Piers Morgan Grills Brooke Goldstein On Claims He Pushes Hamas Propaganda
Piers Morgan opened his interview panel to a fiery start Tuesday by demanding proof from guest Brooke Goldstein that his show had become a tool of pro-Hamas propaganda after she publicly accused him of platforming “evil” “Islamo-Nazis.”
Goldstein, an attorney and founder of End Jew Hatred, appeared alongside journalist Glenn Greenwald and commentator Wajahat Ali on TalkTV’s Piers Morgan Uncensored but came into the host’s crosshairs right at the outset as Morgan challenged her on a tweet she’d made at him the week before.
“At what point does your journalism become a propaganda tool for terrorism?” Goldstein asked online, following the widely watched interview with Egyptian comedian Baseem Youssef.
In recent weeks Morgan has interviewed pro-Palestine voices, like Youssef as well as commentators Cenk Uygur and Mohammed Hijab. Likewise he has platformed pro-Israel voices, including Israeli President Isaac Herzog and former Israeli politician Ehud Barak.
Beginning in his defence, Morgan explained that he had tried to be “fair” and had been trying to turn his show into “a genuinely fair platform for all sides, all arguments, all voices.”
“What you seem to be saying is that so long as I have pro-Israeli voices that’s fine,” the host said. “As long as I have a lot of people like you who just have one view of this, then I’m a fair journalist, but the moment I stray into people who are pro-Palestinian in a very passionate manner, then somehow I’m failing in my journalistic duty.”
After denying this is what she meant, Goldstein said: “There’s pro-Palestinian, there’s pro-Israel, but you’ve been having pro-Hamas people on your platform and you’re giving them an opportunity to spew their virulent anti-semitism and their propaganda that justifies Hamas terrorism.”
Morgan pressed further on who she was referring to: “Name one guest I’ve had in a month.”
“You know, I don’t have who actually expressed…” Goldstein said, “but I can name some.”
“With all respect,” the host continued as the guest talked over him, “you tweeted this lengthy attack on me and my journalistic rigour and fairness and I’m simply asking you…”
Goldstein continued to talk.
“Hang on, Brooke,” Morgan said. “If you’re gonna [accuse me] that. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for me to say, ‘Who?’ Which of my pro-Palestinian guests expressed support for Hamas?”
Unable to name anyone, Goldstein pivoted to Ali, beside her on the panel, accusing him of affiliation with the transnational Islamist organisation the Muslim Brotherhood. She proceeded to read from notes that apparently detailed who had shared his articles. After reading a list of accusations, Morgan deferred to Ali.
“Well first of all,” he said, “excellent pronunciation of my name, Brooke. Thank you. Also, it’s pretty amazing that for a human rights lawyer, you really don’t seem to care much about human beings who happen to be Palestinians or Muslim or Arab. It’s like a fireman who is actually an arsonist.”
Goldstein demanded Ali condemn the Muslim Brotherhood.
“I’m gonna go a step forward. Look at this. This is what I’m gonna do, because I’ve seen people with my melanin on Pier’s show have proactively been asked to condemn Hamas,” Ali said.
He began: “I condemn Hamas. I condemn Hezbollah, I condemn Islamic jihad. I condemn Muslim Brotherhood, I condemn chocolate hummus. I condemn antisemitism. I condemn Islamophobia. I condemn white supremacy. I also condemn israel’s occupation. I condemn settler violence against Palestinians that have killed over 100 people on the West Bank. I condemn Netanyahu using dehumanising language that you use, such as calling every Palestinian animal. I condemn the Heritage Minister, saying that he wants to drop a nuke on Gaza. I have condemned all of that to you.”
Ali then laid out the challenge to Goldstein: “Brooke, join me in condemning everything that I have condemned because I think as a human rights lawyer, anyone who cares about humanity, they should condemn everything that I have condemned. Brook condemn.”
