Twitch streamer Hasan Piker said Tuesday that Israel does not have a right to exist in its current form, drawing a comparison between the Jewish state and some of history’s most condemned regimes.
Mr. Piker made the remarks during a wide-ranging interview on “The Breakfast Club” with host Charlamagne tha God, who asked whether both Israel and a Palestinian state have a right to exist.
“I think Israel, in its current formation, given that it’s a settler colonial operation that’s seeking out the expulsion or complete extermination of the indigenous population as an apartheid state, does not have a right to exist,” Mr. Piker said.
He likened the question to asking whether Nazi Germany, apartheid South Africa or the former white-minority state of Rhodesia should have continued to exist.
“It’s like, for me, it’s like saying, does Nazi Germany have a right to exist, or does apartheid South Africa have a right to exist? Does Rhodesia have a right to exist? No, of course not,” he said.
Mr. Piker said his position was directed at Israel’s political structure, not its citizens.
“People have a right to exist. People do exist. Israel currently exists,” he said. “It’s just a matter of, are they following international humanitarian laws? And they certainly are not. And I want to change that.”
When Charlamagne pressed him on whether invoking the “right to exist” framing was analogous to saying the MAGA movement has no right to exist, Mr. Piker agreed with the parallel and argued such claims are routinely distorted by political opponents.
“That doesn’t mean kill all Republicans or whatever, right?” he said. “I’m sure that’s how people would present it.”
Mr. Piker also contended that the “right to exist” question is deployed strategically to deflect scrutiny of Israel’s conduct.
“The ’does Israel have a right to exist’ deployment as a statement, as a question, is a technique to shift the conversation away from Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians,” he said.
The exchange was prompted in part by Charlamagne’s questions about comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who was approached outside Madison Square Garden last week by a streamer requesting he say “Free Palestine” following a New York Knicks NBA Finals game. Seinfeld responded with three words: “It doesn’t exist.”
Mr. Piker called Seinfeld “a gross racist” and said denying Palestine’s existence is a standard pro-Israel talking point. He argued Palestine predates the modern Israeli state, citing its existence under the Ottoman Empire and later as British-occupied territory.
“It’s existed for far longer than Israel has. Israel’s only existed since 1948,” he said.
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