Latest news with #PalestinianNationalism
CBS News
18-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Zohran Mamdani gets emotional while talking about being a Muslim running for NYC mayor
Democratic candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani got caught up in an emotional moment on the campaign trail Wednesday. The Queens assemblyman teared up as he talked about what it's like to be a Muslim running for mayor while in a dispute over his support for Palestinian nationalism. Read more: How and when to vote early in NYC mayoral primary election "I get threats on my life and on the people that I love" Mamdani walked down a Harlem street with former mayoral candidate Maya Wiley to announce her support for his campaign. However, the endorsement was quickly overshadowed by questions about comments Mamdani made on a podcast in which Jewish groups say he was equating the Holocaust with intifada. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the "intifada" as "uprising, rebellion," and, specifically, "an armed uprising of Palestinians against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip." It is derived from Arabic, where the dictionary says it means literally "the act of shaking off." In response to reporters' questions, Mamdani said being a Muslim seeking New York City's highest elected office has taken its toll on his private life. If he wins, he'd become the first person of that faith to hold the office. "I get messages that say things like the only good Muslim is a dead Muslim. I get threats on my life and on the people that I love and I try not to talk about it," Mamdani said. On the podcast, Mamdani was asked if the terms "globalize intifada" and "from the river to the sea" made him uncomfortable. "The very word has been used by the Holocaust museum when translating the Warsaw ghetto uprising," Mamdani said. "What I hear in so many is a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights." Criticism of Mamdani quickly followed The U.S. Holocaust Museum reacted to Mamdani, saying, "Exploiting the museum and the Warsaw ghetto uprising to sanitize 'globalize the intifada' is outrageous." Rabbi Marc Schneier called it, "a direct insult to survivors and the hundreds of thousands of Jewish New Yorkers who are the relatives of loved ones lost in the Shoah." According to CBS News New York's political reporter Marcia Kramer, Jewish voters are concerned that Mamdani's refusal to support Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's team wants to exploit that. Read more: How NYC's ranked choice voting works for the mayoral primary election Most polls show Cuomo and Mamdani locked in what appears to be a two-way battle, with Cuomo as the frontrunner. So each candidate is trying to mobilize votes in any way they can. Cuomo said that at a time of rising antisemitism, "We know all too well that words matter. They fuel hate. They fuel murder." And with polls showing the race tightening, Mamdani insisted he is intent on bringing everyone in the city together. "Antisemitism is such a real issue in the city, and it has been hard to see it weaponized by candidates," Mamdani said. The primary uses ranked-choice voting, with voters choosing up to five candidates in order of preference. The most recent Marist poll shows Cuomo as being the first choice pick with 40% of Jewish Democratic primary voters, compared to Mamdani's 20%. Final push on to get as many votes as possible Mamdani is clearly proud of being endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders. Those endorsements may be helping to get younger voters to the polls. Voters under the age of 44 account for 45% of the people who have so far cast ballots during early voting, Kramer reported. Early voting is currently underway. Primary Day is set for Tuesday.
Arab News
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Palestinian nationalism must be saved
When the foreign ministers of Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the UAE wanted to visit the Palestinian city of Ramallah last weekend, their goal was not a photo op in the city's Al-Manara Square. It was a clear show of support for Palestinian nationalism. As preparations for the June 17-20 Saudi-French high-level conference on the two-state solution in New York accelerate, Israel is intensifying its efforts to delegitimize Palestinian nationalism. Behind its campaign against Hamas lies a deeper strategy to deny Palestinians their inalienable right to self-determination. The Arab-Muslim ministerial visit to Ramallah was not simply about bolstering an unpopular Palestinian president. Its genuine purpose was to express solidarity with the Palestinian presidency. To be fair, President Mahmoud Abbas has undertaken modest reforms that deserve public support. While insufficient, these reforms should not be dismissed outright, especially not by an Israeli government that works relentlessly to undermine the very existence of the Palestinian Authority. Ironically, Israel transmitted its rejection of the visit by way of Hussein Al-Sheikh, the new Palestinian vice president, who has been a supporter of security cooperation with Israel. The Israelis are engaging in a one-way process in which they gain security cooperation while failing to reciprocate by respecting the very institution that is providing this cooperation. Unilateral Israeli attacks and permanent occupation of Palestinian refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarem and Nablus are not the way to encourage two-way cooperation. Behind Israel's campaign against Hamas lies a deeper strategy to deny Palestinians their inalienable right to self-determination. Daoud Kuttab Furthermore, Israel continues to withhold Palestinian tax revenues it collects under the Israel-Palestine Memorandum of Understanding. While this agreement, often referred to as the Oslo Accords, allowed a 3 percent administrative handling fee, Israel is legally obligated to transfer the remainder of the monies collected to the Palestinian government. Instead, it is unjustifiably holding 7 billion shekels, roughly $2 billion. President Abbas and his newly appointed deputy, Al-Sheikh, have bent over backward to address Israeli objections, including the unpopular cessation of stipends to families of prisoners and martyrs. But even this painful concession has not resulted in the release of funds. As a consequence, Palestinian public servants have been forced to accept a fraction of their salaries just ahead of the Eid Al-Adha holiday. The multifaceted Israeli campaign — against refugee camps, the Palestinian government and any role for Ramallah in postwar Gaza — is aimed at crippling, if not eradicating, the Palestinian national entity centered in Ramallah. Arab and Muslim leaders, along with the global community, must persist in upholding Palestinian national rights. Daoud Kuttab By the end of 2024, the state of Palestine had been recognized by 146 countries, with several others, including Western nations, preparing to follow suit. The international community must do far more to uphold Palestinian nationalism and the right of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem to live in freedom, free of occupation, settlements and colonial control. The plans for Arab and Muslim leaders, traveling by Jordanian military helicopter, to visit the Palestinian presidency in Ramallah were blocked by the Israeli occupying powers. This unprecedented move — targeting officials from countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Israel — was a grave insult to those who defied public opinion at home to sign peace treaties and normalize ties with Israel, even while it occupied Palestinian and Arab lands. The response should not be limited to a video call with Abbas. It must include intensified political and economic support for Palestine. Countries capable of investing trillions globally must step up to support the Palestinian people and critical UN agencies like UNRWA. The Palestinian leadership, for its part, must exceed the bare minimum reforms that are being asked of it. Abbas must lead the effort to reunite Palestinians under the Palestine Liberation Organization umbrella and renew his legitimacy through an inclusive process involving both Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and the diaspora. While national elections are essential, immediate steps can be taken to heal divisions and rebuild the Palestinian national movement. This will require compromise, including a strategic shift by armed factions from military struggle to unified political and popular resistance. Arab and Muslim leaders, along with the global community, must persist in upholding Palestinian national rights. The denial of the foreign ministers' entry to Ramallah should not be forgotten but rather serve as a reminder that this conflict did not begin in October 2023. And that the fate of detainees on both sides is not the only barrier to a just and lasting peace. Palestinian statehood is the most logical and lasting solution to the decades-long conflict in the Middle East.
