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Famed YouTuber Pauses Interview to Confront Anti-Israel Protesters Outside NYC Office With Israeli Flag
Casey Neistat rolling up an Israeli flag he displayed outside his office window as anti-Israel protesters marched outside his building in New York City. Photo: Screenshot
YouTube star Casey Neistat stopped his interview with a fellow Jewish YouTuber and content creator at his office building in New York City recently to wave an Israeli flag outside a window of his office as anti-Israel protesters demonstrated outside.
Neistat, who has 12.6 million subscribers on YouTube, is a Jewish New York-based filmmaker, writer, blogger, director, and star of the 2010 HBO documentary series “The Neistat Brothers.” He co-founded a multimedia company called Beme that CNN purchased in 2016 for $25 million. He has talked openly on social media about being Jewish and his support for the Jewish community and Israel. He also condemned the “barbarism” carried out by Hamas-led terrorists during their deadly rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in a YouTube video titled “Jew” that he published four days after the terrorist attack.
On Nov. 2, the Connecticut-born veteran YouTuber was a guest on the YouTube show “Created,” which is hosted by Jewish content creator Jon Youshaei. The interview took place in Neistat’s office in New York City, and toward the end of their conversation, anti-Israel protesters began loudly demonstrating outside the building. The noise interrupted the interview, and Youshaei addressed the situation on air.
“There’s a protest outside; we hear a lot of the noise,” said the host of “Created.” A second later, Neistat got up from his chair, grabbed an oversized Israeli flag he had in his office, opened the window in the room, and then proceeded to wave the flag outside as the anti-Israel protesters walked by. After the demonstrators left the street, Neistat brought his Israeli flag back inside.
“It’s always something in this city,” Neistat stated. “I think that was some sort of pro-Palestine march. They like to go down [the road] Broadway.” Explaining his decision to wave the Israeli flag outside of his window right as anti-Israel protesters walked by, he said, “You gotta show the love, you know … That was an anti-Israel march going down Broadway and when that happens I like to wave either my American flag, or an Israeli flag, or some combination of both.”
Youshaei afterwards asked Neistat how he feels speaking publicly about Israel despite how “polarizing” the subject is. Neistat replied that it is “challenging” at times.
“I’ve never been one to hold my tongue. I think that exasperates for me the frustration in speaking out against antisemitism,” Neistat added. “Because long before I spoke out against antisemitism, I was quick to speak out for pro-LGBTQ rights. And I was very loud in speaking out in my support of African Americans and why it’s important that we stand up if there’s a moment in this country when our fellow Black Americans are feeling like they’re being unfairly. I’ve never held my tongue. So when it becomes about antisemitism, for me it’s certainly different because I think one is only able to truly understand prejudice-ness through which the lens they experience it … I know what it’s like to be treated differently because I’m Jewish and I feel like I can speak on that in a different way.”
Neistat then reiterated his support for Israel, talked about loving the country and its people, and visiting the Jewish state. He noted that while it’s “fair” to criticize Israeli politics and leaders, he gets upset when people try to deny Israel’s right to exist and defend its borders.
“I think what’s so frustrating about this conversation is you’re not allowed to say, ‘I want innocent people living in Palestine to not be suffering and I want them to have good lives. But I also believe — I don’t just believe, I’m convicted in the fact — that Israel has every right to exist and when attacked, Israel has every right to protect itself and to fight back.’ And you’re not allowed to say those two things,” Neistat told Youshaei. “You’re not allowed to say that you think there are good people in Palestine and that you support the state of Israel.”
He then referred to the anti-Israel demonstrators who were just outside his office building and told Youshaei: “If I went down there and tried to say that to those people screaming, marching down the street, they would not be receptive to that conversation. And that is really hard. It’s super hard to have that conversation and it’s frustrating. So it’s not hard to speak up. It’s hard to try to reconcile that we can’t be civil and have an honest conversation about such a volatile, dangerous, personal matter.”
“Realistically, there would be violence if I went down there with an Israeli flag,” he added. “I don’t mean to generalize; perhaps there would be people down there willing to engage in conversation. But in my experience, because I go to a lot of counter-protests, there’s no willingness to engage in a conversation.”
The post Famed YouTuber Pauses Interview to Confront Anti-Israel Protesters Outside NYC Office With Israeli Flag first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
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