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What Mamdani Gets Wrong About Arab Citizens of Israel

Candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a Democratic New York City mayoral primary debate, June 4, 2025, in New York, US. Photo: Yuki Iwamura/Pool via REUTERS

New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani believes the phrase “globalize the intifada” speaks to “a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.”  

Intercept writer Youssef Munayyer wrote, “By refusing to capitulate on ‘globalize the intifada,’ Mamdani rejected a long tradition of demonizing Arabic language.” 

The problem is that the actual intifada Israel experienced 20 years ago meant suicide bombings and destruction. Moreover, it was not a desire for equality, but an attempt to wipe out the state of Israel.

Indeed, the original meaning of the “Nakba” was the catastrophe of having any Jewish state on what were perceived to be Arab lands. This is why the Arab population in Mandatory Palestine and all the surrounding Arab states rejected any compromise, even the 1936 British proposal for a Jewish state on only 12 percent of the Palestine mandate; and it is the reason why the vast majority of people in Arab states still reject the existence of Israel.

American Jews, particularly those on college campuses, are experiencing the true meaning of “globalize the intifada.” It promotes the use of aggressive legal and extralegal tactics to confront Jews and Jewish institutions. It means harassing Jews whenever possible, including disrupting their events, their dining, their social relations through doxxing, and vandalizing Jewish property. It often includes physical violence, and also includes deadly actions, like in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Colorado. While Mamdani publicly deplores these killings, he is quite comfortable with the personal harassment and the other “nonviolent” and often illegal activities.

Mamdani rejects Israel because he claims it favors Jews over its Arab citizens. Zionism has certainly meant that Israel has exclusively Jewish national symbols and grants citizenship to any Diaspora Jew who immigrates. In contrast, descendants of Arabs who were displaced during the 1948 war (which they started) are not allowed to return. However, Arab and Jewish citizens in Israel are treated equally.  

Despite having a Jewish majority, a considerable Arab population will always remain in Palestine. If things fare badly for this group of inhabitants, then things will fare badly for the entire country. The political, economic, and cultural welfare of the Arabs will thus always remain one of the main conditions for the well-being of the Land of Israel.

Thanks to aggressive and persistent affirmative action programs over the last 20 years, Arab citizens have been substantially integrated into the fabric of the country, especially in the medical and hi-tech areas. They are members of the Supreme Court and were part of the ruling coalition in the previous administration. They are senior officials in the Israeli police and in hospitals throughout the country, and Arab Nazareth is a high-tech hub.

This has led Arab citizens to become closer to the state, especially after the beginning of the Gaza War. Immediately after the October 7th slaughter, Arab leaders publicly voiced their sympathies with the Jewish victims – and when the war began, they volunteered to aid the war effort. In the mixed cities, there was Jewish-Arab unity rather than the violence that was experienced during the 2021 Gaza War. 

 A May 2024 survey found “just over half of Arab Israelis (51.6%) felt that the prolonged war against Hamas had given rise to a sense of ‘shared destiny’ between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel.” 

Of course, there are still significant gaps between Jewish and Arab citizens. However, Arab citizens are treated far more fairly in Israel than Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan. In Lebanon, all Palestinians are stateless and face severe restrictions, even those born there. 

A UNRWA report stated: “Palestine refugees in Lebanon are socially marginalized, have very limited civil, social, political, and economic rights, including restricted access to the government of Lebanon’s public health, educational and social services and face significant restrictions on their right to work and right to own property.”

In Jordan, close to one million Palestinian refugees are stateless, most have their origins in Gaza. “Despite having lived in the country for decades – and even being born there – Jordan hasn’t granted them citizenship,” reported Shirin Jaafari. 

Palestinian refugees suffer deprivations because of political priorities. Rula Alhroob, a former member of the Jordanian Parliament and chairwoman of the human rights committee, said her advocacy for extending benefits to Palestinian refugees was met with fierce opposition within the government. They didn’t want to help Palestinians by giving those people access to all types of activities and normal living  – because they wanted them to eventually leave the land.

In 2023, the UN Human Rights Commission demanded that the right-of-return should continue to be given priority. Political scientist Nour Cherif contends, “The romanticised memories of exile and life before the Nakba are transmitted to future generations, who, although they no longer recognize themselves in these testimonies, use them as a driving force to claim the right of return.”

Mamdani, however, puts the blame entirely on Israel – and refuses to blame any other countries, or the Arab residents of the territory (and all the surrounding Arab states) that started the war in 1948 in an attempt to eliminate Israel. 

There are many other reasons to reject Mamdani, but his support for “globalizing the intifada” is certainly one of them.

Robert Cherry is an American Enterprise Institute affiliate and author of the forthcoming book, Arab Citizens of Israel: How Far Have They Come? (Wicked Son Press, Fall 2025).

The post What Mamdani Gets Wrong About Arab Citizens of Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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French Authorities Replant Memorial Olive Tree and Launch Seventh Ilan Halimi Award

A crowd gathers at the Jardin Ilan Halimi in Paris on Feb. 14, 2021, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Halimi’s kidnapping and murder. Photo: Reuters/Xose Bouzas/Hans Lucas

French authorities planted a new olive tree on Wednesday to honor Ilan Halimi, nearly a decade after the young French Jewish man was tortured to death and two weeks after a previous commemorative tree was cut down.

Hervé Chevreau, mayor of the norther Paris suburb Épinay, announced that several olive trees will be replanted in Halimi’s memory, praising “a remarkable outpouring of solidarity” reflected in the donations.

With a commemorative ceremony on Wednesday, the first olive tree will be planted in Saint-Ouen, a northern suburb of Paris in the Île-de-France region.

“In the context of rising antisemitic acts, the community aims to reaffirm its steadfast commitment against hatred, forgetfulness, and indifference,” Chevreau said in a statement. “This gesture of reflection and resilience responds to the serious act of vandalism in Épinay-sur-Seine, where the commemorative tree was deliberately cut down.”

Halimi was abducted, held captive, and tortured in January 2006 by a gang of about 20 people in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux.

Three weeks later, he was found in Essonne, south of Paris, naked, gagged, and handcuffed, with clear signs of torture and burns. The 23-year-old died on the way to the hospital.

In 2011, an olive tree was planted in Halimi’s memory. Earlier this month, the memorial was found felled — probably with a chainsaw — in Epinay-sur-Seine.

Halimi’s memory has faced attacks before, with two other trees planted in his honor vandalized in 2019 in Essonne.

During Wednesday’s ceremony, numerous prominent figures attended, including France’s Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia, Yonathan Arfi, President of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), Labor Minister Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, and Minister for Gender Equality and the Fight Against Discrimination Aurore Bergé.

At the event, Bergé announced the launch of the seventh edition of the Ilan Halimi Award, marking 20 years since his disappearance.

Established in 2018, the award seeks to fight racism and antisemitism by inspiring young people to take action.

Since then, French authorities have annually recognized projects led by young people aged 13 to 25 from schools, universities, associations, and civic or integration programs.

“The launch of the 2026 edition of the Ilan Halimi Award in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois is more than an act of remembrance — it is a pledge to the future,” Bergé said during the ceremony.

Last week, two 19-year-old Tunisian twin brothers, undocumented and with prior convictions for theft and violence, were arrested in France for allegedly vandalizing and cutting down Halimi’s memorial.

Both brothers appeared in criminal court and were remanded in custody pending their trial, scheduled for Oct. 22.

They will face trial on charges of “aggravated destruction of property” and “desecration of a monument dedicated to the memory of the dead on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion,” offenses that, according to prosecutors, carry a sentence of up to two years in prison.

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After Deadly Firebombing, Boulder Jews Forced to Hide Weekly Hostage March Due to Escalating Harassment

Boulder attack suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman poses for a jail booking photograph after his arrest in Boulder, Colorado, US, June 2, 2025. Photo: Boulder Police Department/Handout via REUTERS

A group of Jewish activists advocating for the Israeli hostages still held captive by Hamas terrorists in Gaza has announced plans to cease publicizing planned demonstrations and increase security in response to continued community intimidation in the months following a June 1 Molotov cocktail attack that left one person dead and 13 injured.

The group Run for Their Lives includes more than 230 chapters globally, and the one based in Boulder will now take extra measures to protect participants since the attack, for which authorities have charged alleged assailant Mohamed Sabry Soliman, which has in turn provoked further opposition.

Videos reviewed by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) show anti-Israel demonstrators calling event attendees “Nazi,” “racist,” and “genocidal c**t.”

A local politician running for city council has also demonized the hostage supporters.

CBS Colorado reported that Aaron Stone allegedly called Rachel Amaru, the chapter’s Jewish founder, a “Nazi,” a slur he defended as “a very strong word to use.” He further said that in looking at Amaru he was “not seeing a Jewish person” but rather “someone who is walking down the street talking about 20 hostages and ignoring the two million Palestinian hostages that are being kept in Gaza.”

Brandon Rattiner, senior director of the local Jewish Community Relations Council, said in a statement that “participants are facing a level of harassment that makes it impossible to continue safely in public view.”

Stefanie Clarke, who serves as co-executive director of Stop Antisemitism Colorado, added in a statement that “it is unacceptable that less than three months after a deadly antisemitic attack, Jews in Boulder are once again being forced into hiding.”

Clarke stated that “we will not be intimidated, and we will not be driven out of public spaces where we should feel safe. The fact that someone seeking a seat on City Council is at the center of this harassment should be cause for alarm. Boulder cannot claim to be a city of inclusion and justice while giving a platform to Jew hate.”

The mountain states regional branch of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released its own statement in support of the pro-Israel activists.

“We stand in firm solidarity with the Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives following their difficult decision to no longer publicly disclose the location of their events,” the organization said. “It is deeply unfortunate that after enduring the horrific June 1 firebomb attack that resulted in the death of a community member, participants now face such persistent harassment that they must keep their gatherings secret to simply stay safe.”

On July 15, Soliman, who pleaded not guilty, waved his right to a preliminary hearing in a case where the 150 state charges and 12 federal charges include murder and attempted murder. He will see a judge on Tuesday for a scheduled arraignment and faces life imprisonment if convicted.

Prosecutors say that Soliman, an Egyptian who came to the United States on a B-2 Tourist Visa in August 2022, told police that “he wanted to kill all Zionist people” and that he sought to murder 20 of the demonstrators. A note found in his car read “Zionism is our enemies untill [sic] Jerusalem is liberated and they are expelled from our land.”

Soliman also reportedly said that he had planned the attack for a year and planned it for after his daughter’s graduation. Federal officials sought to deport Soliman’s family; however, a judge blocked that effort.

“This is a proper end to an absurd legal effort on the plaintiff’s part. Just like her terrorist husband, she and her children are here illegally and are rightfully in ICE [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement] custody for removal as a result,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement. “This terrorist will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it.”

In August, the ADL released a report ranking Colorado — which contains approximately 110,400 Jewish residents, accounting for 1.9 percent of the population — as eighth in the country for combating antisemitism.

“I am thrilled that the Anti-Defamation League has recognized Colorado as a national leader in fighting antisemitism, but there is much more to do,” the state’s governor Jared Polis said at the time. “Such hate and violence have no place in our Colorado for All, and that is why Colorado is leading the way to combat these trends and protect Coloradans’ right to worship how you want, making Colorado safer.”

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Lead Writer of Upcoming DC Comics Series Celebrated Oct. 7 Massacre in Resurfaced Social Media Posts

Gretchen Felker-Martin joins a virtual discussion from home

Gretchen Felker-Martin joins a virtual discussion from home. Photo: Screenshot

Gretchen Felker-Martin, an author and film critic who was recently announced as lead writer of the upcoming DC Comics series “Red Hood,” has an extensive history of endorsing terrorist acts and defending the murder of Jews and Israelis, according to a review of the writer’s social media posts. 

In the posts — screenshots of which circulated on X/Twitter and other platforms this week — Felker-Martin appeared to praise Osama bin Laden for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US and expressed support for Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.

During the Oct. 7 onslaught, as Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages in the deadliest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, Felker-Martin argued that Israeli civilians are “settlers” and an “occupying force whose daily lives serve to grind out the hope, culture, and memory of those they oppress.” She also seemingly defended Hamas’s murdering of Israeli babies, saying that Israel is an “imperialist nightmare” and that Hamas is trying to “survive their rule by any means necessary.”

Hamas is designated by several countries as a terrorist organization.

“You cannot subject human beings to brutal conditions under which no hope for a meaningful future exists and then blame them for violent action taken to correct this state. Free Palestine,” she wrote on Oct. 7. 

Later that month, Felker-Martin wrote that “Zionism is full-fledged Nazism and has accrued mainstream support throughout the west because of that, not in spite of it.”

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As the ensuing war in Gaza continued in the months ahead, Felker-Martin sharpened her criticisms of Israel, condemning Zionists as “crazy” and comparing them to “slime.” The writer also lambasted Neil Druckmann, the Israeli creator of the popular “The Last of Us” video game series, for being a “Zionist.” She encouraged fellow progressives not to support then-US Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, condemning Harris for not “moving an inch on the genocide.” She also falsely accused Israel of inflicting a “famine” in Gaza and repudiated actress Hailee Steinfeld as a “Zionist piece of s**t.” Steinfeld has seemingly not made public statements about Israel but came under fire from leftists after she visited the Jewish state with family in 2019 for a party. 

Felker-Martin separately defended Osama bin Laden’s role in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, writing that “blowing up the World Trade Center is probably the most principled and defensible thing he ever did.”

Jewish organizations and antisemitism watchdog groups quickly condemned the remarks. StandWithUs, a nonpartisan pro-Israel organization, urged DC Comics to reconsider hiring Felker-Martin, citing her inflammatory and offensive commentary.

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