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Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mamdani doubling down on ‘intifada' comment as Mayor candidates vote early
NEW YORK (PIX11) – Candidate for Mayor and Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani is doubling down on his explanation of a term many Jewish New Yorkers view as a rallying cry to attack Jewish people. While casting his ballot in Astoria, Queens, Mamdani doubled down on his explanation of the term 'globalize the intifada.' More Local News It is a term many Jewish people, and even the U.S. Holocaust Museum, say is a rallying cry to kill Jews. Mamdani said he has heard those concerns and does not tolerate antisemitism. He said he would protect Jewish New Yorkers if elected Mayor and increase anti-crime funding. But Mamdani maintains the phrase continues to mean a struggle for basic human rights for Palestinians and many Muslims. 'I've been clear time and time again, there is no room for violence in the city and in the country,' Mamdani said. 'My point is not that this is language that I use… the meaning of these words have many different meanings to many different people.' Mamdani said former governor Andrew Cuomo and the billionaires backing his Super PAC have weaponized antisemitism in the closing days of the campaign. During a wide-ranging conversation with Cuomo, PIX 11's Henry Rosoff asked him about that. More Local News 'I have not said anything, these are his words,' Cuomo responded. 'Globalize the Intifada is a vulgar and brutal expression to the Jewish people.' Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, while casting his vote, Comptroller and Mayoral candidate Brad Lander—currently the highest-ranking Jewish city official—weighed in. Lander is standing by his cross-endorsement of Mamdani. 'We are not going to agree on everything Israel and Palestine, but I do believe he will protect Jewish New Yorkers and our rights,' Lander said. PIX 11's Henry Rosoff went one-on-one with former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is leading in the polls in the Democratic Primary for New York City Mayor. Cuomo was pressed on how he would rapidly build affordable housing, recent controversy around Zohran Mamdani's explanation of the term 'globalize the intifada,' the brief ICE detention of Comptroller Brad Lander, and a recent conversation he had with Governor Kathy Hochul. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mahmoud Khalil denied release from ICE after Trump administration's ‘cruel and shocking' tactics, lawyers say
After a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from imprisoning and deporting Mahmoud Khalil on one set of legal grounds, lawyers for the government now argue the prominent Columbia University student activist is being detained for an entirely different reason. On Friday morning, Khalil's legal team was preparing for his release from an immigration detention center in rural Louisiana, where he has been jailed for more than three months over the government's allegations that his Palestinian activism is a threat to foreign policy. But lawyers for the government now argue Khalil is being detained over allegations that he lied on immigration documents. District Judge Michael Farbiarz agreed to keep him in detention on those grounds, despite finding Khalil's ongoing detention unconstitutional just days earlier. 'Mahmoud Khalil was detained in retaliation for his advocacy for Palestinian rights,' Amy Greer, associate attorney at Dratel + Lewis and part of his legal team, said in a statement to The Independent. 'The government is now using cruel, transparent delay tactics to keep him away from his wife and newborn son ahead of their first Father's Day as a family,' Greer said. 'Instead of celebrating together, he is languishing in ICE detention as punishment for his advocacy on behalf of his fellow Palestinians,' she added. 'It is unjust, it is shocking, and it is disgraceful.' Khalil was accused of 'antisemitic activities' for his role as a Palestinian student activist against Israel's war in Gaza. Officials concede that he has not committed any crime, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio has sought to justify Khalil's arrest by invoking a rarely used law claiming that Khalil's presence in the United States undermines foreign policy interests of preventing antisemitism. But on June 11, Judge Farbiarz ruled that the administration had unconstitutionally wielded the law against Khalil, whose 'career and reputation are being damaged and his speech is being chilled,' the judge wrote. The government has 'little or no interest in applying the relevant underlying statutes in what is likely an unconstitutional way,' Farbiarz added. The judge said the government could not detain and deport him on those spurious legal grounds. He also said in his ruling that immigrants are rarely if ever imprisoned over alleged omissions in immigration documents. He even said an argument to keep Khalil over those allegations 'does not work.' The judge said it is Rubio's 'antisemitism' memo — not the immigration paperwork charges — that 'drives' Khalil's detention. But lawyers for the government on Friday claimed he was being detained over those paperwork allegations, which were not raised until more than a week after he was even arrested. The government has accused Khalil of omitting details about his work history from his green card application. Khalil disputes that he was employed by or served as an 'officer' of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, as the administration claims. He had completed an internship approved by the university as part of his graduate studies. Khalil's lawyers argue the Trump administration is only using those allegations as pretext to keep him detained if efforts to deport him for his activism were found to be unconstitutional. He will remain inside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana, for now. Khalil was stripped of his green card and arrested in front of his then-pregnant wife in their New York City apartment building on March 8. He was then sent to an ICE detention center in Louisiana, roughly 1,300 miles away from their home in New York. His wife Noor Abdalla gave birth to their son in April. They met for the first and only time before his immigration court hearing last month. Khalil and his legal team argue his arrest and detention — and attempted removal from the country, which is currently blocked by court order — are retaliatory violations of his First Amendment right to freedom of speech and his Fifth Amendment right to due process of law, among other claims. His arrest sparked international outrage over the Trump administration's attempts to crush dissent against Israel's devastating campaign in Gaza. Rubio has said he 'proudly' revoked hundreds of student visas over campus activism, leading to several high-profile arrests of international scholars.
The Independent
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Mahmoud Khalil denied release from ICE after Trump administration's ‘cruel and shocking' tactics, lawyers say
After a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from imprisoning and deporting Mahmoud Khalil on one set of legal grounds, lawyers for the government now argue the prominent Columbia University student activist is being detained for an entirely different reason. On Friday morning, Khalil's legal team was preparing for his release from an immigration detention center in rural Louisiana, where he has been jailed for more than three months over the government's allegations that his Palestinian activism is a threat to foreign policy. But lawyers for the government now argue Khalil is being detained over allegations that he lied on immigration documents. District Judge Michael Farbiarz agreed to keep him in detention on those grounds, despite finding Khalil's ongoing detention unconstitutional just days earlier. 'Mahmoud Khalil was detained in retaliation for his advocacy for Palestinian rights,' Amy Greer, associate attorney at Dratel + Lewis and part of his legal team, said in a statement to The Independent. 'The government is now using cruel, transparent delay tactics to keep him away from his wife and newborn son ahead of their first Father's Day as a family,' Greer said. 'Instead of celebrating together, he is languishing in ICE detention as punishment for his advocacy on behalf of his fellow Palestinians,' she added. 'It is unjust, it is shocking, and it is disgraceful.' Khalil was accused of 'antisemitic activities' for his role as a Palestinian student activist against Israel's war in Gaza. Officials concede that he has not committed any crime, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio has sought to justify Khalil's arrest by invoking a rarely used law claiming that Khalil's presence in the United States undermines foreign policy interests of preventing antisemitism. But on June 11, Judge Farbiarz ruled that the administration had unconstitutionally wielded the law against Khalil, whose 'career and reputation are being damaged and his speech is being chilled,' the judge wrote. The government has 'little or no interest in applying the relevant underlying statutes in what is likely an unconstitutional way,' Farbiarz added. The judge said the government could not detain and deport him on those spurious legal grounds. He also said in his ruling that immigrants are rarely if ever imprisoned over alleged omissions in immigration documents. He even said an argument to keep Khalil over those allegations 'does not work.' The judge said it is Rubio's 'antisemitism' memo — not the immigration paperwork charges — that 'drives' Khalil's detention. But lawyers for the government on Friday claimed he was being detained over those paperwork allegations, which were not raised until more than a week after he was even arrested. The government has accused Khalil of omitting details about his work history from his green card application. Khalil disputes that he was employed by or served as an 'officer' of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, as the administration claims. He had completed an internship approved by the university as part of his graduate studies. Khalil's lawyers argue the Trump administration is only using those allegations as pretext to keep him detained if efforts to deport him for his activism were found to be unconstitutional. He will remain inside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana, for now. Khalil was stripped of his green card and arrested in front of his then-pregnant wife in their New York City apartment building on March 8. He was then sent to an ICE detention center in Louisiana, roughly 1,300 miles away from their home in New York. His wife Noor Abdalla gave birth to their son in April. They met for the first and only time before his immigration court hearing last month. Khalil and his legal team argue his arrest and detention — and attempted removal from the country, which is currently blocked by court order — are retaliatory violations of his First Amendment right to freedom of speech and his Fifth Amendment right to due process of law, among other claims. His arrest sparked international outrage over the Trump administration's attempts to crush dissent against Israel's devastating campaign in Gaza. Rubio has said he 'proudly' revoked hundreds of student visas over campus activism, leading to several high-profile arrests of international scholars.
Al Jazeera
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Israel deports six from Gaza aid boat Madleen, two more still in custody
Palestinian rights group Adalah has confirmed Israel's deportation of six more activists detained on board the Madleen aid ship as they sought to draw international attention to Israel's illegal blockade of Gaza. The rights group, which legally represented the 12 passengers who were seized by Israeli forces in the eastern Mediterranean earlier this week, said on Thursday that the six detainees – two French citizens, including Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, and nationals of Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands and Turkiye – had departed Israel. Another two French nationals remain in Israeli custody awaiting deportation on Friday, Adalah told the news agency AFP. 'While in custody, volunteers were subjected to mistreatment, punitive measures and aggressive treatment, and two volunteers were held for some period of time in solitary confinement,' said Adalah. Hassan, a French-Palestinian member of the European Parliament, had previously been barred from entering Israel and the Palestinian territory, due to her support for boycotts of the country in light of Israel's occupation of Palestinian land. Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which had dismissed the aid boat as a 'selfie yacht', posted a photo of Hassan on what appeared to be an aeroplane, confirming the deportation of the six passengers. Four of the ship's passengers, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and Al Jazeera Mubasher reporter Omar Faiad, were deported on Tuesday. On Thursday, Hassan's X account featured a post, calling on supporters to assemble in Place de la Republique in Paris, where protests calling for the release of the passengers still in Israeli detention and a lifting of the Gaza blockade had been held earlier in the week. German citizen Yasemin Acar was also among Thursday's deportees. A video circulating online showed her saying that she had arrived in Germany. 'I just arrived in Germany. I am safe. But one thing is very clear: The siege of Gaza is still ongoing. The illegal blockade is still ongoing. People are still starving.' 'The only reason I did this, as a German citizen, is because my country, the very ground that I'm standing on, is not doing what they're supposed to do. They're sending more weapons … We need to stop this. We need to hold our politicians accountable for the genocide, for the starvation, for the killing of children, thousands of men and women. We will not stop.' All 12 people on board the Madleen have been banned from Israel for 100 years. The United Nations has warned that Gaza's entire population faces 'catastrophic hunger' following nearly two years of war and over two months in which Israel has been blocking or heavily restricting the entry of food and other essential supplies. Following an 11-week total blockade from March to May, Israel set up a new aid programme replacing existing networks run by the United Nations and charities, run by the shadowy US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). However, the sporadic distribution of supplies to Palestinians has been marred by repeated shootings, with more than 220 aid seekers killed by Israeli forces in the two weeks since the GHF began operations, according to the health authorities. On Thursday alone, at least 26 aid seekers were killed in Israeli drone attacks. Israeli forces seized the Madleen and detained its crew early on Monday, about 100 nautical miles (185km) off the coast of Gaza, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group that organised the journey. The vessel, accompanied by Israel's navy, arrived in the Israeli port of Ashdod on Monday evening, according to the Foreign Ministry. It was carrying humanitarian aid, including rice and baby formula, to Gaza, in a bid to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis.
Al Bawaba
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
Egypt rebuffs Israeli pressure, reaffirms support for Gaza as aid Convoy advances
Published June 11th, 2025 - 05:36 GMT The Soumoud convoy, comprised of over 100 vehicles and thousands of volunteers from Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Egypt, began its journey on Monday. ALBAWABA- In response to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz's call for Egypt to block protesters and prevent a North African aid convoy from reaching Gaza, Egypt has firmly reiterated its commitment to Palestinian rights and its own sovereign guidelines for border access. Also Read Israeli assaults kill 80, wound hundreds in Gaza since morning The Israeli minister reportedly instructed the army to prevent the entry of the large grassroots convoy, known as Soumoud, Arabic for "steadfastness", which departed from Tunis earlier this week intending to reach the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid and protest the Israeli blockade. In a detailed statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry rejected external pressure and emphasized its consistent position against the ongoing Israeli siege and aggression in Gaza. 'Egypt welcomes international and regional positions that support Palestinian rights and reject the siege, starvation, and systematic Israeli violations,' the statement read. It reaffirmed Cairo's efforts to end the assault on Gaza and alleviate the suffering of over two million Palestinians. ⚡️🇪🇬BREAKING: Statement by Egypt's MFA:'Regulatory Guidelines for Visiting the Border Area Adjacent to the Gaza Strip The Arab Republic of Egypt welcomes international and regional—official and popular—positions supporting Palestinian rights and rejecting the siege,… — Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) June 11, 2025 However, Egypt underscored the need for foreign delegations, governmental or otherwise, wishing to visit border areas like Arish or the Rafah crossing to follow formal regulatory procedures. These include prior coordination through Egyptian embassies or foreign diplomatic missions in Cairo. Also Read Tunisian pro-Palestine convoy departs for Gaza on land Egypt clarified, 'These guidelines exist to ensure the safety of all visitors given the sensitive and volatile conditions near the Gaza border.' The ministry stressed that any uncoordinated attempts to access these areas would not be recognized or allowed. The Soumoud convoy, comprised of over 100 vehicles and thousands of volunteers from Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Egypt, began its journey on Monday. The convoy aims to cross into Gaza via Egypt's Rafah crossing after traveling through Libya and into Cairo. Organizers say their mission is both humanitarian and symbolic, drawing international attention to Gaza's blockade while delivering life-saving supplies. © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
