NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Comedian Bill Maher clashed with progressive commentator Ana Kasparian over Israel during the latest episode of his “Club Random” podcast, released Monday.
The two liberal commentators debated Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, with Kasparian arguing that Israel has unjustly waged the war and killed large numbers of civilians. Maher defended Israel, saying it had no choice but to continue the fight against Hamas following the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks.
“The fact that you can’t see the moral difference between these two sides always amazes me,” Maher told Kasparian partway through their discussion.
MAHER CALLS OUT KIMMEL FOR NOT THANKING HIM FOR SUPPORT AMID SUSPENSION, ACCUSES KIMMEL OF LIBERAL BIAS
The debate began with Maher arguing that liberal activists show hypocrisy by supporting the Palestinian cause while ignoring the lack of women’s rights in many Islamic countries.
Kasparian replied by asking whether the Palestinian people should be “slaughtered” for their customs, saying that’s what Israel’s doing to them.
Maher replied, “Well, you should prosecute a war to end it. That does involve slaughter—”
Kasparian interrupted, saying, “I think – listen – civilians get killed in wars. I think everyone knows that. Everyone acknowledges that.”
“Especially when you hide behind them!” Maher added.
Kasparian noted her disagreement, stating that Israel has allegedly killed many more civilians than Hamas combatants. She claimed that the IDF reported that 83% of all people killed in Gaza were civilians.
BILL MAHER ADMITS MORE ‘PERSPECTIVE’ ON GEORGE W BUSH DURING INTERVIEW WITH COUSIN BILLY, WANTS HIM ON PODCAST
Maher did not dispute the number, but said that innocents have been killed because Hamas fighters “hide behind them.”
He continued, “Do you understand that there’s very often in the world, two very bad choices and you only… You don’t have the good choice. You have the bad choice and the even worse choice. Israel has been being attacked by Hamas. First of all, the entire Arab world rejected them for 75 years. They kept trying to make a deal. They kept saying, ‘No, we want it all.’ That’s what ‘From the river to the sea’ means.”
Kasparian tried to illustrate her point, saying, “Let’s say our country was occupied by Mexico, right? We have a bunch of people who are occupying our land and then they decide, you know––”
“Well, it’s not your land and they weren’t occupying it,” Maher interrupted, finding fault with her analogy.
“Let me finish. Let’s say Mexico decides, ‘You know what, we’re going to leave, but we’re going to control their electricity, what goes in, what comes out.,” she continued.
Maher cut in again, “Because they were attacking them!”
“’We’re going to mow the lawn and just like randomly decide we’re going to slaughter people because they allegedly threw rocks,’” Kasparian added.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
She said, “I mean, Israel has nuclear weapons, Bill. They have nuclear weapons… They have the world’s military superpower backing them.”
Maher replied, noting her point shows how Israel shows restraint, something he added that Hamas refuses to do.
“If Hamas had a nuclear weapon, how many seconds would it take before they used it on Israel?” he asked.
“I have no idea,” she answered.
“Three. Three is the answer. Three seconds.”
Kasparian pushed back, asking, “How do you know that, Bill? Come on.”
“Because it’s in their charter,” Maher insisted.
Read the full article here
