An Israeli-bound flight plunged toward disaster Wednesday. Passengers and crew acted to save lives. Saudi authorities helped the survivors. Meanwhile, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani was coming off a round of sukkah visits and promoting an antisemitism strategy that avoids defining antisemitism.
The contrast deserves attention.
An attempted hijacking of Flydubai Flight FZ1073, traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, sent passengers into a terrifying emergency. Israeli passengers reportedly helped subdue the attacker, and the flight crew regained control before landing safely in Saudi Arabia. Israeli officials described a suspected attempt to crash the aircraft, although the motive remains under investigation.
The investigation must establish exactly what happened. Questions about cockpit security, the reported weapon, and the sequence of events demand serious answers.
But recognizing courage need not wait.
People aboard that aircraft confronted a threat most of us can barely imagine. Passengers intervened. Crew members brought the plane down safely. Their actions meant families could return home.
We have witnessed that willingness to act repeatedly since Oct. 7, 2023: people accepting extraordinary risks because someone else’s life depends on them.
The emergency landing offered another reason for hope. An Israeli-bound aircraft found safety in Saudi Arabia, where a passenger described a warm welcome, medical assistance, and food. That response does not erase regional hostility or resolve the obstacles to peace. It demonstrates that cooperation is possible when people make protecting human life their priority.
New York’s mayor should draw a lesson from it.
On Tuesday night, Mamdani visited sukkahs in Brooklyn. JNS reported that his stops included those of Devorah Halberstam, Chabad media liaison Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, and former city comptroller Brad Lander. Behrman emphasized that he hosted the mayor in his personal capacity.
As someone who grew up in Brooklyn, I appreciate the importance of elected officials spending time with Jewish neighbors. The hosts are entitled to offer hospitality. The mayor is responsible for demonstrating that his solidarity extends beyond accepting it.
A sukkah photograph cannot answer the questions Jewish New Yorkers have about his leadership.
His new antisemitism strategy includes prevention grants, security improvements, and educational initiatives. These measures can help, and I hope they do. But the plan declines to provide a formal definition of antisemitism. The administration argues that existing hate crime and anti-discrimination laws are sufficient.
That position leaves a central leadership question unanswered: When does hostility toward Israel become hostility toward Jews?
Criticism of Israeli policy is legitimate. Israelis engage in it constantly. Holding Jewish students responsible for a foreign government, threatening people outside a synagogue, or demanding that Jews renounce Israel as the price of acceptance crosses a different line.
A mayor promising to confront antisemitism should explain that line clearly.
Jewish leaders have already warned Mamdani about his own rhetoric. After a meeting with the administration, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said the mayor’s language came across as vilifying Israel and putting Jews at risk.
That warning requires more than another holiday appearance.
So does Wednesday’s reporting about Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji. The Washington Free Beacon reported that she was an artist in residence at a wellness retreat in Portugal whose organizers had promoted Israel’s destruction and celebrated Palestinian terrorism. Her attendance does not establish that she endorses every statement by its organizers. The reported association nevertheless deserves an explanation.
Supporting Palestinian civilians is compatible with supporting Jewish safety. Advocating Israel’s destruction undermines coexistence. Mamdani should be able to say that plainly, regardless of whose associations prompt the question.
And then there is Lander.
Just days before welcoming Mamdani to his sukkah, Lander addressed a Yom Kippur gathering at Grand Army Plaza. He declared that his confession must center on “our complicity in what I view as genocide in Gaza.” The same gathering featured Mahmoud Khalil denouncing the “Zionist project.”
Mourning Palestinian civilians is humane. Making a contested accusation against Israel the centerpiece of communal repentance is a political choice.
Lander should own that choice rather than expect holiday hospitality to smooth over its consequences. If he wants to serve as Mamdani’s bridge to Jewish New Yorkers, he should demand answers from the mayor instead of providing another welcoming backdrop.
I work in communications. I understand how announcements and carefully selected photographs can improve a politician’s image.
They cannot establish convictions that his conduct leaves in doubt.
To me, Mamdani’s rollout looks like an effort to repair his standing without adequately confronting the reasons so many Jews distrust him. Useful grants do not settle that problem.
As the Oct. 7 anniversary approaches, Jewish families deserve leaders willing to challenge hatred even when it comes from their political allies.
Wednesday’s flight showed people taking responsibility when lives were at stake. The response in Saudi Arabia showed the value of cooperation across profound differences.
New York needs leadership that meets those examples with moral clarity.
Visit the sukkahs. Fund the security. Support the education.
BRAD LANDER HIJACKED YOM KIPPUR TO CHEAPEN THE WORD ‘GENOCIDE’
Then answer the hard questions.
Jewish safety deserves convictions that hold up after the cameras leave.
Warren H. Cohn is founder and CEO of RocketshipPR.
Continue reading...
[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
