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A New Hymn: Mamdayenu
Candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a Democratic New York City mayoral primary debate, June 4, 2025, in New York, US. Photo: Yuki Iwamura/Pool via REUTERS
Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for mayor, and will become the next mayor of New York City unless a Republican or independent candidate beats him in November. Handsome, slick, well-spoken, with a great understanding of social media and how to galvanize younger voters, he was able to pummel Andrew Cuomo and as the underdog and outsider. Many thought his anti-Israel and socialist views would cost him the race against Cuomo — but that didn’t happen.
On Passover, we recite “Dayenu” or “It Would Have Been Enough for Us” — in which God is praised for the great things he has done. This is “Mamdayenu” — in which we hope victory will pass over Mamdani in November and we look at the things he has said or done that are not so great.
If he had made a rap song saying you better look up the “Holy Land 5” — men convicted of fundraising for Hamas — and not said the Jewish state didn’t have a right to exist in its current form, Mamdayenu.
If he had not said the Jewish state didn’t have a right to exist, but then told Stephen Colbert it does have a right to exist and should uphold international law, the night before the primary election, Mamdayenu.
If he had not told Stephen Colbert the night before the primary that Israel has the right to exist and should uphold international law and had not said he would arrest Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to New York City, despite no legal basis to do so, Mamdayenu.
If he had not said he would arrest Netanyahu if he came to New York despite no legal basis to do so, and not said the city should run grocery stores — which everyone knows is a terrible idea — Mamdayenu.
If he had not said the city should run grocery stores, and not supported BDS, which is against New York State law, Mamdayenu.
If he had not supported BDS, which is against New York State law, and not tried to fool people about the meaning of the phrase “Globalize the Intifada” and refused to condemn the phrase, Mamdayenu.
If he had not tried to fool people about the meaning of the phrase, “Globalize the Intifada” and had not condemned the phrase, and not joked about Twinkies in an interview with Hasan Piker (who once said America deserved 9/11), Mamdayenu.
If he had not joked about Twinkies with streamer Hasan Piker, who once said America deserved 9/11, and his mother had not allegedly tried to get Gal Gadot banned from the Oscars, Mamdayenu.
If his mother had not allegedly tried to get Gal Gadot banned from the Oscars and he had not tweeted on October 8, 2023, against Israel but not Hamas, Mamdayenu.
If he had not tweeted on October 8, 2023, against Israel but not Hamas, and not called Israel an apartheid state, and not later said it has committed a genocide, Mamdayenu.
If he had not called Israel an apartheid state and not said it was committing a genocide, and not condemned the bombing of nuclear sites in Iran, Mamdayenu.
If he had not condemned the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites and not called to defund the police, only to more recently claim he would not, Mamdayenu.
If he had not called to defund the police and not posted about the death of Karen Diamond from her wounds of a terrorist attack in Colorado, without mentioning she was Jewish, or that she was a victim of antisemitism, or that the firebomber was globalizing the intifada, it would have been Mamdayenu.
The author is a writer based in New York.
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Trump Administration to Release Over $5 Billion School Funding That It Withheld
US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and President Donald Trump, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
President Donald Trump’s administration will release more than $5 billion in previously approved funding for K-12 school programs that it froze over three weeks ago under a review, which had led to bipartisan condemnation.
“(The White House Office of Management and Budget) has completed its review … and has directed the Department to release all formula funds,” Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for communications at the U.S. Education Department, said in a statement, adding funds will be dispersed to states next week.
Further details on the review and what it found were not shared.
A senior administration official said “guardrails” would be in place for the amount being released, without giving details.
Early in July, the Trump administration said it would not release funding previously appropriated by Congress for schools and that an initial review found signs the money was misused to subsidize what it alleged was “a radical leftwing agenda.”
States say $6.8 billion in total was affected by the freeze. Last week, $1.3 billion was released.
After the freeze, a coalition of mostly Democratic-led states sued to challenge the move, and 10 Republican US senators wrote to the Republican Trump administration to reverse its decision.
The frozen money covered funding for education of migrant farm workers and their children; recruitment and training of teachers; English proficiency learning; academic enrichment and after-school and summer programs.
The Trump administration has threatened schools and colleges with withholding federal funds over issues like climate initiatives, transgender policies, pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel’s war in Gaza and diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
Republican US lawmakers welcomed the move on Friday, while Democratic lawmakers said there was no need to disrupt funding in the first place.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon separately said she was satisfied with what was found in the review and released the money, adding she did not think there would be future freezes.
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Israel to Resume Airdrop Aid to Gaza on Saturday, Military Says
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
Israel will resume airdrop aid to Gaza on Saturday night, the Israeli military said, a few days after more than 100 aid agencies warned that mass starvation was spreading across the enclave.
“The airdrops will include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar, and canned food to be provided by international organizations,” the military added in a statement.
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Trump Says Hamas ‘Didn’t Want to Make a Deal,’ Now Likely to Get ‘Hunted Down’
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – US President Donald Trump on Friday said the Palestinian jihadists of Hamas did not want to make a deal on a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza.
“Now we’re down to the final hostages, and they know what happens after you get the final hostages. And basically because of that, they really didn’t want to make a deal,” Trump said.
The comments followed statements by Middle East peace envoy Steve Witkoff and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the effect that Israel was now considering “alternative” options to achieve its goals of bringing its hostages home from Gaza and ending the terror rule of Hamas in the coastal enclave.
Trump added he believed Hamas leaders would now be “hunted down.”
On Thursday, Witkoff said the Trump administration had decided to bring its negotiating team home for consultations following Hamas’s latest proposal. Witkoff said overnight that Hamas was to blame for the impasse, with Netanyahu concurring.
Trump also dismissed the significance of French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that Paris would become the first major Western power to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
Macron’s comments, “didn’t carry any weight,” the US leader said.
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