(The Center Square) — As the two-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack in Israel approaches, Zohran Mamdani’s embrace of the phrase “globalize the intifada” has again come under scrutiny.
New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo called on the Democratic nominee to publicly condemn his previous support for the phrase ahead of planned protests acknowledging the massacre and Israel’s years-long bombing campaign that’s left roughly 64,000 Palestinians dead, according to the Hamas-controlled Public Health Ministry.
“Zohran Mamdani continues to play word games instead of showing moral clarity,” Cuomo, a Democrat who is running as an independent, said in a statement Sunday. “Today I again call on him – directly and unequivocally – to denounce this phrase and to reject any movement that glorifies violence or targets Jewish people.”
Mamdani, a Queens assemblyman and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, initially refused to condemn the slogan during the 2025 primary election, sparking a backlash from Jewish leaders and community members.
The word intifada means “shaking off” and has been historically used in Arabic-speaking countries in response to oppressive regimes. Pro-Palestinian groups have used it as a slogan to resist the Israeli government, but Jewish groups say it encourages antisemitic violence that should be condemned as hate speech.
Top Democratic leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, New York’s senior U.S. senator, have been demanding that Mamdani condemn calls to globalize the intifada as he seeks their support. While Gov. Kathy Hochul has endorsed Mamdani’s campaign, other Democrats have been reluctant to get behind him.
Mamdani recently told a gathering of New York City business leaders that he would begin discouraging the “intifada” expression, which he had declined to condemn in previous interviews. He has repeatedly denied that he is antisemitic, despite his outspoken criticism of Israel.
His campaign didn’t immediately respond to Cuomo’s calls to condemn the expression.
On Tuesday, the Pro-Palestine group “Behind Enemy Lines” is planning a “No Business as Usual” protest in New York City and calling on people to “Escalate for Gaza” by walking out of classrooms and shutting down businesses in the nation’s financial capital.
“Behind Enemy Lines is calling on everyone to escalate for Gaza and shut down business as usual,” the group said in a statement on its website. “On the second anniversary of the Al-Aqsa flood, Behind Enemy Lines is calling on everyone to escalate for Gaza and shut down business as usual.”
Cuomo urged the NYPD to increase security around synagogues, Jewish schools, community centers, and other locations identified as “targets” by the group’s organizers.
“There is no justification, no context, and no moral equivalence that excuses that language or intent,” Cuomo said. “New York must always draw a bright line: there is no room for hate, intimidation, or violence in this city.”
