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Mehdi Hasan Embarrasses Himself on Debate Show on Israel
Few tears were shed at HonestReporting in November 2023, when MSNBC announced the cancellation of the regular show of Mehdi Hasan, a long-time detractor of Israel.
Rather than accept his effective demotion, however, Hasan eventually chose to quit the network and launch his own independent media company, Zeteo.
Unfortunately, while MSNBC did very little to restrain his brand of anti-Israel agitprop, Hasan now has even more freedom to pursue his obsessive attacks on Israel through his own outlet and on social media.
So it was gratifying to see Hasan’s holier-than-thou persona brought down a peg or two when he came up against UK lawyer Natasha Hausdorff and author and political commentator Douglas Murray in a must-see Munk Debates on anti-Zionism.
Speaking in favor of the motion that anti-Zionism is antisemitism, Hausdorff and Murray beat Hasan and hateful Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy by 66% to 34%. Not only that, between the beginning of the debate and the end, support for Mehdi’s position actually dropped by 5%.
But more importantly, people saw that Hasan, the author of the book
Left: @mehdirhasan intentionally misleads his audience about a quote by Arthur Balfour
Right: @UKLFI‘s Natasha Hausdorff calls out his shameless lie pic.twitter.com/SrS9KuXk3w
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) June 18, 2024
It’s interesting to observe how Hasan, even when caught red-handed, tries to deflect. Let’s remember that he was rightly called out for factually misquoting Lord Arthur Balfour, the author of the 1917 Balfour Declaration. Natasha Hausdorff never made any judgment on Balfour’s character, which was not the issue.
That didn’t stop Hasan from reposting the below tweet quoting from a 2017 opinion piece by Palestinian American activist Yousef Munayyer that called Balfour a “white supremacist” and “antisemite.”
Damn that’s crazy what else did Arthur Balfour say https://t.co/FDGiIu5cBy https://t.co/IMhSkJMDYP pic.twitter.com/3kmdLzAbzM
— David Grossman (@davidgross_man) June 19, 2024
Making False Claims Against Your Opponent
Here’s another example of how Hasan twists the truth when he claims that Douglas Murray “advocated for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza” in The Spectator.
cc: @DouglasKMurray https://t.co/0nBPpS99Xf pic.twitter.com/24hkEIunEJ
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) June 19, 2024
This is the relevant text from Murray’s Spectator article:
Rather than advocating for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza as Hasan charges, Murray speculates what Israel might do in the immediate aftermath of October 7. Unsurprisingly, Israel has not “clear[ed] all the Palestinians from that benighted strip.” And the charge that Murray is advocating ethnic cleansing when says “It could be a good time to do it”? In the context of the subsequent passage, it is clear that he is referring to the fact that Arab states care very little for the Palestinians and certainly not enough to prevent Israel from carrying out such an action (which it, in any case, hasn’t).
It’s the Audience’s Fault
And if you’ve lost the argument, then why not simply blame the voting audience?
So, we lost the Munk debate on “anti-Zionism is antisemitism” last night.
Given the pro-Israeli audience jeered @gideonle when he mentioned Palestinian deaths & then booed me when I mentioned the ICC & Oxfam, I can’t say I was shocked.
Who boos… Oxfam?pic.twitter.com/9HfMTCkpkl
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) June 18, 2024
Hasan relies on the “halo effect” to suggest that organizations such as Oxfam are beyond reproach. As it happens, there’s plenty to say about Oxfam and many other non-governmental organizations that sound like benign charities but, in reality, are a major part of the global anti-Israel campaign.
So the audience, which Hasan accuses of being pro-Israel by default, are within their rights to jeer.
And maybe, just maybe, Mehdi Hasan, the audience actually got this one right.
The author the Editorial Director of HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
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New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’

Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.
In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.
At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.
Nearly half of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.
The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.
Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.
“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”
Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.
Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.
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Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events

A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.
The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.
Incidents reported by the group include:
- At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
- A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
- In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”
CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”
The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”
Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.
A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”
CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”
In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.
Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”
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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.
Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.
The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.
As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.
“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.
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