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Left-wing Twitch streamer Hasan Piker told Charlamagne tha God on “The Breakfast Club” that Israel had no right to exist “in its current formation” during a Tuesday interview, responding to a question about whether 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,” Piker said.
Piker compared the question to asking whether other historic regimes should have continued to exist.
Twitch streamer Hasan Piker said Israel does not have a “right to exist” in its “current formation” during an interview on “The Breakfast Club.” (Hasan Piker Twitch / @HASANABI)
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“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 in a clip flagged by Mediaite.
He said he was referring to Israel’s political structure rather than Israeli citizens.
“People have a right to exist. People do exist. Israel currently exists,” Piker said. “It’s just a matter of, are they following international humanitarian laws? And they certainly are not. And I want to change that.”
Charlamagne asked whether that was similar to saying MAGA “doesn’t have a right to exist” as a movement, and Piker argued such claims are often mischaracterized by political opponents.
Charlamagne tha God pressed Hasan Piker on whether both Israel and Palestine have a right to exist during a wide-ranging interview. (Michael Dorgan/ Digital)
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“That doesn’t mean kill all Republicans or whatever, right?” Piker said. “I’m sure that’s how people would present it as.”
Piker said the “right to exist” question is used to move attention away from Israel’s conduct toward Palestinians.
“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. “To make it seem like the opposition is actually being crazy and they want, like, all Jews to be exterminated, all Israelis to be exterminated, which is not the case.”
Jerry Seinfeld was criticized by Hasan Piker after the comedian reportedly responded, “It doesn’t exist,” when asked to say “Free Palestine.” (Valerie Terranova/Getty Images for Bob Woodruff Foundation)
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The exchange began after Charlamagne asked Piker about Jerry Seinfeld, who was asked to say “Free Palestine” outside a New York Knicks NBA Finals game and responded, “It doesn’t exist.” Piker called Seinfeld “a gross racist” and said denying Palestine exists is a common pro-Israel talking point.
“Palestine existed under Ottoman occupation initially under the Ottoman Empire, and then it became a British holdover occupied state, British-occupied Palestine,” Piker said. “It’s existed for far longer than Israel has. Israel’s only existed since 1948.”
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Digital reached out to Seinfeld for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
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