The leader of a Jewish organization blamed pro-Palestinian Twitch streamer Hasan Piker for the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington on Wednesday night.
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, framed his argument that "extremists should not be empowered," presented during a CNN interview Thursday, around Piker's left-wing political commentary that is critical of Israel's actions in Gaza and the West Bank.
"But all of us need to call it out. I'm thinking about the New York Times doing a gauzy profile a few weeks ago of this gamer, Hasan Piker, who regularly employs awful genocidal rhetoric against Jewish people and the Jewish state," Greenblatt stated in a clip circulating on X.
"Extremists should not be empowered. People who spout prejudice should not be platformed," he continued. "This is a moment where we need to look ourselves in the mirror and say, 'we've gotta stop this because the consequences are deadly.'"
israel is an apartheid state doing a live-streamed genocide. i think it’s wrong and dangerous to conflate these heinous actions w jews. the apartheid defense league doesn’t because they think they can improve israel’s standing by silencing its critics. it won’t change the truth. https://t.co/9hTyDmSkxn
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) May 22, 2025
Piker, who was born in the U.S. but raised in Türkiye before returning to the States in 2010, called Greenblatt's baseless claim an attempt to censor himself and anyone with a platform who supports Palestine.
"Israel is an apartheid state doing a live-streamed genocide," Piker wrote in a response on X. "I think it's wrong and dangerous to conflate these heinous actions w jews. the apartheid defense league doesn't because they think they can improve Israel's standing by silencing its critics. It won't change the truth."
The 33-year-old streamer stated during his Twitch stream that Israel is guilty of pushing the "false notion" that all Jewish people support Israel. "Zionists and Israel rely on this sort of antisemitic sentiment exploding in the western world" to compel Jews to defend the occupation.
"That is the attitude the Israeli government broadly has. They don't mind antisemitism existing in the West. They actually benefit from it," Piker continued.
He also referenced the brutal murder of Wadea al-Fayoume, the 6-year-old boy who was stabbed 26 times by his 71-year-old neighbor one week after Oct. 7, 2023, and how little media attention it received.
"Nobody gives a f*** when Muslim kids, babies are f****** murdered. OK? Nobody cares. Nobody cares about Islamophobia. Like, not even a little bit," Piker prompted during his Thursday stream.
Piker made headlines just weeks ago after he was detained for hours by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents after landing in Chicago following a flight from Paris. He denounced the encounter, which he labeled "intimidating" and "deeply concerning." Piker is one of the top-viewed streamers, reaching an average of nearly 32,000 viewers daily.
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