Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Rudy Yakym (R-Ind.) introduced a bipartisan resolution on Thursday condemning the use of the phrase “globalize the intifada.” The resolution clarifies this as a “call to violence against Israeli and Jewish people across the world,” and urges national, state and local leaders to ban it.
“There should be no ambiguity—‘globalize the intifada’ is hate speech, plain and simple,” said Gottheimer. “‘The intifada’ refers to a horrific wave of terror attacks that killed thousands of Jews. Globalizing it is a direct call for violence against Jews, and it must be condemned.”
He added that “words like these incite violence, fuel hate and put Jewish families at risk. At a time when antisemitic violence is at record highs, we must stand united to condemn this antisemitic hate speech and take meaningful action to combat rising Jew-hatred.”
The Anti-Defamation League reported a sharp rise in antisemitism during 2024, including a 21% increase in assaults on Jewish people. The resolution cites the ADL’s report as well as other recent instances of antisemitism, including the June 1 firebombing in Boulder, Colo., which injured eight and led to the death of an elderly woman, and the deadly May 21 shooting of two young Israeli embassy workers outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C.
“There are no two sides about the meaning of this slogan,” said Yakym. “Condemning it should be common sense, but some would rather play politics than tell the truth. The violence and hatred directed at Jewish and Israeli people is reprehensible. No one, especially in America, should have to live in fear for their safety, or even their life, because of their religion or ethnicity.”
New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has drawn a significant backlash for stating that the phrase is a legitimate expression of Palestinian rights, later defending it by claiming that the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum used the word “intifada” to describe those Jews fighting for their lives in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in the spring of 1943.
