Hassan Pekar's defense using incendiary terms such as "Hamkhon" or "Zionist pig" against opponents
In an interview with NPR on Thursday, Hassan Pikar defended calling anti-Zionist opponents "Zionists" and "Zionist pigs," saying the language targets ideology, not background.
Hassan Pikar addresses the opposition by using expressions such as "blood" and "Zionist pig".
Twitch streamer Hassan Pikar spoke to NPR about the use of inflammatory language such as "bloody" or "Zionist pig" in his videos, and defended them as common slurs.
In a lengthy interview with NPR on Thursday, Twitch streamer Hassan Pikar defended his use of controversial terms such as "inbred" and "Zionist pig" against opponents.
NPR's Leila Fadel asked Peeker about the backlash and controversy she's faced and whether they're related to her provocative remarks or the fact that "Hassan's name is good." Pekar acknowledged his incendiary rhetoric, but believes most of the backlash against him was due to his background.
"Of course, you know, I say incendiary things, but when a person who's white, Christian, born and raised in America says incendiary things, it doesn't reflect the same," Peeker said.
Hasan Pekar's radical views on America, Israel and socialism
Fadel then asked why someone who felt "dehumanized" as he did would use dehumanizing language, especially against Jewish opponents.
"When you hear people say, 'Why do you use dehumanizing language like some ultra-orthodox Jews or Zionist pigs?', what do you say to them as someone who has felt that way?" Fazel asked.
"So, that's a very good question. I have a policy of being unkind to those who bully others, and to be unkind to those who follow certain ideologies. The damage is great," Peeker said.
"As far as the language that I use that is considered dehumanizing like 'in-breed', it's language that I usually use as a pejorative towards right-wing reactionary ideology, ethnic supremacist ideology, neo-Nazi ideology, considering that these hegemonic hegemonic ideologies are often around the hegemonic hegemony ideologies. I'm going to take that as a proper insult. Of course, it is not going to be taken seriously."
Picker added that he applies the same principle to the term "pig," arguing that it uses the same language "across the board" for different purposes regardless of their background.
Hassan Pikar admitted that he deleted his comments after public and democratic reactions.
"Sometimes it gets hot," he said. "I am a passionate boy. I get angry. You know, I have to explain my frustration, express my frustration somehow. Obviously, a very different format than what we have here."
"But, you know, I think a lot of people feel that way," Packer added. "A lot of people get very frustrated. It's never directed at someone for their true background. It's usually their actions or their belief system. And almost always, it's their reactionary belief system that causes me to call them a pig or a race itself or something like that."
"Jewish people know what happens when hate becomes acceptable," the group said. "Throughout history, massacres and persecutions were fueled by lies that made Jews less than human. The Holocaust showed the world where the systematic dehumanization of Jews could lead."
"On October 7, 2023, Hamas committed massacres, rapes, mass torture and mass hostage-taking, the deadliest massacre of our people since the Holocaust," the IAC statement added. "For us, the consequences of anti-Semitic hatred are not an abstract issue."
Hasan Pikar disagrees with "deliberately provocative" and claims that Hamas is "a thousand times better than Israel."
In January, Piker was banned from Twitch for seven days for using the term "Zionist pig" and has repeatedly attacked Zionism and Israel.
Although he has campaigned with several Democratic candidates, some Democrats distanced themselves in August after Pecker warned American Jews they could face violence if they continued to support Israel.
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