Mehdi Hasan posted and later deleted a tweet in which he compared the tragedies of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza to other genocides, specifically referencing Rwanda and the Holocaust, calling it “worse than a lot of previous genocides.”
“One of the ways in which the Gaza genocide is worse than a lot of previous genocides – Rwanda, even the Holocaust – is that you didn’t have Hutus or Nazis mocking the genocide after it was over,” Hasan wrote in an X post on Monday. “They were shunned/deradicalized/prosecuted.”
Critics quickly swarmed Hasan with backlash prompting him to clarify his comments.
“I was trying – clumsily – to make the point that Holocaust deniers are (rightly) condemned and ostracized in the West while Gaza genocide deniers remain leading members of our political and media establishments, I’m deleting the tweet below,” Hasan said. “There was no offense meant to the Jewish community, and I abhor and condemn all genocides, unlike those pro-Israel politicians and journalists who defend or, worse, deny the current Gaza genocide. Shame on them.”
In a third tweet, Hasan reiterated to X user Eylon Levy — who states in his profile that he is a former spokesperson for the Israeli government — that he doesn’t deny that the Holocaust happened.
“I don’t deny the Holocaust,” Hasan said. “It was one of most evil acts in history. A genocide; a campaign of industrialized slaughter of Jews. Now, can you condemn the Gaza genocide? … Oh wait, no you can’t. In fact, you participated in it, as a spokesman for it. The Hague awaits, Eylon!”
He also sparred with Mail on Sunday’s Dan Hodges after the commentator said Hasan’s tweet is “literally an attempt to relativise the Holocaust.”
“No it wasn’t, and out of the two of us, you’re the only one on record on this site literally justifying and defending the killing of children,” Hasan responded in a tweet repost. “With respect Dan, go f—k yourself.”
On Monday, Hamas released 20 of the last living hostages into Israeli custody as part of a cease-fire deal brokered between the U.S., Israel and Hamas.
The hostages were transferred from the Red Cross to the Israeli military on Monday before crossing the border between Gaza and Israel. In exchange, Israel released 250 Palestinian prisoners into Gaza and the West Bank, along with more than 1,700 Palestinians detained in Gaza since the war began following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on an Israeli music festival. Hamas also said it would return the bodies of 28 deceased hostages to their families.
