Every now and then, ‘Real Time’ host Bill Maher manages to get it right.
The comedian and political commentator weighed in on the Israel-Gaza conflict Friday night following a one-week hiatus from his show due to his positive coronavirus test result.
“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,” Maher began.
“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 continued. “There’s just not enough space.”
Later in the show, Maher argued with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof for suggesting that Israel had committed possible war crimes against Gaza.
“Well, Gaza fired 4,000 rockets into Israel. What would you say Israel should have done instead of what they did?” Maher asked.
“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 replied.
“But they purposely put the rockets in civilian places,” Maher interjected. “That’s their strategy.”
Maher also bristled at the suggestion that Israel stole the land.
“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.”
The debate between Maher and Kristof became increasingly tense as it continued. Mock n’ Rob have all the best highlights in the clip below.
https://omny.fm/shows/mock-rob/bill-maher-voices-support-for-israel-and-rips-cele
