‘Global intifada’ – Thousands march at New York anti-Israel rally

Former Columbia student Mohammed Khalil received a hero’s welcome at the march after recently downplaying the Oct. 7 massacres in a podcast interview.

By World Israel News Staff

Thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators rallied in Manhattan on Saturday afternoon, calling for a “global intifada” — a phrase widely understood to mean the destruction of Israel and mass violence against Jews worldwide.

Protesters carried signs reading “Free Palestine” and “Defeat imperialist/Zionist genocidal war-makers” as they marched through Bryant Park in New York City.

The rally was organized by several far-left and anti-Israel groups, including the ANSWER Coalition, the Democratic Socialists of America, CodePink, the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

One of the most celebrated speakers was Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student who previously organized anti-Israel protests on campus that included harassment and physical violence against Jewish students and staff.

Khalil, a Syrian national, was arrested by immigration officials at the request of the Trump administration, who argued his role in violent unrest violated the terms of his student visa. He was detained for some three months before a judge ordered his release in June.

Addressing the Manhattan rally, Khalil accused Israel of “systematically and deliberately” destroying Gaza. “And they’re doing it with American bombs, with American cover, with American tax money — your money,” he told cheering demonstrators.

Khalil downplayed the October 7th Hamas massacres in a recent podcast interview, and dismissed Jewish students’ fears after a surge of antisemitism on American campuses.

Speaking to the crowd, Brian Becker, director of the radical ANSWER Coalition, told the crowd that “the US government is standing with the fascist regime in Tel Aviv, but we, the American people, stand with you, the Palestinian people.”

Becker added that “they’re in Wall Street, they’re in the White House, they’re in the center of imperialism.”