John,

In case you missed it, 33-year-old Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani shook the political world this week by winning the Democratic primary in New York City’s mayoral race against corrupt politician Andrew Cuomo.

One key takeaway from this race? Zohran won while loudly supporting Palestinians instead of throwing them under the bus, even when he was constantly questioned and criticized for it by media pundits and opponents.

While Cuomo — who equates condemnation of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians with anti-semitism, and serves on Benjamin Netanyahu’s defense team against the ICC’s war crime charges — was backed by a super PAC that received $750 million from anti-Palestinian billionaire megadonors Bill Ackman and Michael Bloomberg, he ultimately lost to the grassroots movement behind Zohran.

As our Communications Director Usamah Andrabi told Al Jazeera:

“AIPAC likes to say supporting Israel is good policy and good politics. I think what has become extremely clear at this point is that supporting apartheid Israel is bad policy and bad politics. It’s monumental. The sky is the limit for true progressives who are willing to unite the working class against billionaires and corporate super PACs while still refusing to compromise on issues as large as a genocide.”

It goes to show that being pro-Palestinian IS good politics and that standing up to AIPAC is a winning strategy. It’s a lesson for Democratic candidates everywhere: you don’t (and you shouldn’t!) have to throw away your values to win elections.

At Justice Democrats, we’re giving it everything we’ve got to recruit and elect more progressive, working-class leaders to Congress who will stand up to AIPAC like Zohran is doing in New York City. Fuel our work with a contribution of $5 or more now →

Contribute $5

In solidarity,

Justice Democrats