Globalize the intifada

"Globalize the intifada" is a slogan that has been used to advocate for international support of Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation, as well as other issues that people see as tied to the Palestinian cause. The Arabic word intifada (Arabic: اِنْتِفَاضَة intifāḍa) means 'a shaking off' and can refer to a popular uprising or rebellion. In the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, intifada refers to Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation or Israel, including both violent and nonviolent methods of resistance. It refers especially to the First Intifada (1987–1993) and the Second Intifada (2000–2005).[1][2][3]

The slogan has been criticized by some scholars, politicians, and Jewish groups as inciting political violence, terrorism, and antisemitism.[4][5][6] These critics argue that the phrase is closely associated with violence against Israelis and Jews, particularly the Second Intifada.[7][8] During the Gaza war, allegations of antisemitism related to Gaza solidarity protests at universities focused on use of the phrase, along with others such as "from the river to the sea." In the aftermath of the 2025 Bondi Beach shooting targeting a Hanukkah event, a number of opinion articles claimed a connection between the phrase and the shooting, and some police departments arrested people for using it.

Intifada

Main article: intifada
See also: First Palestinian Intifada and Second Palestinian Intifada
This section is an excerpt from Intifada.

Morphology

The word intifāḍa (Arabic: اِنْتِفَاضَة) is an Arabic verbal noun (مصدر, maṣdar) of instance (اسم مرة, ism marra) of the verb intafaḍa (اِنْتَفَضَ), derived from the triconsonantal Semitic root n-f-ḍ (ن-ف-ض) related to shaking (off), dusting (off), and making something shiver.[9]: 1157  The verb's form is reflexive (اِفْتَعَلَ, iftaʿala), which is referred to in Western sources as "form VIII".[9]: 1157 

Meaning

The Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic gives the meaning of intafaḍa (انتفض) as: "to be shaken off, be dusted off; to shake; to shudder, shiver, tremble; to shake off from oneself; to wake up, come to consciousness", as in "انتفض من سباته to shake off one's lethargy," and of its verbal noun انتفاضة intifāḍa (pl. انتفاضات intifāḍāt) as a "shiver, shudder, tremor; awakening (pol.); popular uprising."[9]: 1157 

In the context of Palestine, the word intifada refers to attempts to "shake off" the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the First and Second Intifadas.[10][11] The term was originally chosen to signify "aggressive nonviolent resistance";[12] in the 1980s, Palestinian students adopted intifada as less confrontational than terms in earlier militant rhetoric since it bore no connotation of violence.[13]

The First Intifada lasted from 1987 to 1993. The Second Intifada started with the October 2000 protests in Israel and continued until 2005. The term Third intifada has been variously used to describe 2014 Jerusalem unrest, the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, the Gaza war, and other events.

Usage

The slogan "globalize the intifada" has been used as a chant in various anti-Zionist protests, along with variations like "there is only one solution, intifada revolution" and "intifada until victory".[14][15][16] According to users of the slogan, it was chosen as a rallying cry for resistance against what they see as "colonial violence and oppression".[17] The slogan has been frequently used by Jewish Voice for Peace.[18]

In April 2002, a conference titled "Global Intifada: Globalization, US Militarism, and the Struggle for Justice in Palestine" was held at American University in Washington, D.C., United States discussing concerns about racial justice and United States involvement in the Middle East, including the Second Intifada and the Iraqi conflict.[19][20] Antiwar protestors and speakers at a rally following the conference used the phrase "globalize the intifada."[20] During a G8 forum in June 2002, protestors in Calgary, Canada used the phrase "G8 says nada. We say global intifada."[20] At the August 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, protestors called for imprisoned Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti to be released and used the phrase "globalize the intifada against imperialism."[20]

According to the Combat Antisemitism Movement, a 2021 activism campaign based in New York City, with groups such as Within Our Lifetime, Samidoun, and Decolonize This Place, and later Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, CODEPINK, the Palestinian Youth Movement, The People’s Forum, Al-Awda, and the ANSWER Coalition, helped to popularize the phrase.[21]

During the Gaza war

Further information: Gaza war, Gaza genocide, Gaza war protests, and Antisemitism during the Gaza war

During the Gaza war, allegations of antisemitism related to Gaza solidarity protests at universities focused on use of the phrase, along with other such as "from the river to the sea."[22][23] In Congressional hearings on campus antisemitism, Representative Elise Stefanik of the US House Committee on Education and Workforce characterized calls for intifada as genocidal and antisemitic.[24][25][26] Several people have rejected these characterizations, including journalist Daoud Kuttab,[27] academics Seth Cantey,[28] Zinaida Miller[29] and Seth Mandery and others.[30]

Soon after the October 7 attacks in 2023, pro-Palestinian protesters chanted slogans including "globalize the intifada" near a Cooper Union library, sparking accusations of antisemitism from New York City and national leaders, including New York City mayor Eric Adams.[31][32] It has been used as a denunciation of Israel's actions during the Gaza war.[33][34]

In November 2023, the pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime, which supported the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel,[35] posted to Instagram a map of Midtown Manhattan with the headline "Globalize the Intifada". The map contained annotations for locations of Israeli and American companies, along with other points of interest, calling them "location[s] of an office of an enemy of both the Palestinian people and colonized people all over the world", implying they are legitimate targets. The post was condemned by elected officials in New York City and by Jewish groups as "a dangerous and abhorrent incitement to violence and poses a direct threat to New York’s Jewish communities."[36]

In December 2023, London police arrested nine individuals for use of banners utilizing the slogan under the Public Order Act 1986.[37] In May 2024, a similar slogan—"Intifada, Revolution!"—was used by pro-Palestinian protesters in central London, prompting an investigation by the Met Police.[38]

In 2025, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was asked about the phrase in an interview; he described it as a symbolic call for Palestinian human rights, not for violence or antisemitism.[39] He said the word "intifada" had been used by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Arabic translations referring to Jewish resistance in German-occupied Europe.[39][40][41] The USHMM repudiated any invocation of Jewish resistance in WWII to justify the slogan,[40] and Mamdani's statements were condemned by Jewish public figures, including US representative Dan Goldman, American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch, Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League, former World Jewish Congress vice president Marc Schneier, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, and The Atlantic columnist Jonathan Chait.[42][41][40][43] In a subsequent interview, Mamdani said that although he did not use the phrase, he did not want to police language.[44]

2025 Bondi Beach shooting

In the aftermath of the 2025 Bondi Beach shooting, in which several people attending a Jewish Hanukkah event were killed by individuals linked to the Islamic State, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal published op-eds connecting the phrase to the attack.[45][46] The Forward published an op-ed noting that ISIS and Hamas are in fact enemies; ISIS opposes a Palestinian state and has historically focused on armed conflict with Syria rather than with Israel. The author stated: "ISIS has no interest in the Intifada, globalized or otherwise."[47]

Following the shooting, Greater Manchester Police and the London Metropolitan Police announced that they would begin arresting anyone who chanted the phrase at protests, despite longstanding legal advice that it was not a criminal offense.[48] In a joint statement, they said: "... violent acts have taken place, the context has changed, words have meaning and consequence," referring to both the Bondi Beach attack in Australia and the earlier Manchester synagogue attack.[49][50] In response, Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal said attempts to criminalise it were "political repression... 'Intifada' means shaking off or uprising against injustice."[51] On December 17, 2025, two people were arrested in London for allegedly shouting "slogans involving calls for intifada," according to the police.[49]

Following the Bondi Beach shooting, the New South Wales state government proposed legislation to ban public chants and displays of "globalise the intifada," treating it alongside banned extremist symbols. Chris Minns, the Premier of New South Wales, described the slogan as hate speech that encourages violence.[52] Tougher hate speech laws are to being proposed in Australia and the United Kingdom, including a proposed ban on the slogan. The proposition in the United Kingdom also came shortly after police arrested two people in London on racially aggravated public order charges for allegedly shouting the word or phrase "intifada" at a pro-Palestinian protest.[53][54]

In February 2026, Queensland also proposed to ban the slogan. In addition they proposed to ban the slogan "from the river to the sea". If the legislation is passed, anyone found using or displaying either slogan face penalties of up to two years in jail.[55] The Queensland legislation passed into law on 5 March 2026.[56] The LNP and the KAP voted for it, while Labor and the Greens voted against it.[57]

Becoming the first state in Australia to outlaw the slogan.

Reception

Opposition

According to The Sunday Telegraph, the phrase has been associated with incitement of violence against Jewish communities.[14] Both the Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee interpret the slogan as endorsing acts of terrorism and indiscriminate violence against Israelis and Jews worldwide.[58][59]

Antisemitism scholar David Hirsh and freedom of religion scholar Hilary Miller wrote in 2022 that the slogan "cements a fantasy of Israel as being symbolic of all evil and it raises a fantasy of the Palestinian struggle as a universal symbol of the innocence and courage of all those who suffer."[60] Middle East scholars Jason Olson, Moran Zaga, and David Benger identified the slogan's ubiquity as an example of support for Hamas on American college campuses.[61] David E. Bernstein and David L. Bernstein cited the slogan's currency as a good example of the "striking indifference to the antisemitic ideology that animates Hamas" among progressive groups in the aftermath of the October 7th attacks. The authors write that the slogan "seems to suggest that the widespread terrorist violence of the Second Intifada should be visited upon Jews abroad", and question why participants in the chant who claim to be using "intifada" to mean "struggle" don't chant "globalize the struggle" instead.[62]

In October 2023, Matthew Foldi of The Spectator asserted that protesters using the slogan were supporters of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.[63] Some Jewish writers, including David Hazony, Zev Eleff, Ayal Feinberg and Nora Berman, have interpreted the use of the slogan not just as a challenge to Israel but as being a broader declaration of war against Jews, promoting antisemitism, and calling for violence instead of peace.[64][65][18] Following the 2023 death of Jewish-American Paul Kessler after a fatal altercation during dual pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protests, Prime Minister of Israel Yair Lapid criticized the slogan and argued the protests were inherently hateful of Jewish peoples.[66]

Defense

Others have also argued that calls for intifada are not inherently violent, arguing that the term "intifada" does not translate into genocide, being more correctly translated into "uprising".[27][67] Daniel Lefkowitz of the University of Virginia hypothesizes that, though Israelis and many Jews consider the term to be violent, Palestinians associate "Intifada" with the First Intifada, which was largely non-violent.[68] Some argue the target of "intifada" is the Israeli occupation with the goal of Palestinian independence.[27]

See also

References

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  2. ^ Beauchamp, Zack (2018-11-20). "What were the intifadas?". Vox. Archived from the original on 10 January 2024. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
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  10. ^ Ute Meinel, Die Intifada im Ölscheichtum Bahrain: Hintergründe des Aufbegehrens von 1994–1998, LIT Verlag Münster, 2003 p.10: 'Der Begriff der Intifada, der die Vorstellung eines legitimen Ausbebegehrens gegen Unterdrückung enthält, ist gegenwärtig ein Schlüsselbegriff in der arabischen Welt, von dem eine grosse emotionale Anziehungskraft ausgeht.' (transl. 'The concept of the Intifada, which contains the idea of a legitimate protest against oppression, is currently a key concept in the Arab world and has a great emotional appeal')
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  57. ^ [1]}
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  64. ^ Hazony, David (October–November 2023). "The War Against the Jews". Sapir Journal. The war is not only against Israel — it is against global Jewry. While the IDF regains the upper hand against Hamas and others in the coming weeks, we should expect our enemies to turn their wrath toward a more vulnerable target: the Diaspora. Listen to the chants of "Globalize the intifada!" This is what they mean.
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