Israel has been violating human rights since the beginning, and invading other countries and bombing them has become the new normal. Israel attacks first and then claims that the other party provoked it into taking such heinous steps, but the reality is quite the opposite. Despite all this, Israelis continue to defend their actions. Mehdi Hasan, a well-known British-American journalist, held up a mirror to Israel’s conduct during his appearance on Piers Morgan’s program, directly confronting former IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus.
Mehdi Hasan argued that Israel initiated escalations by bombing Iranian and regional targets, including a consulate, actions that violated international law. He condemned Jonathan Conricus for defending a government and military accused of committing war crimes and atrocities. Mehdi referenced credible reports of Israel’s military using human shields, committing sexual violence, and causing starvation in Gaza. Ultimately, he questioned the spokesperson’s moral standing in defending these war crimes.
Here is what Mehdi Hasan said during the interview, confronting the Western media for overlooking Israeli crimes:
I know you can’t handle brown people being part of the West. I’m an American, and I barely started, but he doesn’t want people to hear what’s going on. Israel attacked Iran first in Syria. They bombed an Iranian consulate, violating international law and diplomatic norms. They killed Iranians in Iran, then bombed Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, struck the Iranian capital, and then bombed Beirut, killing a senior Iranian general. So, actually, it was Israel that provoked this.
We’re going to talk about lectures? Keep your lectures to yourself and be embarrassed for the government you served. The issue isn’t about you living in the region—it’s about the army you served in and the country you were a spokesperson for. That country illegally occupies land in the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights, and now, again, Lebanon. The problem isn’t your home; it’s about taking other people’s homes.
According to Haaretz this week, Israel is now aiming to annex Gaza. Netanyahu has no interest in saving the hostages; he never did. He’s eyeing annexation instead. I don’t understand how Jonathan still comes on these shows and defends this level of barbarism and open war crimes. How does he sleep at night, watching people burn to death, thanks to the military he served in? That same military is now being investigated by both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
That’s what you stand for: you served in the Israeli military, which is now under investigation by the ICJ and ICC. The UN, Israeli media, and major international outlets have reported on mass rape of Palestinian detainees. The New York Times reported that your military used Palestinian children as human shields in booby-trapped tunnels and buildings.
Is that what you did, Jonathan? Did you ever send a Palestinian child into a tunnel as a human shield? The New York Times says your military did. The World Food Program says your military is starving people in northern Gaza. Did you participate in that? What do you stand for, starvation, mass rape, ethnic cleansing, genocide? Every major human rights group in the world accuses your military of abusing human rights.
I don’t know how many human rights you personally violated. I don’t know if you turned a blind eye to rape under your custody.
