Last night’s Interfaith Rally Against Extremism was held near Gracie Mansion, home of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Organized by EndJewHatred and attorney Brooke Goldstein, upwards of 1,000 protesters jammed 87th Street between York and East End Avenue.
Aside from a few hecklers, the only visible protesters who opposed the rally were a few dozen ultra-Orthodox Jews; they believe the Jewish state should not exist until the Messiah comes.
Most of the speakers were young and middle-age Jews. Also speaking was an African activist, a Muslim woman from American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council, and a Hindu man representing Hindus for Universal Rights; I was the only Catholic who spoke. I am grateful to Rabbi Daniel Schonbuch for inviting me.
All the speakers, including non-Jews, were very well received. Most of them focused their remarks on Mamdani’s anti-Semitic statements and policies. It is clear that he has offended legions of New Yorkers.
Chants of “Zohran Mamdani’s got to go,” and “Zohran, Zohran, you can’t hide, we charge you with hate and lies,” were heard throughout the 90-minute demonstration. Pro-America remarks, and shout-outs to the NYPD, were also commonplace (there was a large police presence). The American flag and the Flag of Israel were everywhere. It was clearly a very patriotic assembly.
I felt it necessary to participate for two reasons.
Jews and Catholics make up the majority of New Yorkers, and over the past few decades I have joined with Jews in protesting attacks on our respective religions, so when asked to speak at this rally, I did not hesitate.
The Catholic League is also highly critical of Mamdani’s radical politics and his animus against people of faith. That is why we have on the front page of our website a section, “Mamdani Watch”; it details our objections to him.
I closed my comments with a plea to religious New Yorkers across faith communities. We need to take a NATO Article 5 approach—an attack on one religion is an attack on all religions. It would behoove Mamdani to heed this message.
