{"id":43743,"date":"2025-06-19T20:38:34","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T01:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=43743"},"modified":"2025-06-19T20:39:27","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T01:39:27","slug":"nyc-mayoral-candidate-zohran-mamdani-criticized-for-intifada-remarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=43743","title":{"rendered":"NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani criticized for ‘intifada’ remarks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, a Democrat running for mayor of New York, drew pushback from Jewish organizations and political leaders this week after he appeared to defend the slogan \u201cglobalize the intifada.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with The Bulwark<\/a> posted Tuesday, Mamdani was asked whether the expression made him uncomfortable. In response, he said the slogan captured \u201ca desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.\u201d He said the U.S. Holocaust Museum had used the word \u201cintifada\u201d in Arabic-language descriptions of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against Nazi Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mamdani, a progressive New York State Assemblyman who has forcefully criticized the Israeli government, also addressed the rise in antisemitism since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack and the war in Gaza, saying anti-Jewish prejudice was \u201ca real issue in our city\u201d and one that the next mayor should focus on \u201ctackling.\u201d He added that he believes the city\u2019s community safety offices should increase funding for anti-hate crime measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Washington-based U.S. Holocaust Museum sharply condemned Mamdani\u2019s remarks Wednesday on X<\/a>: \u201cExploiting the Museum and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising to sanitize \u2018globalize the intifada\u2019 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The museum did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how it had translated the Warsaw Uprising into Arabic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, decried the phrase<\/a> on X as an \u201cexplicit incitement to violence.\u201d Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., who is Jewish, said in a statement that the word \u201cintifada\u201d is \u201cwell understood to refer to the violent terror attacks against innocent Israeli civilians that occurred during the First and Second Intifadas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf Mr. Mamdani is unwilling to heed the request of major Jewish organizations to condemn this unquestionably antisemitic phrase,\u201d Goldman added, \u201cthen he is unfit to lead a city with 1.3 million Jews \u2014 the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mamdani has also faced criticism from some of the other candidates in the crowded Democratic primary field \u2014 including the front-runner, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo\u2019s polling advantage has narrowed in recent weeks as Mamdani, 33, a democratic socialist, built momentum and nabbed a key endorsement<\/a> from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement, Cuomo called on all the contenders to \u201cdenounce\u201d Mamdani\u2019s comments and invoked recent violent attacks on Jewish people nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt a time when we are seeing antisemitism on the rise and in fact witnessing once again violence against Jews resulting in their deaths in Washington, D.C. or their burning in Denver \u2014 we know all too well that words matter,\u201d Cuomo said in part, referring to the killings of two Israeli Embassy employees<\/a> and an attack on Israeli hostage advocates in Boulder, Colorado<\/a>. \u201cThey fuel hate. They fuel murder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The war in Gaza and the spike in antisemitism have loomed large over the mayoral primary. Cuomo, 67, casts himself as a fierce defender of Israel and pitches himself to Jewish residents and ideological moderates as the obvious choice. Mamdani, who has characterized Israel\u2019s conduct<\/a> in Gaza as \u201cgenocide,\u201d gained traction partly thanks to enthusiastic support from the city\u2019s progressives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mamdani, speaking to reporters at a media event in Harlem<\/a> on Wednesday, addressed the outcry over his interview with The Bulwark and the ensuing pushback, saying in part that \u201cit pains me to be called an antisemite.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve said at every opportunity that there is no room for antisemitism in this city, in this country. I\u2019ve said that because that is something I personally believe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He broke down crying as he described the vitriol he has received as he seeks to become the first Muslim mayor of New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI get messages that say: \u2018The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim.\u2019 I get threats on my life, on the people that I love,\u201d Mamdani said, his eyes welling up with tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The primary is Tuesday. Scandal-plagued<\/a> Mayor Eric Adams, who won election as a Democrat in 2021, is not participating in the party\u2019s nominating contest. He is reportedly petitioning<\/a> to run on two independent ballot lines: \u201cEndAntiSemitism\u201d and \u201cSafe&Affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nbcnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat running for mayor of New York, drew pushback from Jewish organizations and political leaders this week after he appeared to defend the slogan \u201cglobalize the intifada.\u201d In an interview with The Bulwark posted Tuesday, Mamdani was asked whether the expression made him uncomfortable. In response, he said the slogan captured \u201ca desperate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":43744,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[4254,4146,30486,33678,33677],"class_list":["post-43743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-candidate","tag-criticism","tag-new-york-mayor","tag-uprising","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43743"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43745,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43743\/revisions\/43745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}