International
Globalizing intifada is the same as globalizing jihad: Hussain Ehsani

From the MacDonald Laurier Institute
By Hussain Ehsani
Canadian authorities must realize that calls for “intifada” constitute hate and even potentially an incitement to violence
When ISIS conducted its terrorist attacks on Mosul, Iraq in June 2014, several Mosul residents celebrated it as a victory for the terror group and welcomed them to the city. In March 2019, ISIS was defeated in a fight with Kurdish special units Peshmerga, Iraqi Forces, and the international coalition, and this time, five years later, Mosul celebrated the defeat of ISIS. Mosul had learned its lesson under ISIS’ reign of terror. Likewise, the fantasy of celebrating Islamic Jihadist and terrorist groups as liberators has disappeared, for the most part, across the Middle East.
However, the same cannot be said about the veneration of terror in the West. Less than 24 hours after the brutal October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas on civilians and the Jewish state, Canada witnessed horrific and unimaginable scenes. People across the country paraded with Palestinian flags, chanting “Allah Akbar,” “Free Palestine,” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and “Long live Intifada” — celebrating the Hamas attack that resulted in the murder of 1,200 Israelis. The scenes reminded me of Mosul’s celebration of ISIS’ victory in 2014, but this time they took place in in Mississauga, Ontario.
As Israel began its counter-terror operation the mobs became more aggressive – organizing rallies across the country, blocking intersections, threatening Jewish Businesses, attacking synagogues with guns and Molotov cocktails, and issuing bomb threat against the largest Jewish high school in Canada.
Although Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) are listed as terrorist organizations by the Government of Canada, these groups are being praised by the pro-Jihadi mobs. They have flown the flag Hamas and the PFLP, they have worn green headbands representing Hamas, and yellow armbands of PIJ. Some in Toronto even raised the flag of the Taliban. Others have worn jackets with the symbols of Jihad, martyrs, and Al Qaeda symbols during protests. All while they scream “Intifada, intifada, long live the intifada,” “Globalize the intifada,” and “There is only one solution, intifada, revolution” – unmistakable calls for violence against Jews that refer to the bloody Palestinian terror campaigns of the late 80s and early 2000s.
Despite the clear connection between the terror groups and this violent call, law enforcement across the country have been reluctant to act and make arrests on those shouting “Intifada.” This refusal encourages the pro Hamas mobs to continue their antisemitic rallies and disguises calling for violence as a progressive solution for the Palestinian cause.
There is no doubt that calling for intifada is calling for violence. This is most clearly demonstrated by the Second Palestinian Intifada which consisted of suicide bombings, shootings, stabbings, and other terror tactics. These tactics have been used by other major Islamic Jihadist groups such as the Taliban, ISIS, and Al Qaeda. In April 1993, during the first Intifada, Hamas suicide bomber Saher Tamam Al Nablusi detonated the switch under the seats in his car and blew himself up on the West Bank. Based on the result of this attack, Hamas and its allies kicked off massive campaign of suicide attacks up against Israel. According to the statistics of Israeli institutions and studies, during two phases of Intifada, Hamas, PIJ, and PFLP conducted more than 130 suicide attacks. In the aftermath of the Intifada, the tactic of car bombs was vastly used by the Haqqani network in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda in Iraq, the Taliban in Afghanistan, and ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
And Intifada is not restricted to terror attacks but includes a clear strategy undergirded by religious ideology. For example, the book “Palestinian Resistance against Israel in Jerusalem” lays out the rhetoric and chants that Palestinians shouted in protests during the first Intifada, including: “Khaybar Khaybar O Jewish! The Mohammad Army will come back.” This chant refers to the Battle of Khaybar in which Muslims fought against the Jews in the first era of Islam in the Khaybar district of Medina in Hejaz in early 628 CE, which led to the victory of Muslims. “Mohammad Army” in this context is a metaphor for all Muslims around the world, and the chant is calling all Muslims to assemble another Khyabar, which strives to provoke and unite all Muslims against Jews. Another example “Praise the God O Muslim – explode the head of Zionist.” This chant was yelled in Toronto, Ontario. This has no other meaning except Jihad and the militarization of Muslims around the world to eliminate Jews and Israelis.
Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and their allies are utilizing Jihadi tactics to pursue their objectives here in Canada. Calling for “Intifada” in the streets, malls, subway stations, and university campuses in Canada is a direct call for Jihadism and its principles to be enacted in the West. This is why the globalization of Intifada means globalizing the Jihad. It means globalizing violence against Jews.
Canadian authorities should realize that calls for “intifada” constitute hate and even potentially an incitement to violence. If they fail to, it will not be long until we see ISIS flags and chants for reviving the Caliphate. They are one and the same and we cannot allow this hate to fester unaddressed.
Hussain Ehsani is a Middle East affairs expert focused on the Abraham Accords and Canadian foreign policy.
Automotive
Auto giant shuts down foreign plants as Trump moves to protect U.S. industry

MxM News
Quick Hit:
Stellantis is pausing vehicle production at two North American facilities—one in Canada and another in Mexico—following President Donald Trump’s announcement of 25% tariffs on foreign-made cars. The move marks one of the first corporate responses to the administration’s push to bring back American manufacturing.
Key Details:
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In an email to workers Thursday, Stellantis North America chief Antonio Filosa directly tied the production pause to the new tariffs, writing that the company is “continuing to assess the medium- and long-term effects” but is “temporarily pausing production” at select assembly plants outside the U.S.
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Production at the Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario will be paused for two weeks, while the Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico will be offline for the entire month of April.
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These plants produce the Chrysler Pacifica minivan, the new Dodge Charger Daytona EV, the Jeep Compass SUV, and the Jeep Wagoneer S EV.
Diving Deeper:
On Wednesday afternoon in the White House Rose Garden, President Trump announced sweeping new tariffs aimed at revitalizing America’s auto manufacturing industry. The 25% tariffs on all imported cars are part of a broader “reciprocal tariffs” strategy, which Trump described as ending decades of globalist trade policies that hollowed out U.S. industry.
Just a day later, Stellantis became the first major automaker to act on the new policy, halting production at two of its international plants. According to an internal email obtained by CNBC, Stellantis North American COO Antonio Filosa said the company is “taking immediate actions” to respond to the tariff policy while continuing to evaluate the broader impact.
“These actions will impact some employees at several of our U.S. powertrain and stamping facilities that support those operations,” Filosa wrote.
The Windsor, Ontario plant, which builds the Chrysler Pacifica and the newly introduced Dodge Charger Daytona EV, will shut down for two weeks. The Toluca facility in Mexico, responsible for the Jeep Compass and Jeep Wagoneer S EV, will suspend operations for the entire month of April.
The move comes as Stellantis continues to face scrutiny for its reliance on low-wage labor in foreign markets. As reported by Breitbart News, the company has spent years shifting production and engineering jobs to countries like Brazil, India, Morocco, and Mexico—often at the expense of American workers. Last year alone, Stellantis cut around 400 U.S.-based engineering positions while ramping up operations overseas.
Meanwhile, General Motors appears to be responding differently. According to Reuters, GM told employees in a webcast Thursday that it will increase production of light-duty trucks at its Fort Wayne, Indiana plant—where it builds the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. These models are also assembled in Mexico and Canada, but GM’s decision suggests a shift in production to the U.S. could be underway in light of the tariffs.
As Trump’s trade reset takes effect, more automakers are expected to recalibrate their production strategies—potentially signaling a long-awaited shift away from offshoring and toward rebuilding American industry.
Business
‘Time To Make The Patient Better’: JD Vance Says ‘Big Transition’ Coming To American Economic Policy

JD Vance on “Rob Schmitt Tonight” discussing tariff results
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Hailey Gomez
Vice President JD Vance said Thursday on Newsmax that he believes Americans will “reap the benefits” of the economy as the Trump administration makes a “big transition” on tariffs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,679.39 points on Thursday, just a day after President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs against nations charging imports from the U.S. On “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” Schmitt asked Vance about the stock market hit, asking how the White House felt about the “Liberation Day” move.
“We’re feeling good. Look, I frankly thought in some ways it could be worse in the markets, because this is a big transition. You saw what the President said earlier today. It’s like a patient who was very sick,” Vance said. “We did the operation, and now it’s time to make the patient better. That’s exactly what we’re doing. We have to remember that for 40 years, we’ve been doing this for 40 years.”
“American economic policy has rewarded people who ship jobs overseas. It’s taxed our workers. It’s made our supply chains more brittle, and it’s made our country less prosperous, less free and less secure,” Vance added.
Vance recalled that one of his children had been sick and needed antibiotics that were not made in the United States. The Vice President called it a “ridiculous thing” that some medicines invented in the country are no longer manufactured domestically.
“That’s fundamentally what this is about. The national security of manufacturing and making the things that we need, from steel to pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, and so forth, but also the good jobs that come along when you have economic policies that reward investing in America, rather than investing in foreign countries,” Vance said.
WATCH:
With a baseline 10% tariff placed on an estimated 60 countries, higher tariffs were applied to nations like China and Israel. For example, China, which has a 67% tariff on U.S. goods, will now face a 34% tariff from the U.S., while Israel, which has a 33% tariff, will face a 17% U.S. tariff.
“One bad day in the stock market, compared to what President Trump said earlier today, and I think he’s right about this. We’re going to have a booming stock market for a long time because we’re reinvesting in the United States of America. More importantly than that, of course, the people in Wall Street have done well,” Vance said.
“We want them to do well. But we care the most about American workers and about American small businesses, and they’re the ones who are really going to benefit from these policies,” Vance said.
The number of factories in the U.S., Vance said, has declined, adding that “millions of workers” have lost their jobs.
“My town [Middletown, Ohio], where you had 10,000 great American steel workers, and my town was one of the lucky ones, now probably has 1,500 steel workers in that factory because you had economic policies that rewarded shipping our jobs to China instead of investing in American workers,” Vance said. “President Trump ran on changing it. He promised he would change it, and now he has. I think Americans are going to reap the benefits.”
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