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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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Germany’s Halt to Arms Exports to Israel Is Response to Gaza Expansion Plans, Chancellor Says
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attends a cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Aug. 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen
Germany’s decision to curb arms exports to Israel comes in response to Israel’s plan to expand its operations in the Gaza Strip, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday in an interview with public broadcaster ARD.
“We cannot deliver weapons into a conflict that is now being pursued exclusively by military means,” Merz said. “We want to help diplomatically, and we are doing so.”
The worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel’s plans to expand military control over the enclave have pushed Germany to take this historically fraught step.
The chancellor said in the interview that the expansion of Israel’s operations in Gaza could claim hundreds of thousands of civilian lives and would require the evacuation of the entire city of Gaza.
“Where are these people supposed to go?” Merz said. “We can’t do that, we won’t do that, and I will not do that.”
Nevertheless, the principles of Germany’s Israel policy remain unchanged, the chancellor said.
“Germany has stood firmly by Israel’s side for 80 years. That will not change,” Merz said.
Germany is Israel’s second-biggest weapons supplier after the US and has long been one of its staunchest supporters, principally because of its historical guilt for the Nazi Holocaust – a policy known as the “Staatsraison.”
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Newsom Calls Trump’s $1 Billion UCLA Settlement Offer Extortion, Says California Won’t Bow
California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at a press conference, accompanied by members of the Texas Democratic legislators, at the governor’s mansion in Sacramento, California, U.S., August 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Saturday that a $1 billion settlement offer by President Donald Trump’s administration for UCLA amounted to political extortion to which the state will not bow.
The University of California says it is reviewing a $1 billion settlement offer by the Trump administration for UCLA after the government froze hundreds of millions of dollars in funding over pro-Palestinian protests.
UCLA, which is part of the University of California system, said this week the government froze $584 million in funding. Trump has threatened to cut federal funds for universities over anti-Israel student protests.
“Donald Trump has weaponized the DOJ (Department of Justice) to kneecap America’s #1 public university system — freezing medical & science funding until @UCLA pays his $1 billion ransom,” the office of Newsom, a Democrat, said in a post.
“California won’t bow to Trump’s disgusting political extortion,” it added.
“This isn’t about protecting Jewish students – it’s a billion-dollar political shakedown from the pay-to-play president.”
The government alleges universities, including UCLA, allowed antisemitism during the protests and in doing so violated Jewish and Israeli students’ civil rights. The White House had no immediate comment beyond the offer.
Experts have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over the Republican president’s threats. The University of California says paying such a large settlement would “completely devastate” the institution.
Large demonstrations took place at UCLA last year. Last week, UCLA agreed to pay over $6 million to settle a lawsuit by some students and a professor who alleged antisemitism. It was also sued this year over a 2024 violent mob attack on pro-Palestinian protesters.
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Trump Nominates State Dept Spokeswoman Bruce as US Deputy Representative to UN
FILE PHOTO: U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce speaks during her first press briefing at the State Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was nominating State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce as the next US deputy representative to the United Nations.
Bruce has been the State Department spokesperson since Trump took office in January.
In a post on social media in which Trump announced her nomination, the president said she did a “fantastic job” as State Department spokesperson. Bruce will need to be confirmed for the role by the US Senate, where Trump’s Republican Party holds a majority.
During press briefings, she has defended the Trump administration’s foreign policy decisions ranging from an immigration crackdown and visa revocations to US responses to Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza, including a widely condemned armed private aid operation in the Palestinian territory.
Bruce was previously a political contributor and commentator on Fox News for over 20 years.
She has also authored books like “Fear Itself: Exposing the Left’s Mind-Killing Agenda” that criticized liberals and left-leaning viewpoints.
In a post after Trump’s announcement, Bruce thanked him and suggested that the role was a “few weeks” away. Neither Trump nor Bruce mentioned an exact timeline in their online posts.
“Now I’m blessed that in the next few weeks my commitment to advancing America First leadership and values continues on the global stage in this new post,” Bruce wrote on X.
Trump has picked former White House national security adviser Mike Waltz to be his U.N. envoy. Waltz’s Senate confirmation for that role, wherein he will be Bruce’s boss, is still due.
Waltz was Trump’s national security adviser until he was ousted on May 1 after he was caught up in a March scandal involving a Signal chat among top Trump national security aides on military strikes in Yemen. Trump then nominated Waltz as his U.N. ambassador.