Over the past decade, Progressivism has gained immense support and traction within the Democratic Party, particularly Democratic Socialism. Politicians like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Zhoran Mamdani, are among the many figures to have fostered these ideals into the mainstream political scene. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have aided in this surge of support, mainly amongst college students.
On the flip side, however interesting and potentially beneficial it is for Americans to explore their ideological freedom, the Democratic Socialist push has led to grandstanding and obscene levels of political partisanship.
This past Wednesday marked the third anniversary of the Hamas terror attack on Israeli civilians. In New York City, Mayor Zhoran Mamdani attended a vigil organized by Israelis for Peace, where they solemnly commemorated the victims. The vigil however, was disrupted by both Pro-Palestinian and DSA members who accused Mamdani of betraying the Pro-Palestinian movement that he had so long championed.
The issue is clear here. Mayor Mamdani has a duty to serve all his constituents regardless of how the optics look. These people were grieving innocent civilians. They were grieving their friends and relatives. New York not only has a vibrant Jewish population, but one of the largest and most vibrant urban Jewish populations in the world. This is also a group that overwhelmingly supported Mamdani’s former rival, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, in the New York City general election in 2025. Cuomo received 63% of the Jewish vote, with Mamdani receiving 33%.
This is important for Democratic Socialists and those on the farther left of the political spectrum to understand. Mamdani already has a job to do. He needs to gain the trust of the people who elect him; all of them. He also certainly has an uphill battle with claiming the Jewish vote due to his already very clear anti-genocide and anti-Israel positions. The genocide is certainly real; I’ve written about it. What Mayor Mamdani did was not an endorsement of oppression committed by Israel or heinous atrocities. What he did was stand with his people, his fellow New Yorkers, to condemn the violence against innocent civilians who were murdered by a known terror group.
It is of course important to highlight that Israel has been proven to be committing genocide in Gaza. Israel’s response has been deeply disproportional and has killed and displaced tens of thousands. Regardless, the innocent civilians killed on October 7th controlled no aspect of their country’s government. They had no part in the subsequent atrocities committed by the Israeli government and should be treated as such.
Furthermore, Mamdani pushed his career into turmoil when he expressed intention to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over his arrest warrant via The International Criminal Court. Ultimately, due to the fact that The United States is not a member of the International Criminal Court, Mamdani could not enforce this arrest warrant against Netanyahu when he came to New York to give his UN General Assembly speech on September 24th, 2026. This is cited as part of the outrage by the vigil protestors. They expected a mayor with small jurisdiction inside of an American city to be able to simply detain a world leader of massive standing and power.
By turning on one of its most prominent leaders, Democratic Socialists made themselves more of a stigmatized political minority than ever. One aspect some progressives and Democratic Socialists can’t seem to comprehend is that not every move by a leader is some political statement. They would rather focus outrage on the first Muslim mayor of New York City – who has hurt his own political career supporting Palestinians and calling out Israel’s atrocities – than actually facing the politicians on the left that deny Palestinian genocide. Progressives should be protesting and demonstrating against politicians who truly are against the Palestinian movement such as Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, who argues Israel is just in its war crimes and has denied a genocide. Interestingly enough, he also was gifted a silver-plated pager directly from Netanyahu in 2024. Fetterman is one of the many real enemies and betrayers of the Progressive movement, and he should be given this horrid treatment, not Mamdani.
The Democratic Socialist and Progressive wing of the Democratic party needs to engage in more political solidarity and instead collaborate with leaders like Mayor Mamdani. They must not desecrate the memorial of innocent civilians, which only brings more animosity towards the ideology of Pro-Palestinian and Democratic Socialism, making it harder to progress as a movement set on changing the current climate for the better.