Former Anti-Defamation League head Abe Foxman harshly criticized Democrat leaders such as Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for not condemning those in their own party who use such antisemitic phrases as "globalize the intifada."
Writing on X, Foxman said that "it is not enough for Senator Schumer and other Democrats to condemn the phrase 'globalize the intifada' - they need to condemn those especially in their own Democratic Party who not only do not condemn it but embrace and defend it."
Foxman particularly pointed out that Zohran Mamdani, who is the Democrat candidate for mayor of New York City, "not only embraced this call for violence against Jews in the past, but when he had several opportunities to refute this phrase, he ducked, refusing to 'police' others."
On Sunday's NBC News' "Meet the Press," Mamdani was pressed to explicitly condemn the phrase "globalize the intifada," but he responded only, "That's not language that I use."
"The language that I use and the language that I will continue to use to lead the city is that which speaks clearly to my intent, which is an intent grounded in a belief in universal human rights," he said, though he added "it's language I understand there are concerns about."
Mamdani said his belief is that "freedom and justice and safety are things that have meaning, have to be applied to all people, and that includes Israelis and Palestinians" adding that "I don’t believe that the role of the mayor is to police speech."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.