Nigeria, Oct. 11 -- As the Gaza war entered its third year on 7 October, and multinational peace negotiators gathered in Egypt to panel-beat a peace agreement, Palestinian rallies rocked New York.

The rallies took on added importance as the city's 4 November election may be determined by the position of voters on the genocide. A few years ago, it would have been unthinkable that Americans, who used to believe that the world rotated round them, would hold local elections whose outcome may be determined by where candidates stand on a foreign issue. But no conscious human can ignore the nightmare in Gaza, brought daily to all by the electronic media and the internet.

On this day, the three leading candidates had to declare where they stand...