Less than one week before the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani has found himself increasingly in the news. He has the support of current and former far-left Squad members, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), and clips have also resurfaced from him aggressively shouting at Tom Homan back in March. During a podcast episode released on Tuesday with The Bulwark's Tim Miller, Mamdani also justified a pro-Hamas phrase of "globalize the intifada."
Mamdani also had the audacity to compare it to Jews kept in ghettos by the Nazis during World War II, when the "globalize the intifada" phrase is used to actually target and kill Jews.
As he also went after President Donald Trump at the start of the clip, Mamdani phrased concerns with the phrase as how he's "someone who" is "less comfortable with banning the use of certain words," adding "I think it's more evocative of a Trump style approach to how to lead a country."
Miller cut him off to get to the heart of the matter, though, asking if the phrase makes him "uncomfortable," as he also referenced another pro-Hamas, genocidal phrase of "from the river to the sea."
With his nonanswer, Mamdani offered that "I know people for whom those phrases mean very different things," adding, "to me, ultimately, what I hear in so many is a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights, and 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.'" As Mamdani spoke, Miller could be heard saying "sure."
"As a Muslim man who grew up post-9/11," Mamdani continued, "I'm all too familiar in the way which Arabic words can be twisted, can be distorted, can be used to justify any kind of meaning, and I think that's--that's where it leaves me with a sense where what we need to do is focus on keeping Jewish New Yorkers safe..."
Mamdani, on The Bulwark podcast, says ‘Globalize the Intifada’ chant signifies, to him, a call for Palestinian human rights.
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) June 17, 2025
Adds: “The word has been used by the Holocaust Museum when translating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into Arabic — because it’s a word that means struggle.” pic.twitter.com/k2yeiSJpMy
Rabbi Marc Schneier of Hampton Synagogue, and friend of Cuomo, calls on Mamdani to “immediately apologize to New York City’s Jewish community” for equating 'intifada' with the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) June 18, 2025
Schneier says it’s “a direct insult” to Holocaust survivors and families. https://t.co/zeXQya02zl
Mamdani may speak about "keeping Jewish New Yorkers safe," but the phrase of "globalize the intifada" has been used to justify anything but their safety.
There have recently and tragically been multiple attacks targeting Jews, including the assassination of two young Israeli embassy staff members who were murdered as they left the Jewish Capital Museum last month, and the start of this month, when Jews were attacked in Boulder, Colorado as they participated in a "Run for Their Lives" event in honor of those hostages that Hamas took captive in the October 7, 2023 attacks.
Where, exactly, did you think this was going?
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) May 22, 2025
The cause is to globalize the intifada. And they’re doing exactly that.
📍Washington D.C. pic.twitter.com/ZouHhWMrBK
What did you think globalize the intifada meant? vibes? papers? essays? https://t.co/kM3pLxniok
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 22, 2025
After Mamdani's bold move in referencing the Holocaust museum, the museum responded over X.
"Exploiting the Museum and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising to sanitize “globalize the intifada” is outrageous and especially offensive to survivors. Since 1987 Jews have been attacked and murdered under its banner. All leaders must condemn its use and the abuse of history," the museum's post read.
Exploiting the Museum and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising to sanitize “globalize the intifada” is outrageous and especially offensive to survivors. Since 1987 Jews have been attacked and murdered under its banner. All leaders must condemn its use and the abuse of history. pic.twitter.com/SBviaMNLCM
— US Holocaust Museum (@HolocaustMuseum) June 18, 2025
In answering for such a concerning response, Mamdani was in tears and tried to portray himself as a victim when it comes to messages and threats he says he receives about being Muslim.
"And I try not to talk about it," Mamdani said, despite how he was doing just that, as he quoted Toni Morrison on racism. "My focus has always been on making this city affordable, on making this city that every New Yorker sees themselves in, and it takes a toll, because this is a city that every single person deserves to be in and it's a city that we all belong to," he continued through tears.
"And the thing that's made me proudest in this campaign is that the strength of our movement is built on our ability to have built something across Jewish and Muslim New Yorkers," he continued, as he also spoke about how "antisemitism is such a real issue in this city," though he claimed "it has been hard to see it weaponized by candidates who do not seem to have any sincere interest in tackling it, but rather in using it as a pretext to make political points."
We've got another crier! pic.twitter.com/5SXyTU2lTb
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 18, 2025
Mamdani may talk about Jewish and Muslim New Yorkers coming together and about antisemitism, but he has also continuously rallied behind the cause of Mahmoud Khalil, a foreign national the Trump administration has been seeking to deport after he led pro-Hamas activity at Columbia University, and participated in such events at Columbia's sister school of Barnard College, even after he had already graduated. He also reposted far-left, anti-zionist Jewish groups in the process to do so.
The mayoral candidate, who is polling close to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) in this primary involving rank choice voting, has made other concerning points on Israel, as Jewish Insider highlighted when covering Mamdani's nonanswer for Miller:
Mamdani, who is polling in second place behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has faced criticism over his approach to Israel during the campaign. He has declined to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and said he would divest from Israel if elected, among other comments and actions that have raised alarms among many Jewish voters.
Cuomo, who has deemed rising antisemitism “the most important issue” in the race, has for his part denounced calls to “globalize the intifada,” saying that such phrases are “giving license to come after Jews.”
Earlier this month, the UJA-Federation of New York and other local Jewish groups called on all candidates running for mayor “to unequivocally condemn dangerous rhetoric — such as ‘globalize the intifada’ — that has inspired deadly acts against Jews, most recently in Colorado, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.”
When it comes to phrases and concerns about pro-genocidal ones, it's worth reminding that Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), another member of the Squad, was censured in November 2023 for not only spreading lies against Israel after the October 7 attack, but also for defending the use of "from the river to the sea."
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