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Real Time host Bill Maher criticized “liberal media” over coverage of the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas-controlled Gaza. The well-known Democrat stated that news reports were “oneo-sided” and the side reporters and anchors stood with was Hamas.
“We’ve become this country now that we’re kind of one-sided on this issue,” Maher said las Friday. “One of the frustrations I had, while I was off, is that I was watching this war go on in Israel … and it was frustrating to me because there was no one on liberal media to defend Israel, really,” he added.
Maher then brought in his guest panelist which included New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who suggested that Israel, which is predominantly Jewish but has 1.9 million Arab citizens, committed “possible war crimes” when it targeted Hamas operations.
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Maher would have none of it, asking Kristof, “Well, Gaza fired 4,000 rockets into Israel. What would you say Israel should have done instead of what they did?”
“I mean, international lawyers are pretty clear that they have a right to defend themselves … but there is a sense that their response was probably a war crime because they did not sufficiently avoid civilian casualties,” Kristof responded.
“But they purposely put the rockets in civilian places,” Maher said, referencing the tendency of Hamas, a terrorist group that governs Gaza, to use schools and hospitals to house their weapons. “That’s their strategy.”
Independent reports this week found that 80 civilians were killed in Gaza, not the 270 that Hamas claimed and had been reported widely by Western news outlets. It is believed that an unknown number of those casualties were caused by Hamas rockets that misfired and landed in Gaza shortly after firing.
Maher brought up the fact that social media and the press has reported the events in such a way as the “younger generation” were supporting Palestinians as a result of the one-sided media coverage.
“We’ve become this country now that we’re kind of one-sided on this issue. And I’d also like to say off the bat: I don’t think kids understand — and when I say kids, I mean the younger generations — you can’t learn history from Instagram,” Maher said. “There’s just not enough space.”
The host also slammed anti-Israel celebrity Bella Hadid, saying that she would “run screaming to Tel Aviv” if she actually lived in Gaza.
“You know, as far as Gaza goes, it’s amazing to me that the progressives think that they’re being progressive by taking that side of it, the Bella Hadids of the world, these influencers,” Maher said, according to Fox News.
“I just want to say in February of this year, a Hamas court ruled that an unmarried woman cannot travel in Gaza without the permission of a male guardian. Really? That’s where the progressives are? Bella Hadid and her friends would run screaming to Tel Aviv if they had to live in Gaza for one day,” he continued.
He also briefly touched on the history of the region, an argument that both Israelis and Palestinians use to defend their right to live there.
The Jews have been in that area of the world since about 1200 B.C., way before the first Muslim or Arab walked the earth. … I mean, Jerusalem was their capital.
“The Jews have been in that area of the world since about 1200 B.C., way before the first Muslim or Arab walked the earth. … I mean, Jerusalem was their capital. So, if it’s who got there first, it’s not even close,” Maher said. “The Jews were the ones who were occupied by everybody; the Romans took over at some point and then the Persians and the Byzantines and then the Ottomans. So, yes, there was colonization going on there. Beginning in the 19th century, they started to return to Palestine, which was never an Arab country. There was never a country called Palestine that was a distinct Arab country.”
Maher went on to criticize Palestinians who, in the past, have walked away from peace negotiatinos with Israel.
“I mean, they have rejected this and went to war time and time again,” he continued. “And, you know, as far as Gaza goes, it’s amazing to me that the progressives think that they’re being progressive by taking that side of it, the Bella Hadids of the world, these influencers. I just want to say in February of this year, a Hamas court ruled that an unmarried woman cannot travel in Gaza without the permission of a male guardian. Really? That’s where the progressives are? Bella Hadid and her friends would run screaming to Tel Aviv if they had to live in Gaza for one day.”
Maher reiterated that Israel is in a fight for its life when it comes to terrorist groups like Hamas and the PLO. “If they don’t keep a tight lid on this s***, they get killed! That seems like something different!”
–Wire services and Metro Voice
