These images coming out of France earlier this week should be seen by every single New Yorker, as they are images of our future if we do nothing about it. The facade of protests about school funding collapsed when masked mobs turned large parts of France into a war zone. This is the inevitable result of massive social welfare combined with unrestricted migration of populations that do not share Western values. In short, this is what happens in 10 years when Democrats get everything they are demanding today.
Destruction was all over France, reminiscent of the George Floyd riots in the summer of 2020. In Limoges, rioters forced entry into the 143-year-old town hall—a protected historic monument—and set it on fire, collapsing the roof and bell tower. In Lyon, the tourism office burned. In Marseille, protesters rammed city hall, overturned furniture, and knocked a bust of Marianne to the floor. In Paris, a synagogue was vandalized, and Jewish businesses were looted along with other shops. Police were eventually able to quell the rioting, with more than 850 people arrested in the capital alone. Nationwide, authorities reported roughly 1,800 to 2,400 arrests and hundreds of injured police officers and firefighters. One officer was killed when struck by a car in Nantes.
The international flag of Western destruction and global jihad was prevalent and waving during these riots. This is, of course, the Palestinian flag, which is the symbol of Muslim dominance over Europe and the United States. Anyone pretending that this flag represents a territorial claim over the land of Israel is deluding themselves. Unfortunately, many European leaders are delusional.
In a post trolling the French for their support of the Palestinian cause, the X account Israel War Room posted, “We call on France to exercise restraint when dispersing the freedom fighters on the streets of Paris. These brave warriors for justice must receive immediate humanitarian aid, and their safety must be guaranteed in accordance with international law. Failure to comply will leave us no choice but to bring a case before the ICJ, in close cooperation with that renowned champion of human rights, Afghanistan.” France deserves the mockery because it is being eaten by the alligator that it has fed for decades.
Islamists have used socialists as useful idiots in multiple conflicts around the world. Going back to the Iranian Revolution, Marxist-Leninist groups united with the Islamists to overthrow the Shah. Almost immediately, the Islamists turned on their Communist allies and destroyed them. Similar examples appeared in Sudan, Yemen, Indonesia, Egypt, and now France.
Despite what the media is claiming, this is neither spontaneous nor driven by students. The key groups pushing the agenda are Marxist in nature, and the key agitators causing the violence are radical Muslims with no connection to French history. France has spent decades importing large numbers of people from the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa while expanding a generous welfare state. Immigrants and their descendants now constitute a major share of the population; among them, identification with Islam is high. So the combination is a radical left that supplies the ideology and language of grievance, immigrant Muslim communities supplying the manpower, and a giant welfare state paying all the bills.
New York is walking the same path. The city and state have accepted large-scale migration under sanctuary policies, expanded social programs, and elevated a political class that has no love for the city, state, and country that they are set to inherit. Zohran Mamdani was elected by people who arrived in New York within the past few years, not native New Yorkers. He advocates for the same social programs, airs the same grievances, and identifies with the same agitators. Mamdani is merely a few steps behind on the same path that ends in what we are seeing in France today. And he has allies.
Emmanuel Macron has spent years managing decline rather than reversing it. He condemns violence after the fact, declines to declare a state of emergency, and leaves the underlying drivers—migration volume, failed assimilation, and the incentives of the welfare state—untouched. Kathy Hochul is doing the same thing in New York. She endorsed Mamdani, has worked with him on city finances, and has shown no appetite for curbing the DSA agenda that is his political home. When pressure comes from that base, she accommodates or looks away. She will not use state power to restrain the worst tendencies of a city government that prioritizes ideological signaling over order. She will continue to send money from state taxpayers to a city that is buckling under the weight of its own promises.
Mamdani’s term runs through the end of 2029. That is three more years of this trajectory at City Hall, with very little, if anything, that can be done about it. However, we can do something next week to curb those destructive appetites coming out of Gracie Mansion.
Early voting begins next week. Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, is running on a record of being the executive of the safest county in the country. He gave the police the authority to unmask protesters who use their anonymity to wreak havoc on neighborhoods. He is leading the state in protecting churches, synagogues, and college campuses from the violence that is seen all around New York. If we do not want to see fires in the streets and monuments torn to the ground with Palestinian flags waving where they once stood, everyone must get out and vote.
Early voting is from October 24 to November 1, with Election Day on November 3.
Moshe Hill is a political analyst and columnist. His work can be found at www.aHillwithaView.com and on X at @HillWithView.
