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US Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Condemning ‘Globalize the Intifada’
Pro-Hamas activists gather in Washington Square Park for a rally following a protest march held in response to an NYPD sweep of an anti-Israel encampment at New York University in Manhattan, May 3, 2024. Photo: Matthew Rodier/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
US Reps. Rudy Yakym (R-IN) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) have introduced a bipartisan resolution condemning the controversial phrase “globalize the intifada,” a popular slogan among anti-Israel activists that references previous periods of sustained Palestinian terrorism against Jews and Israelis.
“This is a term that calls for violence against Jews,” Yakym said in a statement last week, when the resolution was unveiled.
Citing the rise of antisemitism and anti-Jewish hate crimes across the United States, Yakym added, “We cannot allow that this type of hate speech to go unchecked in our society.”
The term “intifada,” or uprising, refers to two periods (the first beginning in 1987 and the second in 2000) when Palestinian terrorists ramped up violence targeting Israelis that included suicide bombings, shootings, and stabbings. Critics argue that invoking the intifada in a global context promotes the spread of political violence and implicitly endorses attacks on Jews worldwide.
Jewish organizations and watchdog groups have condemned the slogan “globalize the intifada” as a form of hate speech that blurs the line between criticism of Israeli policy and incitement against Jewish communities, especially amid a rise in antisemitic incidents globally.
House Resolution 588 was introduced to the House on Thursday, and it was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs the same day. Eleven other members of Congress co-sponsored the legislation: Reps. Jack Bergman (R-MI), Thomas Suozzi (D-NY), Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), Tim Moore (R-NC), Gabe Evans (R-CO), Randy Fine (R-FL), Pat Harrigan (R-NC), John Rutherford (R-FL), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Charles Fleischmann (R-TN), Troy Nehls (R-TX), and Andy Harris (R-MD).
“There’s no two sides to this,” Gottheimer said in a statement, emphasizing that the slogan represents a “call for violence” against the Jewish community.
“There’s no way to look at this from any direction and say, ‘It’s OK to say globalize the intifada,’” Gottheimer stressed.
The resolution comes amid controversy surrounding New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s recent defense of the phrase “globalize the intifada” during an interview on “The Bulwark Podcast.” Mamdani declined to condemn the slogan, arguing that it has been misinterpreted and represents a “desperate desire for equality and equal rights.”
“I am someone who, I would say am, is less comfortable with the banning of certain words, and that I think is more evocative of a Trump-style approach of how to lead a country,” Mamdani said.
“I think what’s difficult also, is that the very word has been used by the Holocaust Museum when translating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into Arabic, because it’s a word that means ‘struggle,’” he continued. “And, as a Muslim man who grew up post-9/11, I’m all too familiar in the way in which that Arabic words can be twisted, can be distorted.”
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was an effort by Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland to fight back as they were set to be deported to concentration camps and killed as part of the Nazis’ campaign to exterminate Jewry during the Holocaust.
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum subsequently issued a blistering repudiation of Mamdani’s comments, calling them “outrageous and especially offensive.”
However, facing mounting pressure from Jewish community leaders, business executives, and fellow Democrats, Mamdani last week moved to clarify his stance on “globalize the intifada,” signaling he will discourage its use while continuing to back the broader anti-Israel movement it represents.
Since winning the Democratic nomination for the upcoming New York City mayoral general election, Mamdani’s views regarding Israel and the Jewish community have come under intensifying scrutiny.
In 2021, Mamdani issued public support for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel, claiming that support for the effort is growing within New York City. “The tide is turning. The fight for justice is here,” he said at the time.
That same year, the progressive firebrand also called for prohibiting New York lawmakers from visiting Israel, asserting that “every elected [official] must be pressured to stand with Palestinians.”
The left-wing lawmaker has also vowed to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing the Israeli premier of making military decisions while in New York that “killed many innocent people” and citing the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s arrest warrant against Netanyahu.
Mamdani also drew criticism for appearing on the podcast of controversial far-left streamer Hasan Piker—a social media personality who has called for the complete destruction of Israel and has voiced support for terrorist groups.
The post US Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Condemning ‘Globalize the Intifada’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.