On Tuesday afternoon, MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin was again putting his anti-Israel bias on display as he pressed both right-leaning and left-leaning guests from the left, alleging the mistreatment of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli military and police forces.
Speaking with Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks, Mohyeldin demanded: "Why doesn't what you said there, that it is our responsibility to also hold them in check, apply to Israel killing innocent Palestinian men, women and children with American weapons?"
The MSNBC host -- who has a history of repeating anti-Israel hate -- began his eponymous show by speaking with Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, and soon accused officers of attacking Palestinian Muslim civilians while they were worshiping:
Let me play for you this video. These are your troops storming down Al Aqsa mosque lobbing tear gas and stun grenades at men, women and children, including the elderly, that were worshiping there. What message do you think that sends? That your troops attacking and desecrating holy sites during a holy period?
After Rosenfeld recounted that police forces were reacting to people rioting, not worshiping, Mohyeldin made a reference to George Floyd's treatment in the U.S. as he showed video of Israeli police officers holding down a Palestinian man in a similar manner, but admitted he did not know what started the altercation. The MSNBC host persisted in calling East Jerusalem "occupied" as he did so for a second time in posing:
This video here ... shows Israeli police arresting a man with what appears to be his knee on the neck of that young Palestinian man. We don't know what happened that led to this arrest -- what happened right before the video. It's a moment that drew a lot of comparisons to what happened in this country with brutal police tactics. What do you say to those in the international community -- certainly American members of Congress and others -- who have been critical of the ways Israeli police have been treating Palestinians?
...
You have Israeli settlers -- there's video of this -- Israeli settlers in occupied East Jerusalem, in Sheikh Jarrah, with weapons, sometimes throwing rocks and stones back at the Palestinians. They're not subjugated to the same kind of tactics that you are applying to the Palestinians there. Why is that?
Rosenfeld, who earlier corrected Mohyeldin's claim that metal detectors were recently used on Muslim worshipers, called out the MSNBC host for "again giving misinformation" as he responded:
Once again, you are referring to settlers, and you are once again giving misinformation. We're talking about the Israelis who live inside Sheikh Jarrah. According to the Israeli law, there are also Arabs who live in Sheikh Jarrah who went inside apartments that don't belong to them. ... However, what is taking place on the ground, technically, is we have extremists who are arriving in the area -- Israeli Arabs as well as Palestinians -- that have come in from Ramallah and other areas and have been involved in full-scale riots and protests attacking Jewish houses, and, unfortunately, whenever necessary, our police officers have to respond using nonlethal weapons.
After speaking with the Israeli spokesman, the MSNBC host then moved to speaking with Congressman Meeks, and pressed the liberal congressman about the U.S. arming the Israelis. At one point, he played a clip of Meeks questioning whether the U.S. should supply arms to Saudi Arabia after civilians were killed, leading Mohyeldin to pose: "Congressman, why doesn't what you said there, that it is our responsibility to also hold them in check, apply to Israel killing innocent Palestinian men, women and children with American weapons?"
This episode of MSNBC's Ayman Mohyeldin Reports was sponsored in part by Verizon. Click on the link to let them know what you think.
Transcript follows. Click "expand" to read more.
MSNBC
Ayman Mohyeldin Reports
May 18, 2021
3:05 p.m. Eastern
AYMAN MOHYELDIN: Let me play for you this video. These are your troops storming down Al Aqsa mosque lobbing tear gas and stun grenades at men, women and children, including the elderly, that were worshiping there. What message do you think that sends? That your troops attacking and desecrating holy sites during a holy period?
SUPERINTENDENT MICKY ROSENFELD, ISRAEL POLICE FOREIGN AFFAIRS SPOKESMAN: You said they were worshiping there. I don't see people worshiping in that video -- and I've seen that video. People were not worshiping there. What took place, unfortunately, there were thousands of people outside the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount which you cannot see from this video which you're showing your viewers now. They threw stones and had petrol bombs to throw at police officers who were located at the gate. What you can see now is after police officers entered the area, officers threw stun grenades at the entrance in order to clear out thousands of people.
We were preventing a stampede on the Temple Mount, and we were quickly clearing out the area. It looks like a lot of commotion, but, realistically, what was taking place is we were preventing thousands of people from outside from being injured and involved in a full-scale riot which was initiated by Palestinians inside the mosque, as you can see, wearing masks, covering their heads, and attacking police officers.
(CROSSTALK)
MOHYELDIN: Yes, just because I want to cover a lot of ground with you, and I know your time is limited. Let's talk about Sheikh Jarrah for a moment. This video here, I want to show it for you. It shows Israeli police arresting a man with what appears to be his knee on the neck of that young Palestinian man. We don't know what happened that led to this arrest -- what happened right before the video. It's a moment that drew a lot of comparisons to what happened in this country with brutal police tactics. What do you say to those in the international community -- certainly American members of Congress and others -- who have been critical of the ways Israeli police have been treating Palestinians? You have Israeli settlers -- there's video of this -- Israeli settlers in occupied East Jerusalem, in Sheikh Jarrah, with weapons, sometimes throwing rocks and stones back at the Palestinians. They're not subjugated to the same kind of tactics that you are applying to the Palestinians there. Why is that?
ROSENFELD: Once again, you are referring to settlers, and you are once again giving misinformation. We're talking about the Israelis who live inside Sheikh Jarrah. According to the Israeli law, there are also Arabs who live in Sheikh Jarrah who went inside apartments that don't belong to them. We will leave and wait for the courts to decide what that issue will be. However, what is taking place on the ground, technically, is we have extremists who are arriving in the area -- Israeli Arabs as well as Palestinians -- that have come in from Ramallah and other areas and have been involved in full-scale riots and protests attacking Jewish houses, and, unfortunately, whenever necessary, our police officers have to respond using nonlethal weapons.
There's no comparison whatsoever between a 30-second clip of the video. You have to understand the broader picture. The Israeli police are taking control of the situation, calming the situation down. I was in Sheikh Jarrah just an hour and a half ago where there were about 400 people who came to that area to be involved in a full-scale incident. The situation is much calmer than it was, and we're hoping that, over the next few days as well.
(...)
3:13 p.m.
MOHYELDIN: As you know, earlier this month, the Biden administration approved a more than $700 million arms sale to Israel. The committee you chair has two more days to decide whether or not it wants to object to that arms sale with the international community calling for a ceasefire in the current conflict. Is this the right time to approve another arms deal to Israel?
(...)
MOHYELDIN: Interesting you brought up the Abraham reports on some of the Gulf countries. In June of 2019, your committee held a hearing on emergency arms sales where you actually shared your concerns about selling weapons to American allies like Saudi Arabia for their ongoing conflict in Yemen. Let me play for you what you said back then. Watch.
CONGRESSMAN GREGORY MEEKS (D-PA): When I think about the tragedy that continues to take place in Yemen, and the killing of innocent people, in that regard, I believe it is our responsibility to also hold them in check. (editing jump) So the concern that members of Congress have had was about how our partners were using the weapons that they received and how that was fueling the conflict in Yemen and creating the worst humanitarian catastrophe possibly in the world.
MOHYELDIN: Congressman, why doesn't what you said there, that it is our responsibility to also hold them in check, apply to Israel killing innocent Palestinian men, women and children with American weapons?
