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Hasan Piker: How an Israel-Hating, Terror Supporting Streamer Seduced The New York Times
The New York Times building in New York City. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Hasan Piker is among the most popular personalities on the gaming-video streaming platform Twitch.
Piker — whose significant career break came conveniently via his uncle, Cenk Uygur, founder of the left-wing commentary show The Young Turks — brands himself as a “political commentator.” Over 2.5 million viewers regularly tune in, though it’s unlikely they’re seeking nuanced political insight. After all, Piker’s brand of “commentary” has included dismissing Hamas’ documented atrocities from October 7, praising Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as “a pretty brilliant person,” and even laughing during Hamas’ gruesome display when releasing the bodies of the Bibas family.
Yet none of these disturbing actions have deterred mainstream media outlets like The New York Times from publishing an inexplicably flattering profile of Piker. Remarkably, the article spends more words lauding his gender-bending fashion sense, fitness regimen, and “handsome” appearance than critically examining his troubling ideological views.
Titled “A Progressive Mind in a Body Made for the ‘Manosphere’,” the article enthusiastically proclaims in its subheading: “Hasan Piker pumps iron, likes weapons, and wears pearls. His brand of masculinity has won him many fans online — and has been a useful vehicle for his politics.”
Indeed, the NY Times appears genuinely captivated, initially depicting Piker as a provocative renegade who appeals to a legion of young male followers entrenched in the so-called “manosphere” — a digital subculture known for hyper-masculine content:
Hasan Piker thinks being a man is simple.
Like many successful internet personalities targeting a generation of young men, Mr. Piker, a 33-year-old Twitch and YouTube streamer, embraces a typical ‘bro’ persona: he likes weapons, inhales supplements, uses nicotine pouches, and endlessly debates the legacy of LeBron James. Yet unlike many contemporaries, Piker—an avowed socialist—is equally comfortable donning French maid drag as playing basketball.
The first hints of Piker’s troubling views surface subtly, with the article merely stating he “criticizes … the Israeli government,” juxtaposed oddly alongside his support for organized labor, universal healthcare, and LGBTQ rights.
It’s only midway through — after considerable focus on Piker’s fitness routines and intermittent fasting diet consisting of “precisely chicken breast with low-carb pita, mezze, and sauces” — that the Times bothers to hint at what this “criticism” entails:
A vocal critic of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, Mr. Piker has been labeled anti-American across the political spectrum for saying the U.S. ‘deserved’ the September 11 attacks. His recent accusations that Israel is committing ‘genocide’ in Gaza and his diatribes against the Zionist movement have led supporters of Israel, including liberals like Representative Ritchie Torres of New York, to call Mr. Piker antisemitic.
Predictably, the Times immediately offers Piker a convenient rebuttal: “I find antisemitism to be completely unacceptable,” along with his disingenuous claim that “I find the conflation of antisemitism and anti-Zionism to be very dangerous.”
Yet the Times is evidently aware of Piker’s Jewish and Israeli problems — initially publishing a photo of his “bulking” chicken meal consumed in his studio, inadvertently showing a viewer comment on Piker’s Twitch stream stating in block capitals: “I’D F*** THIS IDF BITCH TO DEATH.”
In writer Jack Crosbie’s rush to flatter Piker, it seems he didn’t bother examining the photos closely. And in typical New York Times fashion, the image was quietly edited later to crop out the damning viewer comments, leaving only the innocuous chicken meal behind.
And yet, the Times’s profile of Piker is merely the latest example from an outlet seemingly intent on rebranding Palestinian extremists as progressive. Just weeks ago, the paper dedicated its opinion page to an impassioned defense of the Oscar-winning joint Israeli-Palestinian documentary No Other Land, which HonestReporting had criticized for misrepresenting facts on the ground.
While the essay argued for a so-called joint “co-resistance” between Israelis and Palestinians, we revealed how one of the writers had a starkly different interpretation of “resistance” on October 7. That day, as Hamas terrorists, aided by Gazan civilians, invaded Israel, massacred over 1,200 people, and took 251 hostages back to Gaza, the writer shared footage of terrorists paragliding into Israel and opening fire, accompanied by a text overlay likening them to Jews smuggling weapons into Nazi ghettos during the Holocaust.
Hasan Piker isn’t merely another controversial figure pushing boundaries — he’s emblematic of a deeply troubling trend: the glamorization of extremism through superficial charm and savvy branding. And, disturbingly, The New York Times is leading the way.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Hasan Piker: How an Israel-Hating, Terror Supporting Streamer Seduced The New York Times first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.