Yes, We Love America!

Zohran Mamdani, a candidate* in New York City's mayoral race, is described in American media as a Muslim socialist who is anti-Israel. This appears to be an attempt to demonize Mamdani's candidacy — to signal to voters that a socialist cannot be the mayor of the world's financial capital in America and of global capitalism: Wall Street. Labeling him as anti-Israel is meant to alienate the largest Jewish community in New York. It also implies that a Muslim Indian of Ugandan descent cannot be the mayor of New York City — a city that is supposedly a symbol of white American Christianity.

Mamdani denies neither this characterization of himself nor the procedures of the electoral process; instead, he forges ahead, gaining significant ground over his rivals. He is a promising and rising star. His emphasis on opposing Israel is rooted in the crimes committed against Palestinians in Gaza. He tells American taxpayers: We must defend America's reputation and protect the money of its taxpayers, both Jewish and non-Jewish. In New York, Jewish supporters have emerged who back Mamdani's candidacy and stand in solidarity with Gaza and Palestine.

As for Mamdani's socialism, it is neither chauvinistic nor utopian. It is not based on the seizure of property, the denial of the private sector, state centralization or the restriction of economic freedom. Instead, he advocates for an American-style socialism, founded on three principles: The first is that New York City government takes responsibility for providing essential services to the poor (health care, education and transport); the second is that the wealthy in the city are taxed to address class disparity and achieve social justice; and the third is that measures are implemented to prevent tax evasion, combat corruption, raise wages, lower the rent and eliminate homelessness and hunger by securing shelter, work and food for all.

Mamdani appeared wearing the keffiyeh, visited universities and joined sit-ins in solidarity with Gaza. In America, there was a time when uttering a single critical word about Israel could end a political career. Today, however, saying something favorable about Israel may be enough to ruin one. This reflects a new shift in American public opinion — a repercussion of the aftermath of Oct. 7, Israel’s war of genocide and starvation in Gaza and the collapse of Israel’s narrative justifying the war and the legitimacy of the occupation.

Mamdani's victory is now heavily favored in New York's mayoral race. More importantly, it marks the starting point of a promising and rising American voice — one that lays the foundation for a movement of awareness opposing the America-Israel alliance. It is the fruit of the uprising in the American universities against the war on Gaza and against American support for Israel. From the universities to Mamdani's victory, this appears to be the birth of anti-colonial generations, consciously resisting the confiscation of consciousness, distortion and misleading to which the American public is subjected.

Yes, we love America, we love the America of Mamdani, the America of Albert Einstein, the America of Abraham Lincoln, the America of Barack Obama, the America of Martin Luther King Jr., the America of Muhammad Ali and the America of Norman Finkelstein.

*Editor's note: Zohran Mamdani was a candidate in NYC's mayoral race; he is now the mayor-elect.