Mamdani and violence against Jews in New York
Two men were stabbed near Central Park by the same perpetrator, without warning or previous interaction. One of the victims was visibly Jewish (wearing a kippah) and the other Asian, and the perpetrator is alleged to have shouted “Allahu Akbar!” as he stabbed one in the back with a knife, and one in the chest with a screwdriver. The suspect is in custody:
Investigators were probing whether the suspect Raul Morales, 51, was motivated by hate, though Tisch also said “the initial investigation suggests that mental health may have been a factor.”
I don’t doubt both were possibly true: that the perp was indeed motivated by “hate” and that “mental health may have been a factor.” The questions are really legal ones: will this be charged as a hate crime and is there enough craziness to have caused diminished responsibility under the relevant laws? One especially strange element of the stabbings is that the perp yelled the Arabic phrase but does not seem to be either an Arab or a Muslim.
Ah, but not so fast:
[In the shared apartment of Raul Morales] … writings of Marx were found. New York Post reported New York Post reported that two Qurans, a Jehovah’s Witness Bible and a book on Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara were also found.
I suppose he had roommates who might be able to shed some light on things. That article also indicates that he was charged with this: “two counts of second-degree attempted murder as a hate crime and one count each of first-degree assault as a hate crime, second-degree assault as a hate crime, and attempted first-degree assault as a hate crime.” So apparently they’ve decided that yes, “hate” was a motivation.
I’m not keen on “hate crime” as a separate category, by the way – in general, not just for this particular crime. But as I said, I have little doubt that hatred was part of it. There’s an atmosphere of hatred towards Jews in New York, although for this particular perp, who also targeted an Asian person, it doesn’t seem to have just been towards Jews. I’ve noticed that some of these random killings have targeted Asians as well, and that’s been going on for quite some time.
More:
Language in the criminal complaint says that a witness saw Morales near a synagogue West 83rd Street saying “justice for Islam” …
He also has a criminal record for drugs in the 1990s.
Mamdani had a few perfunctory words to say after the crime, but it’s pretty obvious where his own heart is. And it’s not with the victims. His entire stint as mayor so far has featured a subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle fanning the flames of Jew-hatred, and for those inclined in that direction (and/or having mental problems) it acts as a releasor for aggression. See this:
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is a “no room for hate” hypocrite: His obsessive Israel-bashing — and the ravings of his rabid pro-Palestinian besties — encourages antisemitic violence.
Tuesday night, he released an incendiary video repeating (again) a litany of lies about Israeli’s war of self-defense against the Hamas terrorists and urging mass demonstrations when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next comes to town.
Thursday, an attacker shouting “Allahu Akbar” stabbed two men — a Jew in a yarmulke and an Asian — on the Upper West Side; the mayor responded with noises about hate and mental illness.
But it’s not generic hate that encourages such targeted bloodshed, however unstable the perp might be: It’s very specific incitement that points the violent at a chosen class of victims.
And in the comments to that article I see something I very often see when such topics are discussed: “Maybe they shouldn’t have voted for him. Crazy, huh?” But the Jews of New York voted overwhelmingly for Cuomo in the primary and in the election as well.
This is going to happen more often the more Muslims there are. Its preached to do it in the Koran so more there are the more who will follow the book.
Who DID vote for him? That’s what I want to know.
IrishOtter:
Only a small percentage of New Yorkers bothered to vote at all. But of the ones that did, the consensus is that it was mostly college-educated young white people.
There’s “no room for hate” except for the kind Mamdani approves of.
I’d need more evidence on why this obviously unstable person chose “Allahu akbar” while stabbing people. It could be that he just consumes leftist media and thinks it’s a good thing to say. I have a copy of the Qur’an in my home. I keep it on a bottom shelf below Bibles and Christian commentaries.
Mamdami has admitted that he can’t arrest Netanyahu. No kidding.
Now he keeps talking up ‘protest’. I suspect what he’s trying to do is stir up a Minneapolis-style semi-riot, and that he and/or his puppeteers/partners probably wouldn’t mind a death or two along the lines of Renee Good for PR purposes.
I hope I’m wrong about Mamdami, and if I’m not I pray it fizzles out.
HC68, I agree!
Mamdani is trying to stir up a riot, and then some!
I think he’s hoping to incite multiple “hero wannabes” to attempt to assassinate Netanyahu.
Mamdani is clearly evil.
Can it be said that the state of liberal politics in the US enabled a scoundrel like Mmdani to get elected eventually? Even if many liberal voters in earlier times would have avoided him like leprosy. To set up the liberal infrastructure; in schools, the expectations of what government is supposed to do, and why, that free stuff is a government obligation and promising more than your opponent gets you elected. That the government is supposed to “take care” of a lot of things like grocery stores.
Enough of this and a Mamdani becomes feasible. Even if the original builders of the infrastructure wouldn’t vote for him, or if they were still around, wouldn’t have.
Could you take this back fifty years and find people to whom you could say, “I told you so.”?
Haven’t talked to many Jews about politics in decades. But, if memory serves, part of the view of republicans was beyond policy and a reaction to a faint whiff of southerners, hard hats (used to be villains), rural types, Archie Bunker voted republican and he was supposed to be a figure of fun. Didn’t work out, did it? Point is, the initial reading of the room. It would be an oversimplification but with some imbalance; voting dem was the government doing good while voting republican was letting the people do their own good and there’s no virtue in that.
@ Richard > “voting dem was the government doing good while voting republican was letting the people do their own good and there’s no virtue in that.”
Bingo.
No power and money either.
Aesop,
true, but needs the cover of virtue. However, most Judeo-Christian religions and cultures stemming from them make doing good a good thing. Jews have a specific name for it as a separate concept and work harder at it, as has been obvious forever. So they’d be attracted to the cover more than others? Guessing, here.