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Far-left Twitch streamer Hasan Piker called Hamas “far more moderate” than at its inception during a Wednesday Channel 4 News UK “TrumpWorld” interview as the co-host Matt Frei confronted him over his past praise of the terrorist group. Piker’s comment drew condemnation Friday from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) over his growing influence among progressive Democrats.
“I think Hamas’s current position, as far as I understand it, is far more moderate than its position was at its inception,” Piker said. “They’ve recognized that it’s virtually impossible to advance this vengeance quest against Israel.”
An ADL spokesperson rejected Piker’s characterization in a statement to Digital Friday, pointing to Hamas’ October 7 attack and its treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.
“Hasan Piker’s claim that Hamas has grown ‘more moderate’ is outrageous. Hamas remains a U.S.-designated terrorist organization committed to Israel’s destruction, responsible for the October 7 massacre and continued abuse of the very Palestinians it claims to represent,” the spokesperson said.
WHO IS HASAN PIKER? MEET THE FAR-LEFT STREAMER WHO IS STIRRING UP CONTROVERSY AND DIVIDING DEMOCRATS
Far-left Twitch streamer Hasan Piker called Hamas “far more moderate” during an interview with Channel 4 News UK. (Julia Demaree/AP Photo)
“Any candidate or platform that hosts him or associates with him without challenge lends legitimacy to that rhetoric,” the statement added.
Republican Jewish Coalition National Political Director Sam Markstein also rejected Piker’s characterization.
“There is nothing ‘moderate’ about Hamas, and there is nothing defensible about Hasan Piker,” Markstein said, in a statement Friday to Digital.
Markstein pointed to Piker’s previous statements that he would vote for Hamas over Israel and that the terrorist group was “a thousand times better than” the Jewish state. He also pointed to Piker’s appearances with Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.
“Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and a growing list of progressive Democrats are proud to campaign at his side. Every Democrat who has embraced Piker owes us a straight answer: ‘Do you stand with his apologetics for a brutal terrorist organization, yes or no?'” he said.
“His rising influence inside the Democratic Party is a flashing red warning to Jewish voters about exactly where that party is headed, and it isn’t with us,” Markstein continued.
Piker attributed Hamas’ brutal rule in Gaza largely to Israeli occupation and said he did not care about the terrorist group’s “domestic functions.” (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
EL-SAYED PALS AROUND WITH FAR-LEFT STREAMER HASAN PIKER THE DAY BEFORE CRUCIAL MICHIGAN SENATE ELECTION
Channel 4 host Matt Frei told Piker that the network’s Palestinian journalists had described Hamas as unpopular in Gaza and said the group had violently repressed dissent. Frei asked why Piker framed Palestinian resistance through Hamas despite its treatment of Gazans and the October 7 terrorist attack.
“They exist under a colonial occupation. Gaza is a hermetically sealed open-air prison before October 7 as well,” Piker said. “So I think a lot of the violence or the brutality in terms of governance stems from that. I don’t think it’s, like, an ideological disagreement.”
“I don’t care about Hamas’s domestic functions,” he added. “I just want the apartheid and the occupation to end.”
Republican Jewish Coalition national political director Sam Markstein warned Democrats who embraced Piker that they owed Jewish voters answers. ( Digital/Paul Steinhauser)
HASAN PIKER’S DEFENSE OF HAMAS HAVING ‘RIGHT TO RESIST MILITARILY’ DRAWS CONDEMNATION FROM HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS
Piker also said he did not support Hamas governing Gaza and acknowledged that war crimes occurred on October 7, while insisting that Palestinians retained a right to “resist militarily.”
Piker pointed to Hamas’ 2017 political document as evidence that the group had evolved since its original 1988 charter. The document described a Palestinian state along the lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War as a consensus position, but it also explicitly refused to recognize Israel, rejected conceding any of the territory it defined as Palestine and identified armed resistance as a strategic choice.
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The State Department has designated Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization since 1997. The Justice Department said Hamas terrorists killed nearly 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans, and kidnapped hundreds during the October 7 attack.
El-Sayed appeared repeatedly with Piker during the Michigan primary campaign, including at a Detroit pool party the night before Election Day. When asked later whether he would welcome Piker back to the campaign trail, El-Sayed did not directly answer but rejected Piker’s past remark that America deserved 9/11.
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“Of course it was a dumb statement and, of course, I think Hasan himself would say that was a dumb statement,” El-Sayed said. “He disavowed it. So yes, America didn’t deserve 9/11.”
Digital reached out to Piker for additional comment.
