Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, who is launching his own media company, traveled to CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip on Thursday to discuss the conflicting narratives behind the deaths of several Gazans who were gathered around an aid truck. While Hasan had no problems relying on Hamas-supplied statistics, he condemned the media for trusting the Israeli military while comparing it to Russian and Syrian dictators and war criminals Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad. At the same time, Hasan demanded the U.S. let Hamas off the hook by forcing Israel to end the war now.
Phillip asked, “Look, Israel, as we just laid out in the last few hours, have tried to frame this as a tragedy, but just not one that is their fault. The IDF says it fired warning shots to try to disperse the crowd around that convoy. Do you lend any credibility to that explanation? And from the eyes of the world, does it matter what the explanation is for what we saw unfold?”
The IDF also states that the warning shots came about as the crowd moved towards Israeli soldiers after armed looters opened fire at the aid convoy. However, for Hasan, the IDF should be treated like the police in America, “In terms of believing the Israelis, I would say that it took multiple innocent black people to die at the hands of police in this country, whether it's Breonna Taylor, whether it's Freddie Gray, whether it's George Floyd, for people in our industry, Abby, to start saying, well, maybe we shouldn't just blindly believe police statements after shootings happen.”
Even if one were to grant that point, it doesn’t follow that whatever the Palestinians say is accurate. For instance, Hasan condemned the IDF for saying there was “a command and control center under the Al-Shifa Hospital,” when we know that there were tunnels and weapons found there despite all the claims to the contrary.
Phillip’s omission of the IDF’s claim that armed looters were present was important because absent that information, Hasan’s claims look more plausible than they are “Doctors say that the bodies they got at the hospital, you showed the pictures of people on donkeys, were mostly bullet wounds, not stampede wounds. The Israelis opened fire on hungry people trying to get flour, it's being called a flour massacre for that reason.”
Moving from the local incident to the bigger picture, Hasan added, “And you asked, is it a tipping point? I mean, in any normal world, it should be. In any other conflict, it would be, Abby. When Putin did stuff like this in Ukraine, we condemned him. When Assad did stuff like this in Syria, we condemned him.”
Israel is fighting because it is defending itself after being attacked in the most brutal way on October 7. Vladimir Putin is fighting Ukraine because he thinks he’s the heir to Catherine the Great’s imperial legacy. Speaking of Putin and Assad, there have been more people killed, according to the U.N. in specific Syrian cities than in all of Gaza.
Later, Hasan turned his ire to the U.S. and after claiming the media should not treat IDF statements as fact, he treated Hamas statistics as fact, “Joe Biden has the power to pick up the phone and end this war. He can ring the Israeli prime minister and say, we're cutting you off. We're cutting off aid. We're cutting off armaments. Israel, Israelis themselves, Israeli generals, say we can't do this war without America. He hasn't done it. He didn't do it after 10,000 dead. He didn't do it after 20,000 dead. Today, we crossed 30,000 dead.”
An end to the war now means Hamas survives and lives to violate whatever ceasefire Hasan demands, but he doesn’t care “How on earth has he not stopped the war until now? How on earth are we still debating this?”
Hasan would also claim, “It simply is get a ceasefire and it is within his power to get a ceasefire. It's within the power of the U.N. Security Council to get a ceasefire. Remember, the rest of the world wants a ceasefire. It's America that has blocked us at the U.N. Security Council. Even other Western nations have backed a ceasefire. It's Biden blocking it.”
As shocking as it may be for Hasan to believe, what is right is not determined by roll call votes at the United Nations.
Here is a transcript for the February 29 show:
CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip
2/29/2024
10:05 PM ET
ABBY PHILLIP: Look, Israel, as we just laid out in the last few hours, have tried to frame this as a tragedy, but just not one that is their fault. The IDF says it fired warning shots to try to disperse the crowd around that convoy. Do you lend any credibility to that explanation? And from the eyes of the world, does it matter what the explanation is for what we saw unfold?
MEHDI HASAN: Well, Abby, thanks so much for having me on the show, and thank you for that very important, very powerful intro you did just there.
In terms of believing the Israelis, I would say that it took multiple innocent black people to die at the hands of police in this country, whether it's Breonna Taylor, whether it's Freddie Gray, whether it's George Floyd, for people in our industry, Abby, to start saying, well, maybe we shouldn't just blindly believe police statements after shootings happen.
And I feel that we still haven't quite reached that point in the Middle East with the Israeli military. The Israeli military tend to say things that turn out not to be true, both before Gaza, when they killed Shireen Abu Akhle, a U.S. citizen, and lied about it, or during this conflict, so many lies the Israeli military has told about, you know, a terrorist guard list under the Rantisi Hospital, a command and control center under the Al-Shifa Hospital, a documentary in Lebanon that they claimed was Palestinians faking their own wounds, so many, you can't even count. And now we are told today, well, actually, it was just a stampede, even though eyewitnesses, Abby, say that the Israelis opened fire, Israeli tanks opened fire, without warning, according to one eyewitness in the Washington Post.
Doctors say that the bodies they got at the hospital, you showed the pictures of people on donkeys, were mostly bullet wounds, not stampede wounds. The Israelis opened fire on hungry people trying to get flour, it's being called a flour massacre for that reason.
And you asked, is it a tipping point? I mean, in any normal world, it should be. In any other conflict, it would be, Abby. When Putin did stuff like this in Ukraine, we condemned him. When Assad did stuff like this in Syria, we condemned him.
Then Israel starves hundreds of thousands of people and then shoots people who go to get flour, where's the condemnation from the United States government? The State Department spokesman would not condemn Israel today. So, it's a tragedy. Is it a tipping point? I wish it was. I suspect it isn't.
PHILLIP: What President Biden has said is that he has acknowledged the events that happened and says it will likely complicate the negotiations that they've been working on for a temporary ceasefire. From Biden's perspective, do you think this could be the incident that pushes him to actually rethink how he approaches this relationship with this particular Israeli government and this war?
HASAN: As I argued in a Guardian piece recently, Joe Biden has the power to pick up the phone and end this war. He can ring the Israeli prime minister and say, we're cutting you off. We're cutting off aid. We're cutting off armaments. Israel, Israelis themselves, Israeli generals, say we can't do this war without America. He hasn't done it. He didn't do it after 10,000 dead. He didn't do it after 20,000 dead. Today, we crossed 30,000 dead.
You have to ask the question why this is a man who's seen as the great comforter-in-chief, the great empath, has had huge personal tragedy in his own family and yet 30,000 Palestinians, according to his own Defense secretary today, 25,000 women and children. How on earth has he not stopped the war until now? How on earth are we still debating this?
And, Abby, on the situation on aid, I've just got to point out here, four out of five of the hungriest people in the world are in Gaza right now. Even with or without those aid trucks, people are starving. A two- month-old baby called Mahmoud Fatou (ph) starved to death earlier this week in Gaza. This is not a natural disaster. This is a man-made famine. Food is plentiful. It's available. It's a few miles away, and yet it's being blocked. In fact, at the Israeli crossing, I don't know how many CNN viewers know, people are putting up bouncy castles, Israeli protesters, and eating popcorn and candy-- cotton candy and blocking the aid. That is crazy.
PHILLIP: Do you think, Mehdi, that there is -- look, I think you understand that President -- you say President Biden can just pick up the phone and cut it all off. You also understand he probably won't do that. So, if you were to give him advice today, knowing what he is likely to be able to get to a yes on, what is the one thing that you think he should do today that would make this better, marginally better tomorrow for Gazans?
HASAN: It simply is get a ceasefire and it is within his power to get a ceasefire. It's within the power of the U.N. Security Council to get a ceasefire. Remember, the rest of the world wants a ceasefire. It's America that has blocked us at the U.N. Security Council. Even other Western nations have backed a ceasefire. It's Biden blocking it.
