratic mayor who had to resign because there was no way he could have defended himself against the scandalous allegations of sexual misconduct against him. He earned the endorsement of ex-president Bill Clinton who was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives on charges of perjury to a grand jury and obstruction of justice related to a sexual harassment lawsuit and a sex scandal. The former Secretary of State, his wife, Hillary Clinton also endorsed Cuomo.
The House Democratic leader and leader of the House Democratic Caucus, Hakeem Jeffries did not support Zohran Mamdani in the primary and did not endorse him even after he won the primary. He ultimately gave a last-minute cold, reluctant-looking endorsement.
The Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer did not endorse Mamdani at all.
The House Democratic Whip, Catherine Clark also did not.
The above three hold very important official positions in the party and their actions say a lot about what the party leadership is thinking.
The exception to this was the Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin who hailed the victory of Mamdani in the primary election and he also endorsed him for the general election.
The point here is not that there cannot be disagreement within the party leadership about who is the best to represent the party in the legislatures of the country. The point is that the vote and the clear stand of the democratic base in favour of Mamdani was ignored and even belittled by many of their leaders. “Why?” is the big question which I will discuss in a minute.
Mamdani did get the support and endorsement of other Democratic leaders but the two I would like to mention are Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. They, along with several others who also endorsed him including Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, represent a wing of the Democratic party that has repeatedly stood on the side of equality, justice and human rights. It is this wing of the party that is actually living and voting those values.
And this brings me to the reasons why many powerful people in the Democratic leadership did not support Mamdani. It was clear that he had popular support. What the Mamdani election (and other similar elections this cycle) demonstrates is that the standard line of some of the leadership – you can’t have better policies because they’re not popular – is a lie. Mamdani won with more votes than any other New York mayor in recent history, despite huge opposition from monied interests.
So what exactly is the problem? Why should he be shunned in favour of other candidates who do not have popular support and even have scandals attached to them? There can only be one reason – the disapproval of the policies that he proposes. And we already know what these policies are. They are policies of economic and social justice.
Unfortunately, despite the rhetoric, so many of the leaders across the two political parties are funded by those who benefit from and are the reason for inequality in society. So, the issue really is that of politics. Mamdani’s politics is a threat to unjust systems that create and perpetuate poverty.
This also extends to the issue of Palestinian genocide by Israel that Mamdani firmly decries and protests. So many in the Democratic Party’s leadership are unwilling to even empathize with the Palestinian people, let alone acknowledge a genocide is being committed by Israel and with the full support of American arms and money. The reason for this is clear. The moral compass of many of the leaders is broken under the weight of the money they receive from the Israeli lobby. It is a tragedy that has made the US complicit in the genocide.
It is not just inaction but active promotion of Israeli interests that we can clearly see in the leadership. A glaring example is Obama making Hillary Clinton his Secretary of State. She and her husband have been shameless supporters of the Zionist project for decades.
When such issues are raised, even well meaning people present the argument of “but what’s the alternative”. But this logic is both uninspiring and doomed to failure. On socio-economic issues, Democrats like Andrew Cuomo are indistinguishable from Trump. After all they are members of the same billionaire class. Polls tell us that life has been getting harder for poor and working class people in New York even after years of Democratic leadership. And if someone cannot draw the line at genocide, where would they draw the line? Cuomo and his allies openly used the same sort of Islamophobia that Trump uses to demonize Mamdani.
So the issue here is that of a true alternative and not just the alternative in name! The Democratic leadership must prove that it is a true alternative to Trumpian values. Otherwise, elections cease to become vehicles of change. We are told that we need to vote out of fear and therefore vote for the candidate who is may be 2% better than the Republican candidate. This is not how a democracy should function. Elections are important.
I am reminded of these words of Nelson Mandela: "May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears." Let us turn the Democratic Party into a strong alternative to the values we deplore. Mamdani’s election proves that it can be done. Let us push our leaders to do what is right rather than just voting for them out of fear of Republicans.
One more important thing that should be kept in mind is that our support for any candidate must always be on merit and not on artificial associations of religion, skin colour and so on. In short, a man of colour is not necessarily anti-racist. A woman who comes from a working class background is not necessarily pro-poor. The support for Mamdani is not because he is a brown immigrant – even though that is impressive as well in the kind of political environment we live in – but because he represents all the specific traits we have discussed.
Lastly, affecting change is a multifaceted and multilayered effort that requires the involvement of many people – not just heroes. As a peace educator, I often remind people that each one of us is a peace keeper if we decide to be. Each one of us has the potential to make the world better. No genuine effort is without value. Keep fighting for justice and peace in whatever capacity you can. In the end, we are all answerable to our own conscience.
I hope that this detailed article on our position as an organization committed to peace will give you food for thought. Signing off with Peace Vigil’s motto: Peace Needs All of Us!
Shirin
Co-director, Peace Vigil
