Some on the right might have thought Hell froze over the last couple of weeks when they found themselves largely agreeing with the majority of the cast of ABC’s The View on something: Israel was the victim of a terrible terrorist attack and Hamas needed to be stamped out. Those same people might have thought pigs were flying on Tuesday as co-host Joy Behar slammed Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI) for spewing lies about Israel bombing a hospital in Gaza.
The growing antisemitism in the world since the October 7attack on Israel was at the top of mind for Behar. Near the top of the show, she pointed out that much of the anti-Israel hatred going around was actually just antisemitism (Click “expand”):
BEHAR: I'm going to ask the panel a question, when they say that you can be anti-Zionist or anti-Israeli policies that doesn't make you anti-Semitic, right? They always say that. Then why do people become anti-Semitic based on what is going on in Israel? Do you understand my question?
SARA HAINES: I think they were always anti-Semitic.
BEHAR: Let me just give you some – 153anti-Semitic incidents recorded from October 7th to the 18th. And there’s an increase of 54 percent from the same period last year. So, there are anti-Semitic incidents.
“It's heartbreaking what’s going on, but people have to speak out against all of that, all bigotry, all antisemitism. We cannot remain silent,” she said.
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin proclaimed that the “never again” the world promised after the Holocaust was needed “right now.” She lamented: “My Jewish friends had to sit and hear people blame them for the slaughter of innocent Jews while the bodies were still warm, while they were still mourning their loss.” “They are one of the only people groups on Earth whose right to exist is constantly questioned,” she noted.
Farah Griffin then called out Tlaib and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for “dabbled in dangerous anti-Semitism.” This inspired Behar to dish out her own condemnation. “Rashid[a] still will not admit that that attack on the hospital came from Hamas. They have video showing it but she goes out there and lies like Trump,” Behar decried.
Co-host Sara Haines didn’t like the lack of rage at Hamas for how they treated the residents of Gaza terribly, and couldn’t understand the disparity. “Where is the rage when people talk about them living, Palestinians living in an open-air [prison] that the governing body intercepts aid? Whereas Israel built bomb shelters to protect its people, Hamas built tunnels to further attack its neighbors,” she called them out.
Of course, anti-Semite Sunny Hostin had to ruin the nice thing the rest of the cast had going on. After suggesting that people were playing into Hamas’s hands by being angry after the attack, Hostin bizarrely declared that “the first time…we are now learning the historical context around the conflict.”
And she was glad people were discussing it because “people have always been very afraid to talk about the conflict and be labeled an anti-Semite.”
People know the history of the conflict, Sunny. It was never a secret. We also know the anti-Semitic dog whistle you were using when you talked about the “context.” It’s code for ‘Israel brought it on themselves.’
Getting the history wrong, Hostin also falsely claimed Israel had “illegal occupations” and “illegal settlements” in Gaza. Israel removed occupation forces from Gaza in 2005 in an attempt to placate Palestinians and get them to stop attacking. Israel also did not have settlements in the Gaza Strip.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
October 24, 2023
11:03:47 a.m. Eastern(…)
JOY BEHAR: The fact that antisemitism is on the rise in this country makes me – I'm going to ask the panel a question, when they say that you can be anti-Zionist or anti-Israeli policies that doesn't make you anti-Semitic, right? They always say that. Then why do people become anti-Semitic based on what is a going on in Israel? Do you understand my question?
SARA HAINES: I think they were always anti-Semitic.
BEHAR: Let me just give you some – 153anti-Semitic incidents recorded from October 7th to the 18th. And there’s an increase of 54 percent from the same period last year. So, there are anti-Semitic incidents.
And you worry about the children, you know, the schools, the temples, we worry about black children being afraid of the police, that a black kid you always talk about your son, Sunny. And now these children have to worry. It's heartbreaking what’s going on, but people have to speak out against all of that, all bigotry, all antisemitism. We cannot remain silent. I think there's a lot of silence right now.
(…)
11:05:47 a.m. Eastern
SUNNY HOSTIN: And because a terror attack causes so much anger and grief and fear, which is what terrorists intend to do. And so what happened October 7th, I think, shocked the conscience so much that the reaction of most Americans, anyone with a heart, was anger and fear and that's what the intention was. And so I agree with you, Whoopi. We heard a lot of that but for the first time I think in my lifetime at least as a person I've often said my grandfather is Jewish, as a person of Jewish ancestry, we are now learning the historical context around the conflict.
And I think people have always been very afraid to talk about the conflict and be labeled an anti-Semite. So, an answer to your question, I agree with Sara. There's always been racism this this country. This country was --
BEHAR: But it’s increased – 54 percent increase.
HOSTIN: This country was founded, unfortunately, on racism.
HAINES: It was given permission.
HOSTIN: It was given permission. And people have been anti-Semitic since like the beginning of time in the country. I'm sorry.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: It’s insane. Yes. Unfortunately it’s true.
HOSTIN: The Band-Aid has been ripped off but now what we are hearing is this is a humanitarian crisis now. And most people --
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: Well, it’s both. It’s also a terrorist crisis because Hamas is still in power. There's still likely Hamas militants in Israel from what we're hearing and still hostages being held. So, it’s both a terrorist attack and it is a humanitarian crisis.
But I want to say. So, every year on Holocaust Remembrance Day we say, “never again.” And never again should 6 million Jews be murdered because of bigotry and hatred and the world remained silent for too long. “Never again” is right now. There is a duty –
My Jewish friends had to sit and hear people blame them for the slaughter of innocent Jews while the bodies were still warm, while they were still mourning their loss. They didn't get a chance to mourn what happened to the over thousand Jews that were killed before places – and some of these were walked back – Harvard graduate students said, “We the undersigned organizations hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for the unfolding violence.” NYU Student Bar Association president said, “Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life,” one day after the attack that killed over a thousand innocent Israelis.
Now, Harvard walked that statement back and said the university doesn't stand by it. But that is what Jews have faced since before the Holocaust, but since the Holocaust. They are one of the only people groups on Earth whose right to exist is constantly questioned.
BEHAR: Constantly! Throughout history.
FARAH GRIFFIN: And they have to defend it. And it's right, left, center. I'll call it out when it's on the right, so I’m going to call it out when it’s on the left. Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar; they have dabbled in dangerous anti-Semitism at a time where – I think of the young people –
BEHAR: She – Rashid still will not admit that that attack on the hospital came from Hamas. They have video showing it but she goes out there and lies like Trump.
FARAH GRIFFIN: And this broke my heart. Just real quick. 57 percent of Jewish students on college campuses report experiencing an anti-Semitic incident.
HAINES: What I don’t understand is the rage at – also, you can say Israel has questionable policies. A lot of Israelis feel that. Jewish people feel that. I've seen that. They have questionable policies. Where is the rage when people talk about them living, Palestinians living in an open air [prison] that the governing body intercepts aid? Whereas Israel built bomb shelters to protect its people, Hamas built tunnels to further attack its neighbors.
This is – What it comes down to, you are either pro-co-existence which means Israel has a right to exist and Palestine. Obama quotes in his speech that there have been instances in which previous Israeli governments made meaningful efforts to resolve the dispute and provide a path to a two-state solution, efforts that were ultimately rebuffed time and time by the other side.
BEHAR: That's true.
HOSTIN: What I would remind everyone is if you look at your history, Hamas and the Palestinians -- Hamas hasn't had a free democratic election since 2005.
HAINES: And that deserves rage! They are overpowered by a terrorist organization.
BEHAR: That’s on Hamas.
HOSTIN: And so, the Palestinian people have not elected their government. That's the one thing --
FARAH GRIFFIN: No, they’re living in subjugation by Hamas.
HOSTIN: Yes. But the other thing is –
BEHAR: But they blame Israel for their subjugation instead of Hamas.
HAINES: They could be killed. They could be killed for saying—
HOSITN: There have been illegal occupations. There have been illegal settlements.
GOLDBERG: I'll stop you because he's -- we have to go to break.
