NY Israel Consul General Calls Al Jazeera Host ‘Bigot’

The Consul General to Israel in New York, Dani Dayan, called Al Jazeera host Mehdi Hasan a “bigot” in an Aug. 22 Twitter exchange between the two on anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism.

It all started with Hasan saying on CNN earlier in the day that “lots of anti-Semites support Israel and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu.

"We need to deal with this very dangerous idea that says being pro-Jewish means you have to be pro-Israeli or being pro-Israeli means you're automatically pro-Jewish & you're immunized from the charge of anti-Semitsm. Lots of anti-Semites support Israel & Netanyahu." -me on @CNN: pic.twitter.com/I9vJCwS8gB

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) August 22, 2019

CNN contributor Peter Beinart defended Hasan’s remarks in a tweet that stating that Hasan “has a long and courageous record of calling [anti-Semitism] out even within his own community.”

in case you think @mehdirhasan only condemns anti-Semitism from the right, he has a long and courageous record of calling it out even within his own community. this is what a real ally looks like https://t.co/qPpptBh6lP https://t.co/rZusTAZjqk

— Peter Beinart (@PeterBeinart) August 22, 2019

Dayan then responded to Beinart’s tweet, stating, “I know @mehdirhasan personally. I have no doubt he doesn’t hate Jews per se. He – a self-described Anti-Zionist – ‘only’ denies Jews the right of self-determination in any part of their homeland. A ‘small’ thing. Call it what you like but that’s blatant bigotry.”

I know @mehdirhasan personally. I have no doubt he doesn’t hate Jews per se. He – a self-described Anti-Zionist – “only” denies Jews the right of self-determination in any part of their homeland. A “small” thing. Call it what you like but that’s blatant bigotry. https://t.co/YZqxniywoh

— Dani Dayan (@AmbDaniDayan) August 22, 2019

Hasan said his claims on anti-Zionism were “false” and tweeted that it was “rich” for Dayan to accuse him of bigotry when he was “the former chair of the West Bank settlers council – settlers being among the biggest bunch of racists around.”

https://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1164674346742419456

Dayan shared a photo of one of Hasan’s prior tweets that read, “I consider myself an anti-Zionist and critic of the Israeli settler state and its ongoing ethnic cleansing project” but urges people to be careful with criticizing Zionism given the rise of anti-Semitism.

“False claims re anti Zionism”, Mehdi? FALSE?! https://t.co/CnimiTETVG pic.twitter.com/L9QGK6H7U8

— Dani Dayan (@AmbDaniDayan) August 22, 2019

Hasan then clarified he meant that anti-Zionism isn’t anti-Semitism; Dayan doubled down on calling Hasan a “bigot” and argued that Hasan never denied “my claim that you deny the Jewish People the right of self-determination in ANY part of its homeland” and to “enjoy the ‘likes’ from the anti-Semitic crowd.”

https://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1164676656163950593

I didn’t say you are an antisemite. I said you are a bigot. And a bigot you are. https://t.co/uax4jSTryx

— Dani Dayan (@AmbDaniDayan) August 22, 2019

You’re the official representative of a government that practices apartheid in the Occupied Territories, and treats Arabs at home as second-class citizens while referring to African asylum-seekers as ‘infiltrators’. As I said, bit rich of you to be lecturing *anyone* on bigotry. https://t.co/J2l9CvVPei

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) August 22, 2019

Mehdi, you had 4 tweets to reject my claim that you deny the Jewish People the right of self-determination in ANY part of its homeland. You didn’t. Instead you attacked me, Israel & boasted abt a debate. I REST MY CASE. Good night and enjoy the “likes” from the antisemitic crowd https://t.co/Px14UvFBL7

— Dani Dayan (@AmbDaniDayan) August 22, 2019

Sorry, the “antizionist” crowd. My mistake…

— Dani Dayan (@AmbDaniDayan) August 22, 2019

David Reaboi, vice president of the Security Studies Group think tank, wrote in a May Jewish Journal cover story that Al Jazeera, Hasan’s employer, “pushes a stream of vile, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, and attempts to rile up religious and extremist Muslims against attempts at positive, human rights reforms in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states” in their Arabic channel. But in their English AJ+ network, they masquerade as “progressive and left-wing” in order “to obscure the Islamist-run network and to appeal to younger people in the West.”