New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism over remarks he made in which he avoided denouncing the phrase “globalize the intifada” and made a comparison of it to the Warsaw ghetto uprising during the Holocaust. 

Mamdani appeared for an interview with The Bulwark, which was released on Tuesday, in which host Tim Miller asked him for his thoughts on the phrase, which has evoked strong emotions on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

Many pro-Palestinian activists have said the phrase refers to Palestinians fighting for their own rights and opposing Israeli occupation, while pro-Israel activists and many Jewish people view the phrase as calling for a global uprising to commit violence against Zionists, who support Israel’s existence, and Jews more broadly. 

“To me, ultimately, what I hear in so many is a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights,” he said in comments first reported by Jewish Insider. “And 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.” 

Mamdani seemed to refer to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. 

But the museum issued a rare statement weighing in on a political issue on Wednesday, denouncing Mamdani’s comparison. 

“Exploiting the Museum and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising to sanitize ‘globalize the intifada’ is outrageous and especially offensive to survivors,” the museum said in a post on X. “Since 1987 Jews have been attacked and murdered under its banner. All leaders must condemn its use and the abuse of history.” 

Intifada is an Arabic word literally meaning uprising, but many associate it with the First Intifada in the 1980s and 1990s and the Second Intifada in the early 2000s, during which Palestinians in the Palestinian territories and Israel took part in an uprising leading to significant violence in the area.

But pro-Palestinian activists maintain they only use the phrase to refer to Palestinian liberation. 

The Warsaw Ghetto uprising took place during World War II when Jews in German-occupied Poland pushed back against the Nazis and some escaped. 

Mamdani responded to the criticism he’s faced in comments at a press conference on Wednesday, saying, “There’s no room for antisemitism in this city and this country.” The conference was initially held to announce former mayoral candidate Maya Wiley’s endorsement of Mamdani’s campaign. 

“It pains me to be called an antisemite. It pains me to be painted as I’m somehow in opposition to the very Jewish New Yorkers that I know and love and that are such a key part of this city,” he said. 

Throughout the campaign, Mamdani has faced criticism over his stances on Israel and accusations of antisemitism over some public statements he’s made. He’s been a sharp critic of Israel’s war in Gaza and was challenged earlier this month over his unwillingness to say definitively that he supports Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. 

“I support Israel’s right to exist as a state with equal rights,” he said in a local media interview. “Because I’m not comfortable supporting any state that has a hierarchy of citizenship on the basis of religion or anything else. Equality should be enshrined in every county in the world.” 

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is the front-runner in the race, slammed Mamdani for saying the phrase about the intifada is “subject to interpretation.” He called on all mayoral candidates to denounce the comment. 

“That is not only wrong – it is dangerous,” he said in a post on X. “At a time when we are seeing antisemitism on the rise and in fact witnessing once again violence against Jews resulting in their deaths in Washington DC or their burning in Denver – we know all too well that words matter. They fuel hate. They fuel murder. As the US Holocaust Museum so aptly said, all leaders or those running for office must condemn the use of this battle cry. There are no two sides here.” 

During the press conference, he also referred to his own status as a Muslim political candidate and messages of hate he’s received over it. 

“I get messages that say, ‘The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim.’ I get threats on my life, on the people that I love, and I try not to talk about it,” he said, adding he wants to focus on making the city more affordable and one that “every New Yorker sees themselves in.” 

“The thing that’s made me proudest in this campaign is that the strength of our movement is built on our ability to build something across Jewish and Muslim communities, across New Yorkers of all faiths and all backgrounds and all boroughs,” Mamdani said. 

He addressed attacks he’s received from other candidates over this issue, arguing it’s been a political tool rather than a genuine attack. 

“Antisemitism is such a real issue in this city, and it’s been hard to see it weaponized by candidates who do not have any sincere interest in tackling but rather in using it as a pretext to make political points,” he said.