NEW YORK- The man who shot two Israeli embassy staffers in cold blood in Washington, D.C. last month allegedly shouted “intifada” during the attack, according to one prominent Rockland County Jewish leader.
The phrase calls for aggressive resistance, including violence against Israel and those of the Jewish faith. It is often used by pro-Palestinian activists.
Ari Rosenblum, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland County, is appalled that New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani would use similar language as a rallying cry.
Jewish leaders and Washington D.C. representatives, including Congressman Mike Lawler and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, are calling out Mamdani for continually using the phrase “Globalize the intifada” as part of his go-to material.
“What this candidate is doing through his words is targeting Jews and that is unacceptable,” Rosenblum said on Friday. “(Mamdani) knows the definition of intifada and he should condemn the word, but he continues to use it. It is a word that has led to violence against Jews. It is used to vilify them. People are afraid. We need to condemn this hateful language.”
Mamdani, a State Assemblyman who represents parts of Queens, has previously argued that the term refers to general resistance movements, not violent action. In a recent podcast interview, he said he has “a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.”
“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. And that’s it. Period,” Gillibrand (D, NY) said during an interview on WNYC on Thursday. “It doesn’t matter what meaning you have in your brain; it is not how the word is received. And when you use a word like ‘intifada,’ to many Jewish Americans and Jewish New Yorkers, that means you are permissive for violence against Jews.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported a record-breaking 9,354 anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. in 2024, a five percent increase from the previous record set in 2023. This marks the highest level recorded since ADL began tracking data in 1979.
Mamdani, 33, defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo and several other candidates in the city’s Democratic mayoral primary earlier this week. He will face off against embattled incumbent Mayor Eric Adams who is running as an independent.
“Zohran Mamdani’s refusal to denounce ‘globalize the intifada’— a call to action tied to killing Jews — is horrifying and disqualifying for anyone, let alone someone running to lead New York City,” said Lawler (R, NY-17), who represents a large Jewish population in Rockland County, in a statement to Mid-Hudson News. “New Yorkers deserve leaders who reject hate, not embrace or defend it.”