Jerry Seinfeld likened the Free Palestine movement to the Ku Klux Klan — even saying those who use the phrase "Free Palestine" are worse than the white supremacist group — at a student event at Duke University meant to honor hostages who are being held in Gaza.

Seinfeld spoke at the school in Durham, North Carolina, to introduce a former Israeli hostage, Omer Shem Tov, when he made the remarks, according to the university's student newspaper, The Duke Chronicle. He reportedly started by saying, in reference to the Free Palestine activist movement, "Just say you don’t like Jews."

“By saying 'Free Palestine,' you’re not admitting what you really think. So it’s actually — compared to the Ku Klux Klan, I’m actually thinking the Klan is actually a little better here, because they can come right out and say, ‘We don’t like Blacks, we don’t like Jews.’ Okay, that’s honest,'" the Chronicle reported Seinfeld said.

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[–] 139 points 1 year ago (60 children)

We don't like innocent people being killed. This isn't hard.

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  • [–] 61 points 1 year ago (28 children)

    Silent part of this abhorrent argument is that as long as at least one Palestinian live, there is no certainty that Hamas was completly destroyed.

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  • [–] 17 points 1 year ago (14 children)

    They're murdering children. Go ahead and weasel out of that.

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  • [–] 16 points 1 year ago (12 children)

    Do you see anyone cheering for Hamas?

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  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago (10 children)

    The bottom line is that there is an objectively worse party between the two. They are in the middle of carrying out an active genocide. They're both terrible organizations, we all understand that. One is systematically starving, imprisoning innocent people on an extremely large scale, including children.

    We have nearly every "developed" nation supporting that. People are justifiably vilifying Israel for painfully obvious reasons.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (8 children)

    Again. No one is condoning Hamas actions.

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  • [–] -4 points 1 year ago (7 children)
  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    Even if it weren't, I am not saying that, and arguing what I'm saying as if I did or should be associated with anyone that did is not helping you or anyone.

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  • [–] -4 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    Look back at this thread. I was responding with a clarification of how Hamas could meaningfully end the war. And you responded with an attack on Israel's actions. You were not wrong, but it was a deflection of the cretic on Hamas. That is a form of supporting Hamas. I understand it was a knee jerk reaction to what you perceived as the same kind of deflection of a criticism of Israeli actions. But I definitively condemned Israels actions while also pointing out that Hamas is also keeping this going.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Israel has done nothing to deescalate this war, and they have also proven that their word cannot be trusted. Hamas should absolutely release every hostage, but that will not end this war.

    I probably should have started with that.

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  • [–] -3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Hamas surrendering probably wouldn't immediately stop this war now as Isreal is so far down the psycho rabbit hole. But I would think (hope) that it would trigger a lot more pressure from within the U.S. to stop it.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    It wouldn't, we know for a fact a genocide is happening and we are literally funding it.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago

    The point is that the U.S. defends its support of Israel as helping Israel defeat Hamas. That argument goes away if Hamas surrenders. No it might not stop the U.S. as the US government seems to be a bunch of loonies these days, but one might hope that it could trigger enough grass roots pressure to make a difference.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    What other people are doing does not give zionists a reason to commit genocide of civilians. There is no universe where thats allowed. zionists dont get a "genocide is OK here" card based on their accusations of others.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Have you considered that killing people's children (directly or indirectly through forces like starvation, lack of medical care, etc.) might be one of the best recruitment motivators for Hamas?

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  • [+] -7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Yeah, it's probably not great for Israel long term. But Hamas will never allow peace while Israel exists. Kinda fucked up all around.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    Yeah, it’s probably not great for Israel long term.

    "Not great" you say?

    Israel may end up nuked. It seems inevitable at this point. And its like zionists couldnt care less about the danger they put themselves and the rest of the world in.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

    And Israel could have ended this on October 8 by releasing the thousands Palestinian hostages they were holding without charges, without trial, in prisons treat viciously. Thats what Hamas asked for and why. Hamas took hostages to trade back their people with.
    Israel wanted to keep holding people without charge and have a reason to bomb and steal from civilians more than they wanted their own hostages back.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Why shouldn't the genocidal apartheid ethnostate known as israel be eliminated the same way nazi germany was?

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Note that Germany wasn't eliminated. In fact it's as strong and as large as ever. It was just the government that changed. Yes - I think the right wing Israeli government should be kicked out, either by democracy or external pressure. But that won't be the end of Israel.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    It wasn't just a mere change in government, it was a complete rebuild of Germany with safeguards put into place to prevent the regrowth of fascism. That is what it meant for nazi germany to have been eliminated, and something similar should happen with israel. The genocide, apartheid, and ethnocentrism has broad support within israel, far beyond just one side of the government, the entire country was founded on these principles. If israel continues to exist, it should exist in name only, because the country as it currently exists is a poison and would be like allowing nazi germany to continue existing.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    If I had a shekel for every nonsensical argument Israel frames as "elimination of the state of israel" or "kill us all" or "drive us into the sea", I'd be a rich person.

    Hamas did not demand the elimination of the state of Israel. You're just making stuff up.

    This is why peace negotiations with zionists are so hopeless. You lie about whats going on because you never wanted peace, you just want to not be seen as murderers and thieves. Look at the polls, thats not working. Even in the US. You need to stop digging the hole you are standing in and start being honest here.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago

    It's in Hamas' charter. It's what they chant. I know you don't want believe that narrative (me neither), but that doesn't make it less so.
    I'm not an Israeli or a Jew or affiliated to any degree except I have some Jewish friends - some who live or who have lived in Israel, just as I have some Palestinian friends. Palestinians that I've talked to who are out of the control of Hamas say that Hamas is pure evil. Such Palestinians don't support the killing of civilians in Gaza any more that I do and they see Israel's latest policies as abhorrent, as do I. Of course most of them got out of that area of the world when they had a chance because they recognize that there's too many stubborn assholes on both sides that will never accept any feasible peace despite the incredible harm such a position does.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    Militants are on the order of 1 in 40 people in Gaza. Even if they should lay down their arms Israel should still push them off their lands and kill them to make way for illegal settlers as they have been doing

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  • [–] 27 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    So, with Israel incapable of eliminating Hamas without eliminating Palestinians, I take it you're in favour of genocide, then?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    It's the reasonable consequence of what you're saying. Israel's war is genocidal - we can all see that, from the absurd number of civilian deaths, to the use of starvation as an indiscriminate weapon, to the statements about mass population removals. Even if you purposefully ignore that reality, only the willfully stupid can deny that Israel's war is in flagrant breach of the principles of proportionality and discrimination between combatants and non-combatants.

    So we start from a position where Israel is committing horrifying war crimes and murdering children every single day in extremely cruel ways.

    It is also completely evident that it is impossible to eliminate Hamas. Just like it was impossible to eliminate the Taliban, or Al-Qaida, you can't destroy a resistance movement by force. You can prevent (some) terrorist attacks committed by those movements by force, but all attempts at destruction result in new recruits, unless you destroy the entire population among which the resistance exists.

    So you are saying that "this only ends with the complete destruction of Hamas" which is only possible by the complete destruction of the Palestinian people. You only make demands of Hamas, not of Israel, even though Israel is perpetrating crimes against humanity every single day and has killed orders of magnitude more Palestinian civilians in this war than Hamas did in the instigating event (never mind before 2023). That favours their genocide.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Well written. And I do call for Israel to stop its wonton disregard for civilian safety and their embargo on aid - not that my voice means much. I do avoid the g word because it's not well defined and I don't think it's useful. I agree that Hamas cannot be completely destroyed - but I think the Israeli perspective is that it can be meaningfully reduced so as to provide some period of peace (for Israelis). As unacceptable as it is, their response to the Oct attack will likely dissuade further such actions for a while.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Was Hamas around 70 years ago? Why did they kill Palestinians before Hamas was even created you fucking donkey

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    Murdering tens of thousands of kids women and non-coms creates millions of people like Hamas. You wouldnt run out of hamas to kill because you are making 10 for every one you kill. Your thinking ends with either the genocide of the Arab world or the Israeli one.

    You can end a war by killing an army but you cannot murder an idea or a movement in the same way.

    How can you not see peace has to come from different thinking?

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago*

    How can you not see peace has to come from different thinking?

    They dont want peace. They want land, and they dont consider humans who arent jews to be eligible for basic human rights. Its in the basic laws of their constitution. Its literally what makes Israel "israel". Racism and supremacy codified into law.

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  • [+] -6 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    Certainly. But Hamas also has stated unequivocally that it will never allow peace while Israel exists. What can Isreal ever do to get peace?

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    Continue killing combatants while not murdering 2 million people?

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    But this only ends with the complete destruction of Hamas.

    Or the IDF, right?

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  • [–] -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Sure. But that seems even less likely.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    So there are two options, and you just hate Palestinian children?

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  • [–] -2 points 1 year ago

    If it were my choice I'd have everyone lay down their arms immediately and work toward a long term peaceful solution which respect all parties and fairly shares the land. I'd do anything to bring peace and save Palestinian children. But back in the pragmatic world, I can see that Israel isn't planning on stopping its actions as there's no incentive (except morals, which don't seem to matter to them). I dont understand why Hamas doesn't surrender as continuing gives them nothing, and it enables the continued bloodshed of the civilians in Gaza. I think if global messaging focused more on calling for Hamas to surrender, we might actually get somewhere.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    If there is one thing we've learned over the past 25 years, it's that there is no such thing as the destruction of a terrorist organization

    The more civilians you murder, the more new recruits that terror cell has in their family members

    The IDF if fully aware of this. They know they can't wipe out Hamas. They're looking to wipe out all Gazans

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Telling people they're antisemitic for being against the genocide of Gazan civilians doesn't convince them they're antisemitic. It just makes them question how many other people have been falsely labeled antisemitic

    The atrocities being committed against civilians are horrible. This is 100% a genocide, and the IDF is hoping they can finish the job before someone steps in and stops them

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