Mamdani's response to questions about the phrase "globalize the intifada" was quite good & not at all what his attackers

[Celerity]

say it was. Watch the clip here and ask yourself why so many prominent people are lying about it.

[SSJVegeta]

1. Anybody else think he bears a strong resemblance to the actor Charlie Cox?

He is the person who plays the superhero in the Netflix series Daredevil.

[Autumn]

2. Anyone who says they will have to get an explanation on that can KMA.

Thanks for posting this Cel.

[Celerity]

3. yw

[yardwork]

4. DU Rec

[Ping Tung]

5. Why aer they lying about him? Because, he's a Muslim, a Socialist, and a humanitarian. All of which are scary to

MAGAs and other bigots.

“He who dares not offend cannot be honest.”
Thomas Paine

[rogue emissary]

6. How is he a humanitarian?

[Ping Tung]

9. For one thing he's in favor of stopping the brutal wars in Iran and Gaza. .

For other humanitarian acts or plans see here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/nyregion/mamdani-policies-stances.html

[rogue emissary]

10. Being against war is a low bar for humanitarianism.

Couldn't access the article.

[Ping Tung]

14. It seems to be too high a bar for the partipants in the killing.

[Emile]

8. Or, because the oligarchs can't buy him.

[Erda]

7. He is an intelligent

And thoughtful candidate.

I will be proud to vote for him.

Tim Miller said this morning on "The Weekend" that he (Miller) disagreed with some of Mamdani's proposals. He was not specific but Mamdani is proposing free buses and City subsidized grocery stores. Miller said nothing about the obscene Republican cuts in the budget bill that would hurt people, but Mamdani's wish to help the public is viewed as a threat.

[womanofthehills]

19. Albuquerque has free buses

And our city has way less money. Free buses should be a given to cut back on traffic and pollution. It’s often the poorest people who ride buses to work. Maybe they can buy a little more food with the money they no longer have to spend on transportation.

[AntiFascist]

11. Another stupid MAGA talking point seems to be associating intifada with anti-Semitism...

of course, Trump would like to ban the Muslim religion if he could.

Egypt's 2011 uprising was not anti-Semitic.

[RandomNumbers]

12. Are you willing to post a transcript? or at least the part

regarding what is meant by "globalize the intifada"?

edit - apparently he did not say it, just refuses to condemn it. Which pisses off a lot of Jewish voters, rightly or wrongly.

[Celerity]

15. from the YouTube generated transcript (the entire video is only 2 minutes long):

Miller:

there obviously is anti-semitism on the
right but there's anti-semitism coming
from the left and coming from these
protests and one example I think of is
this phrase globalize the inifatada
which is a very popular phrase at
protests on the left maybe some people
say that phrase with good intent but
there are certainly some people who are
saying that phrase with violent intent
so I wonder what you think about that
about the phrase globalized antifod and
what we've seen as some anti-semitism
coming from the left-wing protesters

Mamdani:

the first thing as you were saying is
antisemitism is a real issue in our
city and it's one that can be captured
in statistics the ones that you're
citing it's also one that you will feel
in conversations you have with Jewish
New Yorkers across this city

this is something that has to be the focus of
the next mayoral administration
not just talking about it but tackling it
and these are the conversations that
have informed our commitment around
increasing funding for anti-hate crime
programming by 800% in our department of
community safety

you know to the question of language that's
being used i am someone who is less
comfortable with the idea of banning the
use of certain words and that I think it is
more evocative of a Trump style approach to
how to lead a country

Miller:

sure like does
that just make you uncomfortable like
the phrase globalized from the river to
the sea does that make you uncomfortable

Mamdani:

i know people for whom those things mean
very different things 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 is has been used by
the Holocaust Museum when translating
the Warsaw Ghetto uprising into Arabic
because it's a word that means struggle

as a muslim man who grew up post 911 i'm
all too familiar in the way in which
Arabic words can be twisted can be
distorted can be used to justify any
kind of meaning and I think that's where
it leaves me with a sense that what we
need to do is focus on keeping Jewish
New Yorkers safe and the question of
permissibility of language is something
that I that I haven't I haven't ventured into

[RandomNumbers]

17. Thank you

it is easier for some of us to capture the meaning by reading, than from audio/video.

It is a bit of a red herring to refer to people wanting to "ban the use of certain words", when he was asked if the phrases made him uncomfortable, in light of how some (terrible) people clearly mean those phrases. (And tarring the questioner as Trump-like is just odious, by the way.)

He does speak of the importance of protecting Jewish citizens from hate crimes, which is good. To me, his answer does not show a comprehension of the deeper relevance to Jews (beyond their immediate physical safety within New York City).

I am not Jewish myself but have several treasured Jewish friends. I'm not speaking for anyone, but will generalize: Most of my friends were strongly in favor of fairness and justice to Palestinians and despise Likud. They don't deny Bibi's complicity, but let's just say October 7th changed a lot.

Pro-Palestinians would do better to denounce Hamas with their strongest possible words and actions. The atrocities of Hamas are the ROOT CAUSE of the extreme tragedies happening in Gaza now. Do not ever forget that Israeli peace activists were killed on October 7th. Those monsters KILLED people who were trying to help the people they were ostensibly* fighting for.

* if you believe Hamas is about helping everyday Palestinian civilians, I have a bridge to sell you. (Note that I don't actually think you, or very many, if any, DUer's believe this. I do think that unfortunately, some in the "pro-Palestinian" movement either really do, or they are bad actors in on the con.)

[Mossfern]

13. The contemporary political use of the word "Intafada" is not benign.

Sure it means "struggle."
But suicide bombers killing Israeli civilians (yes, children too) does NOT mean "struggle," it means "kill."

What were the 1st and 2nd Intifadas?
Ideological?

[AloeVera]

16. Jimmy Carter said this of the first intifada:

"The Palestinians' nonviolent resistance in the First Intifada ... contested military occupation from a store of classic methods used on every continent in today's world, as people fight for human rights and justice with concern for the connection between the ends and means." He added that, "the use of concerted nonviolent action offers a basis for transformation of conflict to peace building."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Intifada#Jordan_severs_ties_with_the_West_Bank

The first intifada was the embodiment of the "struggle" that Palestinians live every day of their lives since 1967 - or 1948. But Israelis don't understand, and likely never will, what it is like for them to live under a brutal occupation and why, after peaceful resistance failed, they would resort to any means to free themselves.

The loathing of the occupation, then coming up on 20 years, the doubling of settlements in just a few years and the threats by Israeli politicians to "transfer" Palestinians was the background for the First Intifada. The catalyst was the killing of 4 Palestinians in their car by an Israeli truck driver, or perhaps the shooting in the back of a 17-year old Palestinian girl in Gaza. Or perhaps a hundred other such killings.

It was an organic, grassroots uprising - mass protests, general strike, civil disobedience - and may have stayed peaceful but for the brutality of Israel's response. At least 1,087 Palestinians were killed (240 were children) by shootings, beatings or tear gas including saturation tear gas bombings which killed 16 in Gaza and 120,000 injured. The number of Israelis killed were approximately 200, with several thousand injured.

The Second Intifada was a reaction to many things, not the least of which was the knowledge that peaceful resistance would be met with brutal force. But it was a horrible choice and later condemned by Palestinian leadership.

When people yearn to be free of repression and brutal occupation, and start to resist those conditions imposed on them - what is that called? Is it an ideology or a struggle?

[Arazi]

18. Now we just need Dem leadership like Jeffries et al to see this

Oh wait, this isn’t new and if Jeffries (for example) had really wanted to understand Mamdani’s statements before getting on national tv and slamming him HE COULD HAVE DONE THAT.

[leftstreet]

20. DURec

[Torchlight]

21. The agitation attempting to cast him as a source of division is weak at best.

I don't think anyone other than those whose minds are already cast in stone will pay much mind to the pot-stirring.