By Seth Mandel
Wednesday, October 07, 2026
There appear to be a fair number of celebratory October 7
rallies planned for today, in which pro-Hamas groups will reiterate their
dedication to finishing what Yahya Sinwar started. It’s creepy and stalkerish
and unfortunately par for the course, especially in the West at present. But it
also highlights an important point: Such ghoulishness is being normalized.
You’ll remember how New York Democratic congressional
nominee Darializa Avila Chevalier came under some criticism
when images surfaced of her at a rally to celebrate the attacks the day after
they began, three years ago. Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, now the mayor
but at the time a state legislator, condemned the rally. But this year he
backed Chevalier anyway and lifted her to victory in her primary.
Fast-forward to last week. The mayor released a plan he
said would combat anti-Semitism while its real aim was to encourage the
spreading of anti-Zionism, a subset of anti-Semitism the mayor enjoys stoking.
The plan sets aside millions in taxpayer dollars for a coalition that goes by
the name Partners Against the Hate (PATH), reports
the New York Post.
In that coalition is the Arab American Association of New
York, a group formerly led by anti-Semitic activist Linda Sarsour. It’s curious
enough that an anti-Israel group is part of the mayor’s apparent anti-Semitism
plan, but the story gets curiouser. As Hen Mazzig notes, the AAANY
likes to partner with Within Our Lifetime, among the most vehemently
anti-Semitic organizations in America.
And to bring it full circle, what’s WOL up to today? You
guessed it: a celebratory October 7 rally.
Coincidentally, the Hamasnik rally will be held outside
City Hall to protest Mamdani’s not-quite-anti-Semitic-enough tenure in office
so far. “Mayor Zohran Mamdani campaigned on promises to the Palestine movement.
He has betrayed his own alleged values, failing to make those promises a
reality,” WOL’s X account announces.
WOL also complains about the city spending money on an
anti-Semitism plan, money that WOL may actually see benefit from since it
presumably will continue working with AAANY. It’s like watching the pretend
“feuds” of professional wrestling.
None of this is new for WOL or its position in the
progressive ecosystem: Its leader got a kid-gloves profile
in the New York Times on the eve of the first anniversary of the Hamas
attacks.
But what was supposed to be new—what was supposed to be a
bright red line that even progressive officials insisted could not be
crossed—is the koshering of rallies celebrating the Hamas slaughter.
When Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among
others, denounced the October 8 rally attended by Chevalier, it was not exactly
earth-shattering even if it was nice to see. But the anti-Zionist advocacy of
those very same, highly influential Democratic Party figures over the course of
the war put that denunciation in a different light. It turned out there was
very little these electeds would object to. Celebrating the deadliest day for
Jews since the Holocaust would at least mean these figures were capable of
doing the absolute minimum.
That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. We should pay
close attention to all of these politicians’ statements—or lack thereof—on the
celebratory October 7 rallies today. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised, but I
anticipate comments defending the rallygoers’ free speech or some other
irrelevant dodge, rather than what AOC and all the others really ought to say:
These people are hijacking a day of Jewish mourning to root for Hamas. Because
if that’s not over the line for progressives, then there is no line at all.
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