Jerry Seinfeld likened the Free Palestine movement to the Ku Klux Klan — even saying those who use the phrase “Free Palestine” are worse than the white supremacist group — at a student event at Duke University meant to honor hostages who are being held in Gaza.

Seinfeld spoke at the school in Durham, North Carolina, to introduce a former Israeli hostage, Omer Shem Tov, when he made the remarks, according to the university’s student newspaper, The Duke Chronicle. He reportedly started by saying, in reference to the Free Palestine activist movement, “Just say you don’t like Jews.”

“By saying ‘Free Palestine,’ you’re not admitting what you really think. So it’s actually — compared to the Ku Klux Klan, I’m actually thinking the Klan is actually a little better here, because they can come right out and say, ‘We don’t like Blacks, we don’t like Jews.’ Okay, that’s honest,'" the Chronicle reported Seinfeld said.

  • ideonek@piefed.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    55
    ·
    22 hours ago

    Silent part of this abhorrent argument is that as long as at least one Palestinian live, there is no certainty that Hamas was completly destroyed.

    • CannonFodder@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      20
      ·
      20 hours ago

      No. They could lay down arms, stop firing rockets at Israel, and return hostages. How hard is that to grasp?

        • CannonFodder@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          12
          ·
          18 hours ago

          Weasel out of what? I’ve alsready condemned what Israel is doing. Just as I condemn what Hamas is doing. You?

            • CannonFodder@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              11
              ·
              18 hours ago

              Yes, indirectly. Whenever any blame is put on Hamas it gets a barrage of deflection attacking Israeli actions. Some people even outright support Hamas and cite Israel’s actions.

              • Whostosay@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                8
                ·
                18 hours ago

                The bottom line is that there is an objectively worse party between the two. They are in the middle of carrying out an active genocide. They’re both terrible organizations, we all understand that. One is systematically starving, imprisoning innocent people on an extremely large scale, including children.

                We have nearly every “developed” nation supporting that. People are justifiably vilifying Israel for painfully obvious reasons.

                • CannonFodder@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  arrow-down
                  9
                  ·
                  18 hours ago

                  Worse right now yes. But Hamas is purposefully keeping it going too, it’s a pretty close 2nd. Hamas ramped this thing up in the Oct attacks for nothing but for getting social media hits of Gaza civilians getting smoked by Israel’s garunteed response. Hamas purposely put Israel in a position where they’d need to respond brutally. It doesn’t excuse Israel’s actions now of course, but I think Hamas should share more of the responsibility than what posters here seem to realize.

      • kreskin@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        edit-2
        12 hours ago

        And Israel could have ended this on October 8 by releasing the thousands Palestinian hostages they were holding without charges, without trial, in prisons treat viciously. Thats what Hamas asked for and why. Hamas took hostages to trade back their people with.
        Israel wanted to keep holding people without charge and have a reason to bomb and steal from civilians more than they wanted their own hostages back.

        • CannonFodder@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          8
          ·
          16 hours ago

          That’s one of the things they asked for. They also demand the elimination of the state of Israel and vowed for there never to be peace until that happened.

          • hark@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            7 hours ago

            Why shouldn’t the genocidal apartheid ethnostate known as israel be eliminated the same way nazi germany was?

          • kreskin@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            11 hours ago

            If I had a shekel for every nonsensical argument Israel frames as “elimination of the state of israel” or “kill us all” or “drive us into the sea”, I’d be a rich person.

            Hamas did not demand the elimination of the state of Israel. You’re just making stuff up.

            This is why peace negotiations with zionists are so hopeless. You lie about whats going on because you never wanted peace, you just want to not be seen as murderers and thieves. Look at the polls, thats not working. Even in the US. You need to stop digging the hole you are standing in and start being honest here.

            • CannonFodder@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              11 hours ago

              It’s in Hamas’ charter. It’s what they chant. I know you don’t want believe that narrative (me neither), but that doesn’t make it less so.
              I’m not an Israeli or a Jew or affiliated to any degree except I have some Jewish friends - some who live or who have lived in Israel, just as I have some Palestinian friends. Palestinians that I’ve talked to who are out of the control of Hamas say that Hamas is pure evil. Such Palestinians don’t support the killing of civilians in Gaza any more that I do and they see Israel’s latest policies as abhorrent, as do I. Of course most of them got out of that area of the world when they had a chance because they recognize that there’s too many stubborn assholes on both sides that will never accept any feasible peace despite the incredible harm such a position does.

      • eclipse@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        17 hours ago

        Have you considered that killing people’s children (directly or indirectly through forces like starvation, lack of medical care, etc.) might be one of the best recruitment motivators for Hamas?

        • CannonFodder@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          5
          ·
          17 hours ago

          Yeah, it’s probably not great for Israel long term. But Hamas will never allow peace while Israel exists. Kinda fucked up all around.

          • kreskin@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            11 hours ago

            Yeah, it’s probably not great for Israel long term.

            “Not great” you say?

            Israel may end up nuked. It seems inevitable at this point. And its like zionists couldnt care less about the danger they put themselves and the rest of the world in.

      • michaelmrose@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        18 hours ago

        Militants are on the order of 1 in 40 people in Gaza. Even if they should lay down their arms Israel should still push them off their lands and kill them to make way for illegal settlers as they have been doing