Kelly Hartog
Published on June 19, 2026
We share this article to highlight the inherently bigoted and classicly antisemitic nature of Mamdani’s choice of words to describe an organization associated with support of Israel. To refer to AIPAC and supporters of Israel as “monsters” and movers of dark money is not innocuous critique. These are inflammatory and intentionally chosen words with a very sinister undertone based on very old anti-Jewish racist tropes. But most non-Jews don’t recognize these for their inherent racism, or that they are used to characterize Jews in general, these are not targeted criticisms of any individiual. So we highlight them to call it out. To quote a couple of social media comments:
“It’s pretty transparent and vile how Zohran Mamdani and the DSA are using ‘AIPAC’ as a euphemism for Jews, and how Brad Lander is going right along with it.”
Jewish writer Dovi Safier wrote, “The mayor of the city with the world’s largest Jewish population is pushing conspiracy theories about ‘money men’ who ‘move millions in dark money’ to ‘turn us against one another’ — and calling them ‘monsters.’ Subtle.”