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Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez Sit Down With Social Media Personality Who Defended Hamas, Hezbollah
US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are seen before a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 21, 2024. Photo: Craig Hudson/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) raised eyebrows on Thursday by agreeing to participate in an interview with controversial anti-Israel media personality Hasan Piker.
Ahead of a joint appearance at a public rally, the duo sat with the political Twitch streamer to discuss issues affecting the pro-Palestinian movement in the United States. Piker suggested that the Trump administration has stifled the free speech rights of anti-Israel advocates, pointing to the recent deportation attempt of former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil.
Piker has an extensive history of repudiating Israel as an “apartheid state” and defending atrocities committed against its civilians. In a 2024 livestream, Piker minimized sexual assaults committed against Israeli women at the hands of Hamas, saying “it doesn’t matter if rapes f—ing happened on Oct. 7.” He has defended violence from the Hamas and Houthi terrorist groups as legitimate “resistance.” He has also said he doesn’t “have an issue with” the Hezbollah terrorist group, which had pummelled Israel with an unremitting barrage of missiles and rockets from the southern Lebanon border in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7.
Piker accused the Trump administration of mirroring tactics by Nazi Germany through engaging in censorship of those critical of the ongoing war in Gaza. He also blasted the White House over its attempt to “take control” of Columbia University’s Department of Middle Eastern Studies by placing it under an academic receivership. He warned that the Trump administration could use the “Palestine conversation” as an “entry point” to expand censorship across the United States.
In the immediate aftermath of the October 2023 massacre of roughly 1200 people throughout southern Israel by the Hamas terrorist group, Columbia University erupted in protest. Many student organizations issued statements placing blame on Israel for the terrorist attacks. Protesters called for the US to stop providing military aid to Israel and for Columbia University to divest from Israeli interests. In addition, Jewish students reported intimidation, harassment, and isolation on campus.
In a letter issued to Columbia earlier this month, the Trump administration directed the Ivy League university to establish a formal definition of antisemitism, prohibit masks “intended to conceal identity or intimidate,” and place its departments of African Studies, South Asian, and Middle Eastern studies under “academic receivership,” which would place them under independent oversight.
Ocaio-Cortez (AOC), one of the most strident opponents of Israel in Congress, defended Khalil, arguing that his raucous protests on Columbia’s campus were an example of “free speech.” She added that there is “profound money and interest that remains dedicated on both sides of the aisle” attempting to “conflate criticism of Israel as antisemitism.”
AOC has an extensive history of using her platform to criticize Israel. In the 17 months following the Oct. 7 attacks, the firebrand progressive has accused Israel of committing a “genocide” against Palestinians and practicing “apartheid.” She has repeatedly called for the implementation of a full “arms embargo” against Israel, which would deprive the Jewish state of weapons needed to complete its military objectives in Gaza. Nonetheless, AOC has come under fire from progressive organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) for supporting a House resolution which affirmed Israel’s “right to exist.”
The post Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez Sit Down With Social Media Personality Who Defended Hamas, Hezbollah first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Readies for a Nationwide Strike on Sunday
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are calling on for a general strike to be held on Sunday in an effort to compel the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal with Hamas for the release of their loved ones and a ceasefire. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.
The October 7 Council and other groups representing bereaved families of hostages and soldiers who fell since the start of the war declared they were “shutting down the country to save the soldiers and the hostages.”
While many businesses said they would join the strike, Israel’s largest labor federation, the Histadrut, has declined to participate.
Some of the country’s top educational institutions, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University, declared their support for the strike.
“We, the members of the university’s leadership, deans, and department heads, hereby announce that on Sunday, each and every one of us will participate in a personal strike as a profound expression of solidarity with the hostage families,” the Hebrew University’s deal wrote to students.
The day will begin at 6:29 AM, to commemorate the start of the October 7 attack, with the first installation at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Further demonstrations are planned at dozens of traffic intersections.
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Netanyahu ‘Has Become a Problem,’Says Danish PM as She Calls for Russia-Style Sanctions Against Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a “problem,” his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen said Saturday, adding she would try to put pressure on Israel over the Gaza war.
“Netanyahu is now a problem in himself,” Frederiksen told Danish media, adding that the Israeli government is going “too far” and lashing out at the “absolutely appalling and catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza and announced new homes in the West Bank.
“We are one of the countries that wants to increase pressure on Israel, but we have not yet obtained the support of EU members,” she said, specifying she referred to “political pressure, sanctions, whether against settlers, ministers, or even Israel as a whole.”
“We are not ruling anything out in advance. Just as with Russia, we are designing the sanctions to target where we believe they will have the greatest effect.”
The devastating war in Gaza began almost two years ago, with an incursion into Israel of thousands of Palestinian armed jihadists, who perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
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As Alaska Summit Ends With No Apparent Progress, Zelensky to Meet Trump on Monday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the press conference after the opening session of Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 August 2023. The Crimea Platform – is an international consultation and coordination format initiated by Ukraine. OLEG PETRASYUK/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – After US President Donald Trump hailed the “great progress” made during a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he was set to meet Trump on Monday at the White House.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference after the meeting.
Many observers noted, however, that the subsequent press conference was a relatively muted affair compared to the pomp and circumstance of the red carpet welcome, and the summit produced no tangible progress.
Trump and Putin spoke briefly, with neither taking questions, and offered general statements about an “understanding” and “progress.”
Putin, who spoke first, agreed with Trump’s long-repeated assertion that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Trump been president instead of Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump said “many points were agreed to” and that “just a very few” issues were left to resolve, offering no specifics and making no reference to the ceasefire he’s been seeking.