Hasan’s lame attempts to cast Omar’s repeated employment of classic antisemitic tropes as merely “criticism of Israel,” alongside his constant efforts to politicize antisemitism, serve as a reminder that bigotry, including antisemitism, must be combatted because it is morally reprehensible, not because it is politically convenient.
NBC News' biography of Mehdi Hasan claims he is “an award-winning journalist known for riveting one-on-one conversations.” Based on his recent segment featuring the cofounders of Ben & Jerry’s, whatever awards Hasan may have won should be surrendered and instead given to Axios’ Alexi McCammond.
After falsely reporting that Israeli airstrikes were responsible for all reported 49 casualties in Gaza earlier this month, MSNBC's Ayman Mohyeldin acknowledges: "[W]e should have also noted AP reported evidence that 14 of those were killed by errant rockets fired from the Palestinian side."
Hasan has consistently employed these dishonest tactics to present a skewed narrative that leaves his audience not only misinformed, but entirely ignorant of basic background.
At a certain point, when a discussion throws important facts aside in favor of a narrative that points at a perceived Jewish organization as “corrupting,” “poisoning,” and “dominating” a country’s politics, it begins to reek of a certain phenomenon known as “antisemitism.” No amount of tokenizing a “really Jewish” congressman can paper over that.
MSNBC’s audience deserves, at the very least, a clear view of all the relevant facts and evidence. By omitting material information, Mohyeldin instead turned his partisan commentary into active dishonesty.
This is the second time in recent days that an MSNBC host has claimed Israel has not adequately supported the United States position on the issue of Ukraine.
Hasan’s comments highlight a reality about much of anti-Israel activism. Criticism of Israel isn’t so much based on what Israel does or doesn’t do, as the activists will find a way to criticize it either way. Instead, criticism of Israel is about its existence in the first place.
