The Fiction Treehouse

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has drawn backlash for attending the city’s annual parade celebrating Pakistan — after refusing to attend a parade commemorating Israel over alleged human rights concerns.

“Yesterday, I gathered with residents at the Allama Iqbal Community Center’s Mela to commemorate Pakistan’s Independence Day and honor the contributions Pakistani New Yorkers have made to our city,” Mamdani posted on X/Twitter on Monday.

“Today and everyday, we celebrate this community whose open arms, determination, and dreams for a better life have helped shape the city they call home,” he added.

Pakistan Day Parade in New York City typically takes place in Manhattan in late August to commemorate Pakistan’s Independence Day. The parade featured live music, speakers, community leaders, and cultural programming.

Mamdani’s presence at the parade raised eyebrows among observers due to his refusal to attend the city’s annual Israel Day Parade in late May, pointing to what he repeatedly described as Israeli human rights abuses.

“I said on the campaign trail that I wouldn’t be attending the parade, and I’ve made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear,” Mamdani said in May.

The mayor has repeatedly accused Israel of committing “genocide” against civilians in Gaza and erecting an “apartheid” regime in the West Bank. He also stated in a CNN interview last month that he won’t express support for Israel because he can’t “support any state that privileges one religion over another, whether it is Israel, Saudi Arabia, or anywhere else.”

Israel does not have an official state religion, and non-Jewish Israelis enjoy the same equal rights throughout the country as Jews. In contrast, Islam is the official state religion in Saudi Arabia, and non-Muslims face certain legal and religious restrictions.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, State Attorney General Letitia James, and former City Mayors Eric Adams and Michael Bloomberg all attended the parade.

Critics of Mamdani questioned why the mayor attended the Pakistan Day Parade, given the country’s human rights record.

Religious minorities such as Christians, Shi’a Muslims, Hindus, and Ahmadis are often the subject of persecution within Pakistan.

Pakistan, officially an Islamic state, imposes strict blasphemy laws, which criminalize any commentary about the Prophet Muhammad contrary to the Quran, effectively restricting public expressions of non-Muslim faith. Pakistan’s constitution discriminates against the Ahmadi minority specifically, banning the group from self-identifying as Muslims, preaching their faith, or inviting others to join their faith.

Under the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan initiated in 2023, Pakistan has expelled a reported 2.68 million Afghans from the country, alleging that the minority group represents a security threat. Human rights organizations have called on Pakistan to cease the forced deportation of Afghans.

Pakistan is also accused of maintaining strict restrictions on speech and media, having allegedly arrested journalists and targeting media organizations critical of the government. This year, the government implemented a new policy restricting foreign journalists from reporting outside of Islamabad without securing government approval.

Mamdani’s decision to participate in festivities commemorating a country embroiled in a variety of human rights scandals raises further scrutiny as to whether the mayor imposes a double standard on Jewish people. The mayor has been accused by several local Jewish leaders of fomenting antisemitism through his incessant anti-Israel rhetoric.

Anti-Jewish hate crimes continued to dominate New York City’s bias-crime landscape in the first half of 2026. The police recorded 178 confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes — 55.3% of all confirmed hate crimes citywide — even though Jews comprise only about 10% of New York City’s population. By comparison, police confirmed 21 anti-Muslim hate crimes and 33 targeting sexual orientation, meaning anti-Jewish incidents outnumbered anti-Muslim incidents by more than 8 to 1.

so when a bedraggled, light-haired and light-skinned man showed up on her doorstep carrying a child, Beru Whitesun saw a solution to all her problems: identity fraud to get out of paying death taxes to the Hutts and ensure she had enough help running the farm

she even got a free baby out of the deal, and was able to convince her totally-not-new 'husband' that this would keep him safe from the new Empire as well!

this does, of course, add an additional layer of awkwardness to the arrival of Artoo and Threepio at the start of A New Hope

--

Luke: hey Uncle Owen, these droids we bought say that they belong someone named Obi-Wan Kenobi who they claim lives near here, do you know who that could be?

'Owen,' sweating: he, uh, died

Luke: oh, did you know him then?

…..

Just now my boyfriend asked me if it's enough proper waking time to be allowed to sit quietly with my caffeinated beverage for 30 minutes before getting dressed to go out and about.

After several minutes, it penetrated my brain that something was crawling around on top of me, and before I consciously processed that the something was my adorable and beloved nephew, I was creaming my head off. Which of course, made the poor mite start screaming HIS head off.

Spin the wheel to find out your weakness!

Texts From Superheroes

For the time being it is TOGGLEABLE and you can TURN IT OFF!

However, we do not know if Twitch will force this to be on at all times like some other platforms, like X/Twitter, have previously done.

Regardless of IF YOU STREAM OR NOT you should TURN THIS "TRAINING FOR GENERATIVE AI" SETTING OFF IMMEDIATELY!

To do so you must go to: https://www.twitch.tv/settings/security

And then scroll all the way down near the bottom.

There you'll find the "Training for Generative Ai" setting, toggle it to OFF!

Be sure to keep sending messages to Twitch that you do NOT want this to exist.

Yes, she mocks rape victims. She threatens litigation against the mildest criticism against her. She has created an LGB group to make it so very clear that trans people are not welcome where she gives money. She is the funding behind Scotland saying trans women aren't legally women. The list goes on.

But. I promise you, 99% of the people around you don't know she's done any of this because they aren't following her social media or stories about her. To them, she is just the author of those fun wizard books. You gotta talk about how she's SO WEIRD and ISN'T IT SAD.

You need to tell the normies how she uses the funds from all her payout agreements for ALL Harry Potter licensing, including the re-release of these movies.

"It's so fucking weird. It's so fucking off-putting. It's so fucking sad." Say that over and over. Don't try to tie it into larger ideas. This is not how people will listen. "Isn't it just fucking sad she has all this money that could go to literacy or scholarships, and she's using it to attack people who are just living their lives? What a weird fucking choice."

We need to out-Morbius Morbius in terms of this tanking, and the way you do that is talk to normies about how fucking WEIRD and RUDE she is. How ODD that the second Fantastic Beasts movie gave a "actually, fascism isn't too bad" vibe all the way through and especially at the end. How she has complained that the child actors from those movies particularly don't agree with her views on trans people and that she's publicly said that's why she wanted a new show.

What a WEIRD thing to say about child actors you worked with over a decade ago. It's so WEIRD she would care that those child actors have different opinions than her. It's really SAD she apparently has no hobbies except posting on social media about how she hates trans people. A beloved author who could be using her name to raise money for animal rescues and homeless people and all sorts of really great causes that could improve people's lives, and she's out here doing THIS? It just bums me out. I just can't support someone who uses their money to harass and harm other people like this. I don't know WHY she acts like this or WHY she's chosen to make it her whole personality, but it just makes it really hard for me to want to support any Harry Potter stuff, even when I loved it so much. Knowing any money made from that franchise goes into her pocket to just pour out onto orgs and laws that tell adults they can't just live their lives and be left alone is WEIRD.

And then say what you're gonna be doing instead. You know, I'm going to go and find some new fantasy books at the library. I'm going to boardgame day down at the game store. I'm going to a stitching group. I'm going to host a 1980s fantasy fest at my place; do you have any favorites you recommend? We should have a film fest where we watch all the movies that scared the shit out of us as kids.

"because of The Curse?"