Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani speaks during the New York City Democratic Mayoral Primary Debate at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the Gerald W. Lynch Theater on June 12, 2025 in New York City. (Vincent Alban/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
(JTA) — Under scrutiny over his positions on Israel, the ascendant New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani declined to condemn the phrase “Globalize the intifada” while speaking on a podcast on Tuesday.
Asked by the host of “The Bulwark,” which bills itself as being for moderate liberals, what he thought about the phrase and another widely used at pro-Palestinian protests, “From the river to the sea,” that have been criticized as antisemitic, Mamdani denounced antisemitism but rejected the critique.
“I know people for whom those things mean very different things,” Mamdani said in the episode, released on Tuesday. “Ultimately what I hear in so many is a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.”
“Globalize the intifada,” used widely used at pro-Palestinian protests, is seen by many as a call for violence against Jews. “Intifada,” which means “uprising” or “shaking off” in Arabic, was the name of two violent Palestinian uprisings including one from 2000 to 2005 that killed an estimated 1,000 Israelis in terror attacks, including on buses, at cafes and at recreational centers.
In recent months, as Jewish targets faced multiple violent attacks by people who said they were acting on behalf of the Palestinians, the phrase has faced renewed scrutiny. “When you repeat slogans like ‘globalize the intifada,’ you are inciting violence against Jews in the United States and around the world,” New York Rep. Ritchie Torres tweeted after two people were shot to death outside the Capital Jewish Museum last month. “The danger of incitement is no abstraction.”
After Bulwark host Tim Miller suggested that he shared concern about the phrases, Mamdani said he viewed “From the river to the sea” and “Globalize the intifada” as “super different … like different genres.” But he said he would not want to prohibit either of them.
“I am someone who I would say am less comfortable with the idea of banning the use of certain words,” he said. “And that I think it is more evocative of a Trump-style approach to how to lead a country.”
He also suggest that he thought the phrase “Globalize the intifada” was sometimes misunderstood, invoking a major act of Jewish resistance against the Nazis in the process.
“I think what’s difficult also is that the very word has been used by the Holocaust Museum when translating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into Arabic, because it’s a word that means struggle,” he said. “And as a Muslim man who grew up post-9/11, I’m all too familiar in the way in which Arabic words can be twisted, can be distorted, can be used to justify any kind of meaning.”
Mamdani, a state Assembly member and democratic socialist, is polling second behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary, which takes place on Tuesday. He has drawn criticism from some Jews and pro-Israel voices over the course of the campaign over his record on Israel, which includes founding a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine in college, supporting the BDS movement to boycott Israel, organizing a rally while in office to call for divestment from Israel, and saying he would not visit Israel as mayor. (Every mayor elected since Israel’s founding has visited.)
Mamdani, who would be New York City’s first Muslim mayor, has reportedly also taken heat from some on the left for being too soft on Israel. He has said Israel has a right to exist, though not specifically as a Jewish state.
His campaign has focused on progressive policy proposals for the city, including free buses and government-run grocery stores, that are seen as ambitious but likely impractical. He has also proposed diverting funds from the police department to a new community safety division that would tackle hate crimes, including against Jews.
“What we need to do is focus on keeping Jewish New Yorkers safe,” he said on the podcast. “And the question of the permissibility of language is something that I haven’t ventured into.”
