Since winning the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, Zohran Kwame Mamdani has spent more time addressing outrage over two words he never actually said than outlining his vision for the city. Ironically, his rivals’ overreach—each scrambling to outdo one another in pledging allegiance to Israel —may have only strengthened his support, exposing just how far and how low, candidates will go to pander for the ‘Israel first’ voters.

Last week, NBC’s Meet the Press anchor Kristen Welker repeatedly pressed Mamdani to denounce the slogan “Globalise the Intifada”—a phrase he did not use. In response, Mamdani calmly replied, “That’s not language that I use. The language that I use … is an intent grounded in a belief in universal human rights.” His nuanced, rights-based position wasn’t enough. Why? Because Mamdani’s unapologetic commitment to universal human rights includes Palestinians. And that inclusion violates an unspoken rule in US politics: thou shalt not challenge Israeli impunity.

Rather than engaging with Mamdani’s positions on crime, housing, transportation, or education—issues that directly impact New Yorkers—mainstream media and traditional politicians are fixated on a phrase rooted in Arabic, distorted beyond recognition by Israeli apologists ignorant of its linguistic meaning or context.

Let’s be clear about what “Globalize the Intifada” actually means. In Arabic, intifada means “to shake off” or “uprising”—a grassroots resistance to oppression and military occupation, not a religious war or ethnic hate. Activists use the slogan to express global solidarity with Palestinians enduring Israeli apartheid, ethnic cleansing and ongoing genocide. It is a call for justice, not violence—not against Jews or anyone else. Unless, of course, one believes that opposing the Israeli genocide........

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