Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., urged Zohran Mamdani, the mayoral candidate for New York City, to condemn the term “globalise the Intifada” in a contentious interview with Brian Lehrer of WNYC radio on Thursday.
After a caller accused the candidate of endorsing Hamas and the violent attacks linked to the intifada terrorism campaign against Israel in the 1990s, Gillibrand urged Mamdani to categorically condemn the phrase, which she claims the public interprets as a call to “slaughter the Jews.”
“The caller is precisely the concerned citizens from New York that I have spoken with. Their concerns stem from previous public declarations. “They are concerned about previous stances, especially those that mention global jihad,” she stated. “People who glorify the death of Jews instill terror in our communities, which makes this a very severe problem. The worldwide intifada is a declaration that calls for the destruction of Israel and the extermination of all Jews.
After then, the senator from New York urged Mamdani to promise 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.”
In response to her suggestion that Mamdani had called for a “global intifada,” Lehrer asked if she had any reservations about his earlier pledges to defend Jews 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,” said Gillibrand.
When the Senator finished her statement, Lehrer immediately resumed their chat regarding Mamdani after it had been momentarily interrupted by a question from another caller.
“He was never out there saying ‘globalise the intifada,'” Lehrer said of Mamdani. He was questioned about other users.
Although she doesn’t have “all the data and information” in front of her, Gillibrand claimed to remember Mamdani mentioning “global intifada,” and she mentioned that she had asked to meet with the mayoral candidate face-to-face to talk about these matters.
During his Monday show, the radio host retaliated against the senator, saying that Mamdani explained to him that demands for a worldwide 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 said. “Whatever meaning you have in your mind is irrelevant. It’s not how people interpret the word. For many Jewish Americans and Jewish New Yorkers, using a term like “intifada” implies that violence against Jews is acceptable.
Before Gillibrand left the audience with one more message for Mamdani, the two carried on their back and forth.
“There are certain phrases, images, and things that are stated that they will hear and feel like a knife to their throat if you speak to any group, including our LGBTQ community, Black community, or Hispanic community. She argued, “You have to understand how these things are felt and received if you want to be a leader.”
