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October 11, 2026
Key Developments and What We're Discussing Today:
- New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's October 7 statement missed the mark, but not for the reasons some have suggested.
- Mamdani is not on the ballot anywhere next month. DSA is on the ballot in only a handful of congressional districts because the vast majority of their House candidates were defeated in Democratic primaries.
- The Democrat on your ballot might not be your perfect choice. You might not agree with them on everything. But in every district and in every state, the Democrat on your ballot will be the better choice and better alternative to two more years with no checks or balances on Trump's agenda.
You're on this list because you are smart, good-looking, and generous. Please support my work by chipping in via credit card (you do not need a PayPal account), Zelle (contact me for info), Venmo @Steven-Sheffey (last four digits, 9479), or check.
Friends,
Some politicians on both sides of the aisle missed the mark in their October 7 statements last week.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel on Simchat Torah and murdered 1,200 people (including 44 Americans). More Jews were murdered on that day than on any day since the Holocaust. Hamas wounded 3,300 and took 251 hostages during a day of brutal savagery and sexual violence. You don't have to agree with everything Israel has done since then. You do have to understand the severe trauma that Hamas inflicted on a close-knit nation that has a smaller population and a smaller size than many American states, a trauma felt by Jews around the world, then and now.
What I wrote in my newsletter on October 9, 2023, remains true today: "Those of us who want peace, who are progressives, who want a two-state solution that allows Jews and Palestinians sovereignty and dignity, must condemn this attack by Hamas in the strongest terms. There is no justification for terrorism, no justification for brutally murdering and abducting civilians, especially women, children, and the elderly."
I also wrote, on October 15, 2023, prior to Israel's ground invasion of Gaza, "Anyone who says innocent Palestinians deserve to suffer, that children deserve to suffer, or treats the deaths of any innocent Palestinians as anything other than a tragedy has lost their moral compass. We can support Israel and be concerned about innocent Palestinians, who are not collectively responsible for Hamas terrorism."
What I wrote then should guide our evaluation of statements issued on Wednesday in commemoration of October 7.
Some public figures issued statements that only focused on October 7. Some public figures issued statements recalling the horrors of October 7 and also noting Palestinian suffering in the aftermath of October 7. For example, this statement from Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) was entirely appropriate, as was this statement from Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
But none attracted as much attention as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's statement. The problem is not that he used the word "genocide." Reasonable minds can differ on whether what Israel did is genocide, but when nearly 40% of Jewish Americans and more than half of Jewish Democrats think that it is genocide (I am not sure), it's hard to deem that word automatically inappropriate.
The problem is not that he mentioned suffering on the Palestinian side. Jews are not the only large constituency in New York City. For many Palestinians, October 7 marks the beginning of three years of devastation in Gaza. Mentioning October 7 without any mention of Palestinian suffering would have seemed as insensitive to them as many of us feel that Mamdani's mention of Palestinian suffering was to us.
So what distinguishes Mamdani's statement from the other statements that mentioned Palestinian suffering, and seem to have drawn little, if any, reaction?
The main difference is that on a day that holds special significance for the Jewish community, Mamdani issued a statement that did mention what happened on October 7 in the first paragraph but devoted the bulk of his statement to describing in much greater detail what Israel did in Gaza in response to October 7. It was almost as if he was using October 7 as a hook to talk about what happened in Gaza after October 7 rather than focus on what happened in Israel on October 7.
It was just too much on a day when the Jewish community wanted their elected officials to acknowledge their grief and their trauma. A lot happened after October 7 that does need to be acknowledged – but not on October 7, not on the very day when more Jews were killed than on any day since the Holocaust.
As Rabbi Jill Jacobs said, “Jews and Israelis around the world and in New York City are still acutely mourning the atrocities of October 7 and still experiencing trauma from the killings and taking of hostages. We need time and spaces to mourn, and we need elected officials to understand our experiences and histories. The mayor’s statement did not reflect that understanding."
Sympathy and empathy should not be zero-sum games. A statement that only mentions October 7 or that focuses only on October 7 is not a denial of suffering in Gaza subsequent to October 7. I think that Mamdani should have recognized this and reiterated his position on Gaza in detail at another time.
And yet, I also understand that Mamdani is the mayor of everyone in New York City, not only the mayor of Jewish New Yorkers. He was asked the next day about his statement. This is what he said. To be clear, I think his statement should have focused, if not exclusively, then mainly on October 7.
However, I understand his reasoning. You should watch what he said if you want to understand his reasoning rather than assume the worst. Even so, he did not have to devote the bulk of his October 7 statement to what happened after October 7. That was the problem.
We in the Jewish community cannot expect every condemnation of Israeli actions in Gaza to include a recitation of what happened on October 7. We should be able to expect that on October 7, the focus will be on what happened on that particular day, which holds a special place in the hearts and souls of the Jewish community.
Those who were so quick to condemn Mamdani's statement might want to ask themselves whether they undercut their argument that October 7 is a special day of mourning and grief by issuing their condemnations on October 7 and turning the conversation to what Mamdani said rather than keeping the conversation on what happened on October 7, 2023. Usually, when one is grieving, one does not launch political attacks.
Ironically, Mamdani was vilified by pro-Palestinian protesters at a rally he attended organized by Israelis for Peace. Nothing he could have said would have satisfied everyone. Maybe we should take a break from parsing and condemning other people's condemnations and worrying about whether/how quickly someone issued a statement on this or that and focus instead on working together to identify and promote our shared values. Ami Fields-Meyer attended the rally and had this to say.
We have an election in 23 days. Mamdani is not on the ballot. In all but a handful of districts, DSA is not on the ballot either, despite the outsized attention it receives from media outlets thirsty for clicks.
JTA reports that candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America lost 18 of the 25 U.S. House primaries in which they competed. Seven losses "occurred in deep-blue areas – demonstrating that even in the country’s most progressive pockets, democratic socialists often weren’t popular. These defeats notably included one in St. Louis, where incumbent Wesley Bell trounced DSA firebrand and anti-AIPAC crusader Cori Bush."
DSA won't even have a minyan among the more than 200 Democrats in the next session of Congress.
Donna Brazile writes that even if the DSA nominees all win, they will have little influence on the 435-member House. "The tail won’t wag the dog — not the way the House Freedom Caucus has done with Republicans. Over the past two years, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) hasn’t been able to control the GOP’s far-right flank. But the Freedom Caucus has an outsize influence because it has 31 members — more than four times the number of DSA-backed House candidates."
Do you know who will have influence over the Republican caucus? Donald Trump. That is all the reason you need to vote Democratic in November. His corruption, incompetence, and disrespect for the Constitution are unprecedented, as is the Republican Party's acquiescence to his every whim and its abdication of its constitutional responsibility to check the president. We cannot risk two more years with no checks on this president's authority.
The Democrat on your ballot might not be your perfect choice. You might not agree with them on everything. You might find some of the comments that they make on some issues inexplicable or even offensive. I sometimes do too.
But in every district and in every state, including Michigan, the Democrat on your ballot will be the better choice and better alternative to two more years with no checks or balances on Trump's agenda. (Trump has made comments far more offensive and unacceptable than anything El-Sayed or Mamdani have made, and Mike Rogers has failed to condemn any of them.)
If that sounds partisan, so be it. Elections are partisan when they are free and fair. The upcoming election is about keeping them that way. Nothing is more important.
Corrections. I'm entitled to my own opinions but not to my own facts, so I appreciate it when readers bring errors to my attention. In last week's newsletter, I misspelled Sam Crunkilton's surname.
In Case You Missed It:
- Do you know who else's October 7 statement did not mention Jews? Donald Trump's.
- What former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) says about healthcare and taxes in the Michigan Senate race is also true of Israel.
- Nexus President Jonathan Jacoby's open letter to ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.
Jewish Insider Fail of the Week. If you rely on Jewish Insider for your information, you would not have seen the articles I cited above about how poorly DSA candidates have performed in Democratic primaries.
Speaking of omitting relevant information, Daniel Bral has a good point.
We should treat Jewish Insider with the level of trust that we would Fox News.
Social Media of the Week. Chuck Schumer, Kate Brannen, Merriam-Webster, and Jazz Memes.
Thread of the Week. Dov Waxman on the UK Green Party passing a resolution equating Zionism with racism and calling for Israel to be replaced by a single Palestinian state.
Video Clip of the Week. Do you speak English?
New Music Clip of the Week. Jesse Welles--The Nerd Reich.
Vintage Music Clip of the Week. 60 years ago yesterday, the Beach Boys released one of the best songs ever.
The Fine Print. Read the fine print before you reply or send me anything.
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