Christiane Amanpour took a day off from her “truthful, not neutral” campaign on Saturday’s CNN Newsroom when she interviewed Palestinian National Initiative leader Mustafa Barghouti about the massive Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel. Not only did Barghouti naturally spew his propaganda, but he also surprised Amanpour, who apparently lives in such a thick bubble, was surprised when he declared he does not feel threatened by Hamas.
After Barghouti ran through his list of grievances, Amanpour declared that, “The international community and people certainly understand that, and we are obviously giving the narrative from your perspective right now. So, what I want to know from you is, you explain it, but Hamas is not on your side, it's not on the Palestinian Authority’s side, you are in the West Bank. And they are also threatening you—”
Barghouti interrupted to claim, “No, they are not. I don’t agree with that.” Elaborating, he added:
I don’t think Hamas threatens us, what threatens us is—are the Israeli settlers. What threatens us is the Israeli occupation. What threatens us is the fact that Israel never learns from its mistakes and from its history. And the same, in my opinion, as the American administration which fails to see things in an equal manner. The fact that we are looked at as if we are all terrorists, I mean look, it's not just Hamas that is described as terrorists, the American Congress considers the PLO, including Mr. Abbas, as terrorists, as well, so the issue here is are we, Palestinians, equal human beings or not?”
If you are upset at being called a terrorist, it is probably best not to commit acts of terrorism or at the very least, condemn them.
Barghouti kept going:
Are we allowed to resist occupation as international law says or not? Are we entitled to peace and security as well or not? If Israel has the right to defend itself, do Palestinians also have the right to defend themselves or not? That's the question and at this very moment since the beginning of this, Israel has already killed 220 Palestinians in Gaza including civilians, and injured 1,800 people.
Palestinian casualty reports are about as trustworthy as Chinese government-reported COVID statistics and there was a really easy way they could have been avoided.
Nevertheless, Barghouti continued:
I care about the life of everybody whether it's Palestinian or Israeli or anybody else. I don't want anybody to die but I also think we should be treated as equal human beings, and that means we are entitled to freedom. That means we are entitled to ending occupation. The main cause of what is going on is the continuous occupation is the fact that the world has been silent about Israeli crimes against Palestinian people.
Putting the framing aside, the idea that “the world” is “silent” is absurd. Earlier in the day, MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell blamed the Israelis for the attacks. As for Amanpour herself, in April 2022, then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called her a liar to her face when she blamed Israel for violence in the West Bank. Meanwhile, Amanpour’s original delusion about Barghouti also feeling threatened by Hamas should discredit the idea that he and his colleagues are peace partners.
Here is a transcript for the October 7 show:
CNN Newsroom
10/7/2023
12:54 PM ET
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: The international community and people certainly understand that, and we are obviously giving the narrative from your perspective right now. So, what I want to know from you is, you explain it, but Hamas is not on your side, it's not on the Palestinian Authority’s side, you are in the West Bank. And they are also threatening you—
MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: No, they are not.
AMANPOUR: Okay.
BARGHOUTI: I don’t agree with that.
AMANPOUR: Alright.
BARGHOUTI: I don’t think Hamas threatens us, what threatens us is—are the Israeli settlers—
AMANPOUR: Okay.
BARGHOUTI: What threatens us is the Israeli occupation. What threatens us is the fact that Israel never learns from its mistakes and from its history. And the same, in my opinion, as the American administration which fails to see things in an equal manner. The fact that we are looked at as if we are all terrorists, I mean look, it's not just Hamas that is described as terrorists, the American Congress considers the PLO, including Mr. Abbas, as terrorists, as well, so the issue here is are we, Palestinians, equal human beings or not?
Are we allowed to resist occupation as international law says or not? Are we entitled to peace and security as well or not? If Israel has the right to defend itself, do Palestinians also have the right to defend themselves or not? That's the question and at this very moment since the beginning of this, Israel has already killed 220 Palestinians in Gaza including civilians, and injured 1,800 people.
I care about the life of everybody whether it's Palestinian or Israeli or anybody else. I don't want anybody to die but I also think we should be treated as equal human beings, and that means we are entitled to freedom. That means we are entitled to ending occupation. The main cause of what is going on is the continuous occupation is the fact that the world has been silent about Israeli crimes against Palestinian people.
