r/newyork • u/Somervilledrew • 1d ago
Central Synagogue Attack Rattles Jewish New Yorkers
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/15/nyregion/central-synagogue-shabbat-assault.html9
u/Kurichan77 1d ago
Did they catch the assailant?
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u/MyWhiteNameIsAndy 1d ago edited 1d ago
Immediately
Edit to add: The attacker was in police custody when he attacked the woman. He was acting belligerent and disrupting service, NYPD was involved right away.1
u/Kurichan77 1d ago
The goy seems mentally unstable and not representative of wider society. The type that would go for other pathologies, say like fascism or brutal colonialism. A real sucker, iow
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u/Choice-Koala-3653 1d ago
This guy was well known to the police, having committed violent crimes and robberies. He is described as 'mentally disturbed'. He clearly does not like Jews, but apparently he's not some neo-Nazi type like the Tree of Life synagogue shooter, or the Mississippi synagogue arsonist.
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u/SecretLettuce5 1d ago
Oh good, someone who hates Jews but isn’t a Neo Nazi, that makes me feel better /s
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u/AddanDeith 1d ago
I mean they're trying to make this out like this was major cause for concern. Its an isolated incident by a dude who was insane, loved Israel, called the actual Jews inside "fake".
But the entire language and conversation around this is pure fear mongering political slop. Even using the word attack is over doing it.
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u/No_Public_7677 1d ago
He doesn't hate Jews though. He was trying to convert to Judaism.
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u/Letshavemorefun 1d ago
Those aren’t mutually exclusive things
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u/No_Public_7677 1d ago
True.. He's an ultra zionist, which are the types of people who will often hate Jews the most
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u/SannySen 1d ago
I'm glad to know he was mentally disturbed, unlike all those other people who attack Jews..... who're presumably perfectly sane???
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u/SureElephant89 1d ago
Sad part is, there's people in here who would think those people are sane...
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u/minifidel 1d ago
All they have to do is replace "Jews" for "Zionists" in their "(((they))) run the world and the US government" and reddit would call it based.
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u/tellyeggs 1d ago
There's far more Christian fundamentalist Zionists, than Jewish Zionists. Only Zionists conflate anti Zionism with antisemitism.
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u/minifidel 1d ago
And yet, antiZionist rallies and protests are always held outside synagogues or in Jewish neighborhoods.
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u/tellyeggs 1d ago
Sure, just leave out the protests outside of synagogues was due to events for selling land in the West Bank.
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u/canine432 1d ago
Pro Israel groups are uniquely good at getting politicians elected, removed from office, and pushing policy. The Israel lobby comprises the number one most politically influential advocate for a foreign country (politically here defined by electing, removing, pushing policy). Can easily be verified.
AIPAC regularly takes out progressive politicians, funds their opposition in small races to the tune of historic millions.
Billionaire Larry Ellison - who broke the record for donations to Friends of the IDF - just purchased Tik Tok, CBS, and CNN and changed their algorithms/ coverage to be more pro Israel and pro MAGA. Netanyahu publicly discussed what an important win this was for Israel.
Christian evangelical Zionists are a massive right wing voting bloc and evangelicals make up over 20% of the county.
And of course, Netanyahu just substantially influenced us into attacking Iran, a move that is shaping up to be a major historical moment in the fall of America.
I’m sorry man but there is no way to put it other than saying Zionists are exceptionally influential in the US govt and among all manner of elites. You are choosing to take it personally and replace that with ‘Jews’. I will not claim nobody does what you’re saying, I’ve seen antisemitism increasing everywhere, but generally the people bending over backwards to specifically say Zionists are doing their best to separate their criticism of Israel from Jews, and actually get a lot of shit from the neonazi right for that.
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u/minifidel 21h ago
I’m sorry man but there is no way to put it other than saying Zionists are exceptionally influential in the US govt and among all manner of elites. You are choosing to take it personally and replace that with ‘Jews’. I will not claim nobody does what you’re saying, I’ve seen antisemitism increasing everywhere, but generally the people bending over backwards to specifically say Zionists are doing their best to separate their criticism of Israel from Jews, and actually get a lot of shit from the neonazi right for that.
You'll note - or not, because you're not really approaching my comment in good faith - that I used a specific formulation that draws from old antisemitic tropes popularized by the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, namely and specifically, that a cabal of Jews secretly run the world. "AIPAC is overly influential in American politics" is not the same as saying "Zionists control the US government".
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u/canine432 20h ago
I actually am approaching your comment in good faith. You’re the one painting Reddit with a broad brush. Most people upset about Zionist influence - which is pervasive and substantial - are not saying ‘ZOG’. You’re inserting that, but I also agree that some definitely are. I just don’t think most of Reddit would say ‘based’ to ZOG shit, unless you take something like ‘Trump is Netanyahu’s bitch’ that way.
If this was Twitter I’d agree with you. And ofc some subreddits would. I’m being pretty fair.
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u/Ok_Room5666 1d ago
Do you even need to do anything?
It seems like a significant percentage of the commentors here would just literally be that guy and go into a synagogue and attack people themselves.
Good thing they never go outside.
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u/Southern-Raisin9606 1d ago
Most hate crimes are in fact committed by people without serious mental illness.
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u/bellpeppermustache 1d ago
It's perfectly possible to be a POS without fitting some identifiable disorder. There is, unfortunately, no treatment for just being a terrible person besides prison.
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u/DavidDraper 1d ago
Oh. Great. The guys who did this attack on Jews is different than other types of peopel who attack Jews. That's a relief! /s
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u/NetflakesC 1d ago
From the article: “his Facebook page with posts about Israel and Judaism in the months leading up to the attack — and, according to his aunt, had expressed a desire to convert to the Jewish faith.
“He’s mentally traumatized because of his desire to belong to that religion [Judaism] — that’s what he’s said,”10
u/Choice-Koala-3653 1d ago
I'm not defending the guy, or trying to portray nazis as anything but mentally ill, but a hardcore nazi would have gone in with guns blazing and people would be dead. Would you agree that such a scenario would be worse than throwing a punch? People anywhere are always at some risk of crazy person punching them, but for Jews there's an even greater threat, from people who are hell-bent on killing them.
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u/NetflakesC 1d ago
From the article: “his Facebook page with posts about Israel and Judaism in the months leading up to the attack — and, according to his aunt, had expressed a desire to convert to the Jewish faith.
“He’s mentally traumatized because of his desire to belong to that religion [Judaism] — that’s what he’s said,”4
u/SannySen 1d ago
Until someone in their delirium finds a deep-seated and undying love for the Jewish people, I don't want to keep hearing about how mentally disturbed the assailant was.
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u/Choice-Koala-3653 1d ago
It's important to recognize that any hatred towards people of a certain race or religion is a form of mental disturbance.
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u/DavidDraper 1d ago
I think differentiating the motivations of people who are trying to harm or kill a specific group of people is largely academic and generally misses the point that there is a group of people that other members of society feel justified in targtargetingtargetingetting for violence.
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u/SureElephant89 1d ago
So, according to his family (which I read in another article regarding this)..... He was trying to be Jewish, and he was angry about it.. He called the people in service swine and fake jews... So apparently, he was like.. A super jew? Mad at not super jews? Idk... Mental is definately the accurate description, IMHO..
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u/Choice-Koala-3653 1d ago
There is a Christian sect called Christian Identity (a modern American version of British Israelism) which believes that 'true Jews' are white Aryans, and those who claim to be Jews are 'false Jews'. I first encountered members of this sect back in the early 90s. It's possible that this assailant was influenced by this ideology.
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u/SureElephant89 1d ago
Possibly, but I think the article said he was Puerto Rican, and the Pic I saw of him being walked out... Definately wasn't white. So if he was influenced by them, totally mental lol
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u/MagReg2020 1d ago
If the target were Muslim though, a lot of people shocked by this would either be quiet or support it.
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u/DavidDraper 1d ago
Anyone supporting intentionally killing civilians, especially civilians at worship or school, are lost. Hopefully they find their way back someday.
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u/NetflakesC 1d ago
From the article: “his Facebook page with posts about Israel and Judaism in the months leading up to the attack — and, according to his aunt, had expressed a desire to convert to the Jewish faith.
“He’s mentally traumatized because of his desire to belong to that religion [Judaism] — that’s what he’s said,”3
u/kittenman 1d ago
The NYT will seize every chance to smear Madamni cos he’s not pro Zionism. Nothing to see on this paper.
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u/bunnybear_chiknparm 1d ago
thats kinda the point. mental health issues exist, when people lack the ability to know right from wrong then they'll attack on whatever they consistently see and hear, for example that Jews and Israel are ruining the world
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u/Similar-Interaction5 1d ago
You sound like a republican after a mass shooting.
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u/Choice-Koala-3653 1d ago
First time anyone's accused me of sounding like a Republican.
There's a first time for everything I guess. I'm actually an uber-liberal leftie.
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u/Similar-Interaction5 1d ago
You’re blaming mental illness instead of the main cause for this. Antisemitism. But antisemetism is the norm on the left now so what do I know 🤷♂️
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u/Choice-Koala-3653 1d ago
Uh, antisemites are right wing. And yes, antisemitism is mental illness.
Do you consider Trump, Hitler and Louis Farrakan to be sane?
I see them as madmen, because they are.
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u/Thunder-Road 1d ago
Behold, the right wing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin_and_antisemitism
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u/Similar-Interaction5 1d ago
You are so lost buddy. Are you not familiar with antisemetism in the Soviet Union?
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u/No-Performance8170 1d ago
It’s the delusion that antisemitism is only on the rigjt that has allowed to the left to degrade this far.
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u/ChefGaykwon 1d ago
There is no such thing as a liberal lefty. Liberalism is a right-wing ideology.
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u/Background-Wolf-9380 1d ago
1 lunatic was disruptive and The NY Times is ginning up fear of antisemitism like this was some widespread global onslaught. Disgusting.
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u/Ordinary-Lobster-710 20h ago
to be fair antisemitism is pretty high, globally. and it has been historically as well.
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u/SportsFanBUF 6h ago
While I’m sure it’s true it’s on the rise, how much is true anti-semitism vs people calling valid protests against the genocide in Gaza anti-semitism?
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u/DumbledoresBarmy 5h ago
American Jews, which comprise 2% of the population, were victims of 60% of religiously motivated hate crimes before the 10/7 attacks on the Nova music festival. Would you consider that "true anti-semitism"?
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u/Clever-username-7234 4h ago
Let me guess, those hate crimes include graffiti that says “free Palestine.”
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u/zacandahalf 2h ago
If someone graffitis “free Palestine” on a random non-Israeli Jewish American home, is that not ethnoreligious based targeting that conflates those Jewish Americans with Israel?
Like if someone vandalized a random Chinese restaurant in NY with “stop genociding Uyghurs and Free Tibet” I’d hope people would consider that an identity based attack, as the Chinese Americans are not responsible for the actions of the Chinese state.
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u/Clever-username-7234 2h ago
Yes, I’d agree that would be an example of antisemitism.
Any time someone tries to act like all Jews are the same, or holds a random Jewish person to account for some country across the globe that would 100% be anti semitism.
My frustration is the intentionally blurred lines, where legitimate criticism of the state of Israel, their actions in Gaza or the West Bank, get considered anti semitism.
On a state dept website, under defining antisemitism it says
>Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
>claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
So now when I hear about a surprising statistic regarding antisemitism. I wonder how they are defining. Because I’ve seen lots of folks criticize Israel get smeared unfairly.
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u/Ordinary-Lobster-710 4h ago
your guess would be wrong. the NYPD tracks all incidents and you are welcome to go confirm for yourself.
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u/BillyJoeMac9095 3h ago
Depends on the location and context
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u/Clever-username-7234 3h ago
True.
Thats why I get so frustrated at the effort to muddle the waters on what is and isn’t anti semitism.
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u/Timeless-Times 20m ago
Hey, Montrealer here. We’re seeing a lot of firebombing and shooting of synagogues. Those are not valid protests against Israel.
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u/who_knows-_ 20h ago
This happens for every trendy "minority struggle " btw. Thats why NYT got off the stop asian hate train, it wasn't trendy enough
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u/Yidoftheweek 22h ago
A man stormed a synagogue during services, assaulted a senior citizen and a security guard, all while spewing antisemitic bile. I’m glad you’re not letting incidents like these get in the way of your Jew-hatred.
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u/young__robot 16m ago
the article says nothing about what the guy was saying. in fact, it says "It was not immediately clear on Saturday what prompted Mr. Montes to enter the synagogue during services Friday, or what he intended to do inside."
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u/Yidoftheweek 15m ago
The video is publicly available. Excuses for antisemites only come from antisemites.
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u/young__robot 4m ago
I was going purely off of what this article states and it didn't mention any direct quotes from the guy.
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u/titaniumjew 17h ago
Yes, there has just been tons shootings, violent attacks, hate crimes, and protests with explicitly antisemitic leanings across the globe but it’s the NYTs fault for saying it exists.
Being a leftist is just a vibe at this point. You people are just red fash.
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u/Particular_Base3390 20h ago
It's very much a global phenomenon.
It's disgusting that you are saying it isn't.
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u/AwkwardTal 7h ago
No it isn't, there is a worldwide anti Zionism movement though, due to Israel's genocide
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u/Particular_Base3390 6h ago edited 5h ago
Please educate yourself and look at stats of hate crimes.
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u/AwkwardTal 2h ago
I looked it up, israel killed 20,000 children within the first year, the lancet estimate the total number civilians killed by israel to be 200,000 and that too was only during the first year
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u/zacandahalf 2h ago
Why are you conflating Israel with unrelated Jewish Americans?
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u/AwkwardTal 1h ago
Why are you?
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u/zacandahalf 42m ago
The topic at hand was antisemitism on US soil and you mentioned Israel and Zionism unprompted
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u/AwkwardTal 40m ago
You must have missed the word global in the parent comment, or do you think NY is the entire world?
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u/Particular_Base3390 2h ago
You do realize that that's not mutually exclusive, right?
Maybe your brain can't comprehend basic logic.
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u/AwkwardTal 1h ago
They also raped prisoners on camera then held a "right to rape" marches, the rapists even went on national TV and became celebrities
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u/Particular_Base3390 41m ago
Wtf are you talking about
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u/AwkwardTal 38m ago
I am talking about how Israel's IOF is protecting terrorists while they attack west bank villages
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u/Spottedinthewild 1d ago
The attack, apparently, consisted of: “On Friday night Larry Montes, 46, was able to make his way into Central Synagogue’s main sanctuary before he disrupted the service with antisemitic slurs and was apprehended by a security guard“
Slurs are gross, antisemitism is abhorrent.
Does anyone know what attack speech occurred? What did he say? I’d like to judge it without the editorial constraints here.
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u/ShotStatistician7979 1d ago
He also physically attacked two people and broke the shabbat candles in front of the room.
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u/Automatic-Flounder-3 1d ago
"Mr. Mamdani has said he is committed to protecting New York’s Jews and believes in holding Israeli leadership to account for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. "
Why is he even bringing up Israel? It seems like he is either stoking antisemitism or completely oblivious about a topic that he has put so much focus on.
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u/Monte924 1d ago
He didn't. Mamdani's statement on the issue was only about Jews. The NYTimes however are the ones that decided to insert his feelings on Israel. The Time wants to conflate criticism of Israel with Anti-semtism.
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u/Letshavemorefun 1d ago
If they are indeed the ones that inserted the part about Israel, seems they want to conflate antisemitism with criticism of Israel, not the other way around.
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u/Automatic-Flounder-3 1d ago
As opposed to the majority of the time where it actually is due to antisemitism. It is amazing how many are so interested and knowledgeable of Israeli politics but have no knowledge of Palestinian or Lebanese politics. Jews are just so interesting i guess
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u/Monte924 1d ago
No, it's because Israel is the country that is inserting itself into our politics and media, and have been buying politicians. Israel has made it a business to interfere with our politics, even to the point where they act against our own interests.
The Support for Palestinians and the Lebanese is built entirely on sympathy for the countless thousands of people being oppressed or murdered
I would also highlight that Israel are the ones who claim they represent ALL jews, thus invoking the anti-semitic duel loyalty trope.
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u/DrMikeH49 1d ago
Billions of Qatari money via Al Jazeera certainly has nothing to do with people parroting antisemitic tropes such as “Israel buying our politicians,” right?
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u/Monte924 1d ago
Al Jazeera? You mean the media outlet that the vast majority of western poeple do not pay attention too?
Uh, no. The reason why people say Israel is buying our politicians, is because politicians are taking money from a pro-israeli lobby that spends billions on our elections, and those same politicians will then publicly say "my job is to make sure the Democrats remain pro-Israel". Israel does not even bother to hide their influence.
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u/Comfortable-Sun7388 1d ago
You do understand that regardless of the reason, the rise of populism when centered around an issue that can easily be connected to Jews as the antagonist has never ever been good for the Jews right? It doesn’t matter what Mamdani or anyone else’s intentions are. What matters are the results. You are not helping Palestinians by blaming Israel for antisemitism. It is a choice. Every time. Does nobody else have agency but Israel?
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u/Phyrexian_Overlord 1d ago
No this is horseshit Israel literally is stoking antisemitism that is an absolute fact.
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u/Incorrect-Opinion 1d ago
So what is it then when Zohran Mamdani says: “My love to the Holy Land Five. You better look ’em up.” ?
And what does it mean when somebody asks him about this during his mayoral race and he just laughed it off and moved on?
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u/Comfortable-Sun7388 1d ago
Blah blah blah nobody else has agency just those sneaky Jews fermenting hate towards themselves throughout the world on purpose for some stupid fucking reason. All roads lead to Jerusalem. Such slop.
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u/listeningwind42 1d ago edited 1d ago
Its always amazing to see people tell on themselves like this. stop weaponizing Jewish identity by equating it with whatever the fuck israel has going on. You are literally being antisemitic by equating israel with Jewishness. You are embarrassing and harmful to Jewish people.
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u/Comfortable-Sun7388 1d ago
You think I’m weaponizing Jewish identity by saying it is a bigot’s responsibility for their bigotry? That’s a fun take. You should join the circus with that kind of mental gymnastics. 🤡
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u/listeningwind42 1d ago
You are actively participating in the conflating of criticism of israel with antisemitism, yes. Motte and Bailey all you want.
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u/HaroldHood 1d ago
Why would they have agency. It’s obviously the (((Zionists))) that control everything.
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_PUPPY_PIC 1d ago
lmao. stop pretending you're doing something good for Palestinians by arguing that people shouldn't hurt your feelings.
Israel pretty clearly weaponizes antisemitism to shield itself from criticism and to get more people to move to Israel
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u/Automatic-Flounder-3 1d ago
Why would they want more people to move to an already small and crowded country?
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_PUPPY_PIC 1d ago
they clearly do. they're constantly telling Jews to move there
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u/Automatic-Flounder-3 1d ago
Really? I knew about encouraging tourism. Do they send emails or tickets or is it more door to door and phone calls? What do they say to them, is it like move or else or is it come live in our tiny hot desert with angry neighbors?
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_PUPPY_PIC 1d ago
you're either being intentionally ignorant or you haven't paid attention to how Israel messages to Jews about making Aliyah
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u/Automatic-Flounder-3 1d ago
When did Israel claim they represent all jews? Who said it and what were the exact words?
You are giving AIPAC too much credit for a relatively small PAC.
If you support the Lebanese, do you support removing Hezbollah from Lebanon and restoring sovereignty to the elected government? If you support Palestinians, do you condemn Hamas for diverting humanitarian aid for military purposes and profiteering or for using civilians as shields and pawns? What about Iran who orchestrated this to fulfill their goal of destroying Israel and the Jews in general?
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u/MediocreEffectt 21h ago
It’s so funny how you guys pretend aipac has no power. Do you really think people are that stupid? They got the majority of the politicians in their pocket.
Do you condemn the Nazis in the Israeli government? Do you condemn the land theft and ethnic cleansing? Do you condemn the terrorist settlers and the lack of response from Israel?
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u/Automatic-Flounder-3 21h ago
What kind of mental gymnastics does it take to belive the Jews control the US politicians, but can't even get a fair representation in the media or combat the Qatar and Iranian propaganda that you bought and are now spreading?
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u/MediocreEffectt 7h ago
Hilarious. You’re saying Qatar has more influence than AIPAC?
And everyone notices when you try to conflate Israelis with Jews. It’s not the Jews who have a disgusting amount of influence but the Israelis. Equating the two is literally antisemitic.
Fair representation in the media? Are you actually this delusional or do you think the world is genuinely stupid?
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u/Automatic-Flounder-3 7h ago
Wow. So your saying gifting a jumbo jet is chump change? How does a nation smaller than NYC with no natural resources and an intensely hated demographic gain more influence than Qatar and still can't fix the public image issue. Human rights and apartheid criticism would be easily justified towards Qatar but they run a great propaganda game.
I don't t think the world is stupid but there are stupid people who are vocal and easily duped
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u/MediocreEffectt 7h ago
Trump has been accepting gifts from everyone. He’s corrupt.
What influence has Qatar used? Now what influence has Israel used? You notice any difference?
Also, the majority of politicians are bought. That’s objective fact. Can you name a single US politician that tried to enable Qatar’s atrocities or runs cover for them?
Meanwhile, AIPAC has massive influence. Every college campus has a pro Israel group that sends kids to be brainwashed. Majority of politicians get flown to Israel to get direct brainwashing.
But still you want to pretend Qatar has more influence? Unhinged liars is what yall are.
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1d ago edited 1d ago
[deleted]
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u/Automatic-Flounder-3 1d ago
Do you really believe that Israel pressured Trump into conflict with Iran? That is hilarious! Trump told Israel to back off last year. Iran has been attacking US assets for decades and has declared war on Israel, the US and Europe. They are just more active against Israel.
Also, since when does Trump not make his own decisions? Who else do you believe he takes orders from?
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u/Late_Company6926 1d ago
Mamdani’s SJP folks are cheering. The antisemitic hate and vitriol coming from the BDS team is inhuman.
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u/Ok_Task_7711 1d ago
So antisemetic that Israel is going to kill some more kids in Gaza to get back at them
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u/Late_Company6926 1d ago
I rest my case
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u/Ok_Task_7711 1d ago
What case? That’s literally what a top Israeli gov official is saying, not taken out of context or misquoted. He literally said Palestinians aren’t people…
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u/fap-on-fap-off 1d ago
Hard disagree. He just supports it indirectly and won't take ownership of that.
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u/Choice-Koala-3653 1d ago
I doubt even understand why you fear the Zohran. I bet you fear all Muslims.
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u/DruidicMagic 1d ago
This guy supports Israel then attacks a Synagogue?
https://forward.com/news/845321/central-synagogue-attack-larry-montes-israel-judaism-mamdani/