I changed my mind regarding the Islamic Socialist Mayor of the City of New York, Zohran Mamdani, attending the commemoration service held at the World Trade Center on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Many families and loved ones of September 11 victims, as well as good-hearted New Yorkers and Americans, are quite dismayed with the current New York City Mayor making an appearance at the annual commemoration ceremony, especially with this year being the 25th anniversary.
The opposition of family members, and more than a score of New Yorkers and Americans, is due to several of Mr. Mamdani’s stances on issues; any of them by themselves would cause great consternation as to having him at such a solemn occasion.
Perhaps first and foremost is Mr. Mamdani’s blatant antisemitism. The examples of this brain rot are too numerous to name, but the latest of which was his refusal to appoint a single Jew to the mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary; this being in a city where 10 percent of its population and a large percentage of the legal field are Jewish.
His support of the BDS movement was strong even before the Israeli operations in Gaza in response to the October 7 terrorist attacks.
Further, it was the Palestinians who celebrated openly in the streets after September 11, 2001; a little over a year after President Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered the Palestinian Authority nearly everything it wanted in a deal that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat still turned down.
Mr. Mamdani has also stated that “Any state that privileges one religion over the other is one that I can’t tell you I support.” This statement, though it could be cleverly applied to all faiths, really is about Israel being, at its core, a Jewish state. Further, it can apply to America as a Christian nation; not through might but by principle, Christian principles which are essential to her survival.
While Americans of all stripes may have different views of the American-Israeli relationship and the status of Palestinians, there is no room for blatant antisemitism.
Another reason many think Mr. Mamdani does not belong at the World Trade Center commemoration is that he is distinctly against capitalism.
Scores of people who died on September 11 were practicing capitalism. Mamdani’s government-run grocery stores, which are in direct competition with businesses operating on very low profit margins, are designed to take economic and political power away from the people and give it to the government elites.
Mamdani’s socialism is a direct affront to those who died simply because they were going to work and practicing economic, and by extension, political, and spiritual freedom.
Further, Mamdani has previously called the NYPD “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.” This is the same NYPD that protects Mamdani and provides a ring around him, such as to shield him as much as possible from the police/police families who recently booed him off stage.
This is the same NYPD that ran into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, along with the FDNY and PAPD and others, to save those who were killed merely because they went to work.
It was under these circumstances that I, too, felt that Mr. Mamdani would be better off staying home on September 11. In October 1995, Mayor Rudy Giuliani rightfully ejected Arafat from Lincoln Center during a 50th anniversary celebration of the U.N., calling Arafat a “terrorist” to the chagrin of the Clinton White House.
Yet my mind changed while thinking of another NYC mayor, one with whom I mostly disagreed.1
Years ago, to his credit, then-NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio stayed throughout the entire ceremony after every other VIP had left (the number of government officials who come simply for the photo op is shameful). Mayor de Blasio spoke to everyone who was willing to speak with him until after the last name was read. I hope Mamdani is man enough to do the same.
I hope that parents, spouses, children, and loved ones of the victims, in true New York, New Jersey, and American fashion, tell him exactly as it is.
I hope every cop, firefighter, Jew, and Gentile speaks to him, and against the demonic ideology Mamdani has aligned himself with.
Let Mamdani hear, face to face, what he has done to demean their sacrifice. Let him hear what a disgrace he is to be mayor of New York on the 25th anniversary of September 11. Let him hear that the name of Jesus Christ is Lord.
Reagan told us to speak truth, especially to those in authority, “…let ‘em know and nail ‘em on it. That would be a very American thing to do.”
If he had class, Mamdani would stay home, but assuming otherwise, we look forward to seeing him at the World Trade Center.
Larry Provost worked in search and rescue at the World Trade Center and later served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Views expressed in this article are those of the author and not any government agency.