Mamdani, Be a Convener, Not a Commentator

Dear New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani:

I have been watching you tortuously try to explain to pro-Israel New Yorkers that your readiness to defend the phrase “globalize the intifada” was not antisemitic or meant to favor the elimination of the Jewish state.

You have said that it’s not a phrase you use but have not condemned its use by others, insisting that it means different things to different people. Going even further on Tuesday, in a meeting with New York business leaders, you reportedly said you would “discourage” use of the phrase.

It seems to me that you have gotten yourself tied up in knots on this issue, pulled between your supporters and your critics. May I offer two pieces of advice that have guided me over four decades of navigating this conflict:

First, if you are discussing a mantra — like “globalize the intifada” — that takes 15 minutes to explain why it doesn’t mean what it obviously means, I’d suggest that you avoid that mantra.

May I offer an alternative? “Two states for two people.” It works really well with drums — “Two states, for two people.”

While that solution may be a long shot, it has the virtue of being the only viable, just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — one that many Americans still support, and one, if this Gaza war ever ends, I believe many Israelis and Palestinians and Arabs and Muslims and Jews in New York City will as well. There is no other viable alternative. There is no one-state solution; there is no three-state solution. The only alternative to “two states for two people” is, in my opinion, no states for two people — just a grinding forever war between two people living intertwined with each other.

Second, the world does not need the mayor of New York City to be another commentator on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The world is awash with commentators on this issue. We don’t need any more. We need leaders ready to be conveners of those looking for the only just solution.