Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) called on New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani to denounce the phrase “globalize the intifada” as he appears to be the likely Democratic nominee for the office.
Gillibrand said in response to a question from a caller during an appearance on radio host Brian Lehrer’s show on WNYC that she’s heard from New York constituents who are “extremely alarmed” by some public statements Mamdani has made defending those who call for global intifada.
“This is a very serious issue because people that glorify the slaughter of Jews create fear in our communities. The global intifada is a statement that means destroy Israel and kill all the Jews,” she argued.
“These are the kinds of things that, if Mr. Mamdani is elected our mayor, we’ll need to assure all New Yorkers that he will protect all Jews and protect houses of worship and protect funding for not-for-profits that meet the needs of these communities,” Gillibrand continued.
The meaning of the phrase has caused significant debate, particularly since Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and throughout the war that has ensured. It also became a point of criticism directed at Mamdani leading up to this week’s Democratic mayoral primary.
Many pro-Palestinian activists have said the phrase means Palestinians fighting for their rights and liberation from Israeli occupation. Many pro-Israel activists and many Jewish people view it as calling for violence against Jews, referencing the first and second intifadas that took place in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, during which Palestinians in both Palestinian territories and Israel engaged in an uprising in which significant violence occurred and many on both sides died.
Mamdani faced criticism as the primary approached over an interview he gave last week in which he said “what I hear in so many is a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.” He made a comparison between those calls for intifada and the Warsaw ghetto uprising the took place during the Holocaust in which Jews fought back against the Nazis and some escaped.
He cited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., saying the museum used the word “intifada” when translating the Warsaw Uprising into Arabic, as intifada means “struggle.” This led to the museum issuing a rare statement denouncing the comparison, calling it “offensive to survivors.”
Mamdani has responded to the criticism by maintaining that he would be a major for all New Yorkers and is committed to protecting his Jewish constituents against rising antisemitism.
Gillibrand said she had spoken to him about this issue and he agreed to work with her to protect all residents of the city.
“These are things that he has assured me in my one conversation that he will protect everyone, but I understand why people are concerned because of past statements,” she said. “This is just an issue that I will work with him on, for sure.”
Gillibrand also made references to Mamdani using the word “jihad,” but her communications director later said in a post on X that she misspoke and her concern was Mamdani’s refusal to denounce “globalize the intifada.”
“As a leader of a city as diverse as New York City, with 8 million people, as the largest Jewish population in the country, he should denounce it,” she said, referring to the intifada phrase. “That’s it. Period. You can’t celebrate it. You can’t value it. You can’t lift it up. That is the challenge that Jewish New Yorkers have had certainly since Oct. 7. It is exactly what they have felt.”
Gillibrand said she’s not endorsing Mamdani right now but congratulated him on his victory in the primary.
The Hill has reached out to Mamdani’s campaign for comment.
Mamdani seems all but certain to become the Democratic nominee for mayor, scoring a major upset against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani hasn’t formally been declared the winner yet, but Cuomo conceded the primary and Mamdani declared victory.
Cuomo has been considering whether to continue in the general election as an independent, which he has qualified for.
