Hasan Piker's defense of Hamas having 'right to resist militarily' draws condemnation from human rights groups
Hasan Piker dismissed the anti-women and anti-LGBTQ stances of terrorist group Hamas while defending its "right to resist" Israel during a CNN interview.
Far-left Twitch streamer Hasan Piker downplayed Hamas' anti-women and anti-LGBTQ stances while trying to explain his apparent support for the terrorist organization during a CNN interview on Sunday.
Piker, a rising figure within the Democratic Party, was featured prominently in "The Left Insurgency," an episode from the documentary series "The Whole Story With Anderson Cooper," where he spoke with reporter Donie O'Sullivan about some of his more controversial comments.
O'Sullivan pointed to a bipartisan House resolution passed in April condemning his rhetoric that some members of Congress claimed supported the terror organization.
"Well, I wouldn't say I express support for all of Hamas's actions or anything," Piker said in response to the resolution. "I do say that the Palestinian resistance largely does have an internationally recognized right to resist. Do they violate that sometimes with war crimes? Absolutely. And Hamas certainly has as well. But at the end of the day, Palestinians do have a right to resist militarily."
The House resolution highlighted Piker's past comments calling Hamas "a thousand times better than the fascist settler colonial apartheid state" of Israel as well as his appearance on "Pod Save America," where he doubled down on the comparison.
"I've also said I'm a harm-reduction voter," he said. "I'm a lesser-evil voter and, therefore, I would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time because I'm looking at the situation as a paramilitary organization that has a political party as well, a political bureau as well that is entirely comprised not as an alien force but of orphaned children that have, you know, had their parents killed by an apartheid state that has been dominating the lives of Palestinians for 80 years at this point and have done a genocide at this point as well."
O'Sullivan pointed out that expressing support for Hamas could be seen as supporting the organization's human rights violations.
"If you say you’re voting for Hamas, you’re voting for limited rights for women, you’re voting for homophobia. Like, this is — right? When you say you’re voting for Hamas," O'Sullivan said.
"It’s not an endorsement of their domestic policies," Piker said. "But I don’t think anyone actually cares about their domestic policies. I certainly don’t. Every Palestinian, at the end of the day, regardless of their disagreements with Hamas, will always say that Israel is still — the Israeli occupation is the greatest problem that they’re facing, the most existential problem that they’re facing."
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"You understand when just the regular American... when they see all this..." O'Sullivan followed up.
"Well, that's the purpose of that document," Piker said. "The purpose of that document is not to be like, this guy has spent the last 13 years combating far-right antisemitism and far-right radicalization, and still continues to do so to this day. As someone who's an anti-fascist, I'm going to oppose Zionism, which is a fascist ideology. These guys can't defend that. So they have to attack its prominent critics."
Fox News Digital reached out to Piker for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
In a comment to Fox News Digital, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned Piker's comments along with Democratic officials who continue to ignore them.
"Hasan Piker repeated multiple times that ‘Hamas is a thousand times better than Israel,’ while also shrugging off ‘war crimes.’ That is a person with more than 11 million followers sincerely expressing support for a designated terrorist organization, on a mainstream platform, to thunderous silence from the Democratic officials who continue to campaign and appear alongside him," an ADL spokesperson said.
"That silence has a cost," the spokesperson continued. "Every candidate and elected official who platforms Piker or associates with him signals that this rhetoric is acceptable. It is not and never should be."
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The American Jewish Committee (AJC) also condemned Piker's comments, pointing Fox News Digital to its past statement on Piker's "Pod Save America" appearance.
"Support for a terrorist organization is not a political viewpoint to be debated; it is a line that must not be crossed. When such rhetoric is given a platform by elected officials and prominent media voices, it risks normalizing extremism, endangering the Jewish community, and eroding the values that underpin our democracy," AJC wrote on X.
"AJC calls on leaders across politics, media, and civil society to exercise judgment and responsibility in the voices they elevate, and to recognize that these decisions send powerful signals about what we are willing to tolerate — and whether the safety and concerns of Jewish Americans are negotiable," the post continued.
Piker, a self-described socialist streamer who campaigned with several Democratic politicians, has emerged as a leading voice on the left as democratic socialists gain ground in elections across the country. However, he drew widespread criticism for several controversial statements such as saying "America deserved 9/11" in 2019.
Some Democrats have spoken out against Piker's influence. Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville recently said that he would leave the party if it continued to embrace Piker.
"I can't sit here and tell you for certain how this is going to turn out, but the one thing I can tell you for certain, Hasan Piker and James Carville are not going to be in the same political party. One of us is going to leave. It might even be me," Carville told Fox News, adding that an "overwhelming majority" of Democrats agree with him.