Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, dressed in a full black leather KKK outfit during his interview with DJ Akademiks that was shared on YouTube on March 31, 2025. Photo: Screenshot

Kanye West just released a “Heil Hitler” song — another one of the antisemitic incidents we’ve had to face recently.

Anger, hate, and disgust are all words that come to mind when considering the current situation in the US and abroad. We are being pushed to these emotions, and we lack the appropriate response. I have been advocating for this cause every week for two years now, since Oct. 7.

Nazi-level Jew hatred is making a resurgence, and is rising at alarming rates. What can we do about it other than be students of history?

The immediate reaction might be to seek vengeance and fight back. Many individuals have demonstrated this on the UCLA campus and elsewhere. Jews are also arming themselves to protect themselves and our community from violence, while adhering to local laws.

But for the vast majority of us, who cannot fight back at this time, it is imperative that we mobilize. We must actively engage with our Jewish communities and continue to grow them. Power is in numbers. We must illuminate them and bring them into the mainstream. We must find people who are not involved, and spread our light with them, and bring them into our community.

For those unable to physically engage in defense, I urge them to understand that the pen is mightier than the sword, and that a calculated group-wide response can be the adequate response. Although it may sound clichéd, it is not. We must remain united, informed, and continuously support and connect with local and Federal politicians. We must fight and combat antisemitism and antisemites wherever they may lie, and tell the truth about the Jewish people and Israel. That is the only way we can ensure our survival.

We have witnessed the fall of empires in the past, and with this, disgusting, viral, vial, steady, and exponentially increasing Jew hatred. I do not see why our time will be an anomaly. We are seeing Congressmen and women who actively support radical Islamic jihadist groups, either directly or indirectly. It is not entirely out of the question that in our lifetimes, the America we know as a safe place for the Jewish community will cease to exist — when the people who hate us will be more numerous than those who believe in our rights, and take over.

Therefore, it is imperative that we take a stand and actively engage with our local Jewish communities and local politicians. We must harness the power that we possess in numbers to mobilize, strengthen our unity, influence policy, and ultimately safeguard our democracy and preserve our Jewish identity and freedom.

Isidore Karten is a Jewish community leader at Park East Synagogue, and founder of Club 3g.

The post How We Should Respond to Kanye and Other Acts of Antisemitic Hate first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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.”

 

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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.

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

US President Donald Trump on Monday defended his controversial decision to accept a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar, lauding the overture from Doha as “a great gesture.”

“I think it’s a great gesture from Qatar. I appreciate it very much,” Trump said while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office. “I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’ But it was — I thought it was a great gesture.”

The US president argued that the Qatari government gifted him the jet because he has “helped them a lot over the years in terms of security and safety.”

Trump announced on Sunday night that the US Department of Defense would receive a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet as a “gift, free of charge” from Qatar. According to Trump, the jet will serve as a replacement to “the 40-year-old Air Force One.” The jet will be considered property of the US federal government until the end of Trump’s term in office, after which ownership of the aircraft will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation. 

Trump’s decision to accept the gift from Qatar sparked immediate backlash, with critics accusing the president of violating the Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution, which prohibits federal officials from accepting gifts from foreign countries without the consent of Congress, and compromising national security. 

The president’s plan to accept the lavish gift from Qatar has raised concern among foreign policy experts who worry that Doha could influence American policy in the Middle East. Qatar, a wealthy Gulf nation with substantial investments in US real estate and infrastructure, maintains a complex relationship with the Trump administration. Last month, Trump struck a deal to build a full 18-hole golf course in Qatar. 

Moreover, Qatar maintains extensive financial links with Hamas, the terrorist group that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza after slaughtering 1,200 people in Israel and taking 251 hostages on Oct. 7, 2023. Qatar has transferred an estimated $1.8 billion to the Hamas terror organization, according to reports. Doha also contributed $30 million per month to Hamas from 2012 to 2023, according to a Qatari official interviewed by Der Spiegel.

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