Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand urges Zohran Mamdani to denounce 'globalize the intifada' rhetoric
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., called on New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani to denounce the phrase "globalize the Intifada" during a heated exchange with WNYC radio host Brian Lehrer on Thursday.
Gillibrand urged Mamdani to unequivocally denounce the phrase — which she argues is received by the public as a call to "slaughter the Jews" — after a caller accused the candidate of glorifying Hamas and the violent attacks associated with the intifada terrorism campaign launched against Israel in the 1990s.
"The caller is exactly the New York constituents that I've spoken to that are alarmed. They are alarmed by past public statements. They are alarmed by past positions, particularly references to global jihad," she said. "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."
The New York senator then called on Mamdani 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."
Lehrer pushed back on her insinuation that Mamdani had called for a "global intifada," asking if she doubted his prior statements committing to protecting Jewish people in New York City.
"One of the issues I did talk to him about yesterday was exactly this issue, and he has agreed to work with me on this and to protect all residents," Gillibrand replied.
After their conversation about Mamdani was briefly derailed by another caller's question, Lehrer jumped right back into their discussion once the Senator finished her response.
"On Mamdani, I just feel compelled to say we can find no evidence that he has supported Hamas or has supported violent jihad, as that caller was asserting. Can you?" he questioned.
Gillibrand asserted that while she doesn't have "all the data and information" in front of her, she did recall Mamdani referencing "global intifada," and noted that she had requested an in-person meeting with the mayoral hopeful to discuss these issues.
The radio host pushed back on the senator once again, claiming that Mamdani clarified to him on his show on Monday that calls for a global intifada "are not calls for violence because intifada is a much broader term involving all kinds of uprisings and resistance and things like that."
"Brian, I didn't hear your exchange with him, but if I was speaking to him directly, I would simply say that is not how the words are received," she countered. "It doesn't matter what meaning you have in your brain. It is not how the word is received. When you use a word like intifada — to many Jewish Americans and Jewish New Yorkers, that means you are permissive of violence against Jews."
The two continued their back and forth before Gillibrand left listeners with one final message for Mamdani.
"If you talk to any group, you talk to our LGBTQ community, you talk to our Black community, you talk to our Hispanic community, there are words and there are imagery and there are things that are said that they will hear it and feel it as a dagger to their throat. If you want to be a leader, you have to recognize how these things are felt and received," she contended.
"Saying there should be no word police is irresponsible, because, as a leader, you have to protect everyone. Period," Gillibrand added.
Fox News Digital reached out to representatives of Mamdani for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
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