Newscriticism: "Mamdani Response to Protest Inflames Tensions with Jewish Leaders" (New York Times, November 25, 2025)

[From The New York Times' article.]

SUMMARY

A large protest outside Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue targeted a Zionist event organised by Nefesh B’Nefesh, with demonstrators chanting slogans such as “Globalize the Intifada” and issuing threats directed at Israelis and Jews. Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s mayor-elect, condemned the language of the protest but also criticised the event itself, saying sacred spaces should not be used to promote “activities in violation of international law.” Several Jewish community and political leaders criticised Mamdani for failing to explicitly call the protest anti-Semitic and for placing moral equivalence on both protesters and the synagogue event. The city’s law-enforcement response came under fire as the protest disrupted access to the synagogue, prompting public apologies by senior officials for the inadequate protection of worshippers. The incident has heightened anxieties in New York’s Jewish community about rising antisemitism and the incoming mayor’s stance toward Israel and Jewish constituents.

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NEWSCRITICISM

In a clash of civilizations, one shall expect nowadays that all of the things that makes a civilization, a civilization, will involve in the sphere of history. This means not only politics will be involved in the clash, but also religion, culture, philosophy, and language itself (see Essays on Civilization for details about these Five Pillars of Civilization) - will become the battleground for the politics and the civilizations of the future. This article demonstrates that a clash of civilizations is already happening... in another civilization of this magnitude, via religion as its mechanism to further the clash of civilizations.

When one looks at the phenomenon, the Jewish civilization (via its society through its religion: in this case, Judaism) has triggered an indirect confrontational clash with another religion: Islam, via the Arab civilization (and in some cases, the Persian civilization). The confrontation is marked by a protest at an event organize by the former, which the latter disliked because it creates a sense of aggravation between the two parties. Thus, a clash is ensued: protesters protest, and they protest with a clash fueling tensions that reverberate across New York City.

All of this was happening, as the third civilization - the American civilization and the American people - are watching as the clash intensifies between these two groups. Although the best they can do at the moment is to send law enforcement to keep the peace, what's striking now is that the American people witnessing the event are beginning to realize that other civilizations may clash in their soil. In short, what I mean here (as a theoretician of civilizations) is that civilizational conflicts increasingly globalize, especially in a time of postmodernity, transcending traditional boundaries of civilization-society interaction between civilizations and their people. The Americans might not just watch, but to take note of the interaction: this may lead to rationalize (as a society) about the events unfolding vividly before their eyes.

Hence, one may expect that New Yorkers will react to something on these lines: 1) Divided society: split into groups (two or more), taking sides on the debacle in its initial stages and even in its fallout; 2) Centrist Rationalism, where society points out the clash and the sides and tries to understand causes while promoting stability and even find compromises, solutions to the tension; and 3) Resistant approach, where instead the third society will clash with both and try to oust both entirely at will, in various ways (via opposing both sides as the true reaction plan). We have yet to see in a few days whether the Americans will take the course of action, not just amongst politicians of the American civilization-society but the people, the American society itself, will define their posture amid clashing civilizations.

Joshua Kyle T. Rovero

Estado Rovero

November 25th 2025