Twitch streamer Hasan Piker is facing fresh criticism from Jewish advocacy groups after he told CNN that Palestinians have a recognized right to resist militarily and dismissed concerns about Hamas's record on women's and LGBTQ rights.
Piker, a prominent left-wing political commentator with more than 11 million followers, appeared in «The Left Insurgency,» an episode of the documentary series «The Whole Story With Anderson Cooper.» During the interview, reporter Donie O'Sullivan pressed him on a bipartisan House resolution passed in April that condemned his previous rhetoric about the terrorist organization.
«Well, I wouldn't say I express support for all of Hamas's actions or anything,» Piker said in response to the resolution. He argued that the Palestinian resistance «largely does have an internationally recognized right to resist,» while adding that it can violate that right through acts such as war crimes. «But at the end of the day, Palestinians do have a right to resist militarily.»
The House resolution pointed to past comments in which Piker called 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 repeated the comparison. In the CNN interview, he described himself as a «harm-reduction voter» and a «lesser-evil voter,» saying he would «vote for Hamas over Israel every single time.» He said he views Hamas as a paramilitary organization with a political bureau made up of orphaned children whose parents were killed by an apartheid state that he said has dominated Palestinian life for 80 years and committed genocide.
O'Sullivan confronted Piker over the implications of that position. If he would vote for Hamas, the reporter said, he would be voting for limited rights for women and for homophobia. Piker responded that such choices were not an endorsement of Hamas's domestic policies. «I don't think anyone actually cares about their domestic policies,» he said. «I certainly don't.» He added that every Palestinian, regardless of disagreements with Hamas, considers the Israeli occupation the most existential problem they face. He also said the House resolution was designed not to recognize his years of work against far-right radicalization, but to attack prominent critics of Zionism, which he called a fascist ideology.
The Anti-Defamation League condemned the comments. A spokesperson said Piker had repeatedly said Hamas was a thousand times better than Israel while 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,» the spokesperson said. «That silence has a cost. 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.»
The American Jewish Committee also condemned Piker's remarks, saying support for a terrorist organization is not a political viewpoint to be debated but 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,» the group said.
Piker, a self-described socialist who has campaigned with several Democratic politicians, has become a leading voice on the left as democratic socialists gain ground in elections. He has also faced controversy before, including a 2019 remark that «America deserved 9/11.» Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville recently said he would leave the party if it continued to embrace Piker. Piker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
