Bill Maher staunchly defends Israel, hilariously mocks celebrities who condemn Israel



Bill Maher, host of HBO's "Real Time," staunchly defended Israel and its right to defend itself from Hamas terrorists in Gaza on Friday, rebuking progressives who condemn Israel and claim that Israel is guilty of "war crimes."

What is the background?

Progressives, from far-left lawmakers to celebrities like supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid, vocally condemned Israel's military campaign against Hamas terrorists in Gaza this month, which was initiated after the terrorists began launching missiles into Israel.

The state of Israel even accused Bella Hadid of "advocating for the elimination of the Jewish State" for allegedly invoking the phrase "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," which Israel explained "is a phrase used by those who call for the elimination of Israel."

What did Maher say?

During a panel discussion that involved New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, Maher strongly upheld Israel's right to defend itself from Hamas terrorists.

When Kristof accused Israel of "engaging in possible war crimes in Gaza," Maher immediately interrupted.

"Well Gaza fired 4,000 rockets into Israel, what would you say Israel should have done instead of what they did?" Maher said.

Kristof responded by claiming Israel's response to Hamas "was probably a war crime because [Israel] did not sufficiently avoid civilian casualties." Maher immediately shot back, pointing out that Hamas intentionally operates from civilian areas.

Maher then gave a history lesson about Jewish occupation of the southern Levant, noting that Israelites controlled the area more than 1,000 years before Arabs ever arrived there, to rebuke accusations that Israelis are "occupiers" or that they are operating an "apartheid" state.

But I don't know how well you respond to when– I mean, what if Canada, fired 4,000 rockets into America. Or Mexico, which is even better analogy, because we actually did steal the land from Mexico. I would submit that Israel did not steal anybody's land. This is another thing I've heard last couple of weeks. Words like "occupiers" and "colonizers" and "apartheid," which I don't think people understand the history there.

The Jews have been in that area of the world, since about 1,200 BC, way before the first Muslim or Arab walked the earth— 1,000 years before. I mean, Jerusalem is their capital. OK, so if it's just about who got there first, it's not even close. There has been a continuous Jewish presence. Yes. The Jews were the ones who were occupied by everybody. The Romans took over at some point, and then the Persians and the Byzantines and then the Ottomans. So yes, there was colonization going on there. Beginning in the 19th century, they started to return to Palestine, which was never an Arab country. There was never a country called "Palestine" that was a distinct Arab country.

Maher then pointed out, "Hamas's charter says they just want to wipe out Israel, their negotiating position is: 'You all die.'"

Later, Maher responded to progressive celebrities who support Palestine, claiming they would "run screaming to Tel Aviv if they had to live in Gaza for one day."

"As far as Gaza goes, it's amazing to me that the progressives think that they're being progressive, by taking that side of it, the Bella Hadid's of the world, these influencers. I just want to say, in February of this year, a Hamas court ruled that an unmarried woman cannot travel in Gaza without the permission of a male guardian. Really? That's where the progressives are?" Maher mocked. "Bella Hadid and her friends would run screaming to Tel Aviv if they had to live in Gaza for one day."

Ben Sasse: DOJ must open investigation into child abuse and rape featured on Pornhub



Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Friday called for the Department of Justice to launch an investigation into the pornographic video website Pornhub after a disturbing investigation by a New York Times columnist revealed the website is "infested with rape videos," some of them include children.

New York Times prize-winning columnist Nicholas Kristof reported that Pornhub, which attracts 3.5 billion visitors a month and is the 10th-most-visited website in the world, profits off videos that depict child rape, revenge porn, voyeuristic videos of nonconsenting women showering, and more explicit and potentially illegal pornographic content.

"Its site is infested with rape videos," Kristof writes. "It monetizes child rapes, revenge pornography, spy cam videos of women showering, racist and misogynist content, and footage of women being asphyxiated in plastic bags. A search for "girls under18" (no space) or "14yo" leads in each case to more than 100,000 videos. Most aren't of children being assaulted, but too many are."

In the course of his reporting, Kristof interviewed several women whose lives were destroyed after degrading videos depicting their rapes were published on Pornhub. Some of them have attempted suicide from the shame and humiliation.

Pornhub and its parent company, MindGeek – based legally in Luxembourg but with offices in Montreal, London, Nicosia and Los Angeles – have come under fire from anti-sexual exploitation activists who accuse the companies of profiting off human trafficking and sexual exploitation. The Traffickinghub campaign, founded by Laila Mickelwait of Exodus Cry, an anti-trafficking group, last March launched a petition calling attention to rape and abusive videos hosted by Pornhub and demanding that the website be shut down and the company's executives be held accountable.

The movement against Pornhub has attracted the attention of some U.S. lawmakers, including Sasse, who say it is past time for the federal government to act.

"The Department of Justice needs to open an investigation into the scumbags who run Mindgeek," Sen. Sasse told the Daily Caller News Foundation Friday. "Sexual exploitation and human trafficking are abhorrent, period. A decent society should be working to end this.

"It is completely unacceptable that Pornhub and its parent company Mindgeek make money from rape, sexual abuse, and the exploitation of minors," Sasse added. "They need to be investigated, and the DOJ needs more urgency about building cases against creeps."

Sasse was joined by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) who praised Kristof's reporting and promised to introduce legislation to enable victims of trafficking or sexual exploitation to sue websites like Pornhub.

Tremendous reporting by @NickKristof on the exploitation that occurs on sites like Pornhub. It’s time for it to end… https://t.co/zXlQqsQf2S
— Josh Hawley (@Josh Hawley)1607091899.0

Pornhub has denied accusations that it allows videos of child rape on its website, calling the accusations "irresponsible and flagrantly untrue."

"Pornhub is unequivocally committed to combating child sexual abuse material, and has instituted a comprehensive, industry-leading trust and safety policy to identify and eradicate illegal material from our community," Pornhub said in a statement to Kristof.

Kristof's article tells horrific stories of child abuse and exploitation hosted on Pornhub's website. One woman, whose 15-year-old daughter went missing in Florida, reported finding her in 58 pornographic videos featured on the website. In another case of abuse, a 14-year-old girl's sexual assaults were posted on Pornhub and were not reported to authorities until a classmate saw the videos and took action.

Another woman interviewed by Kristof said, "Pornhub became my trafficker," after her adoptive family forced her to appear in pornographic videos beginning when she was just 9 years old. She says videos of her abuse were hosted on Pornhub and regularly reappear there. She worries that one day she may have children who will find those videos.

"Pornhub is like YouTube in that it allows members of the public to post their own videos. A great majority of the 6.8 million new videos posted on the site each year probably involve consenting adults, but many depict child abuse and nonconsensual violence," Kristof writes. "Because it's impossible to be sure whether a youth in a video is 14 or 18, neither Pornhub nor anyone else has a clear idea of how much content is illegal."

For now, Kristof notes, Pornhub has "escaped responsibility for sharing the videos and profiting from them." Sasse and other lawmakers seek to change that.

New York Times writer admits Trump was right all along when it came to reopening schools



New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote last week that President Donald Trump was right when during 2020's spring months he insisted that children should be back in schools for in-person learning.

What are the details?

In an editorial titled, "When Trump Was Right and Many Democrats Wrong," Kristof pointed out that "children have suffered because many mayors and governors were too willing to close schools."

The op-ed, which was published last week, discussed what Kristof believes to be education-related failures on behalf of local and state politicians.

"Some things are true even though President Donald Trump says them," Kristof wrote. "Trump has been demanding for months that schools reopen, and on that he seems to have been largely right. Schools, especially elementary schools, do not appear to have been major sources of coronavirus transmission, and remote learning is proving to be a catastrophe for many low-income children."

Last week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced that he would be shuttering the city's public schools once more.

"Yet America is shutting schools — New York City announced Wednesday that it was closing schools in the nation's largest school district — even as it allows businesses like restaurants and bars to operate," Kristof wrote. "What are our priorities?"

Kristof added that overseas, many countries have closed restaurants and bars, for example, and have insisted that children remain in schools.

"In both Europe and the United States, schools have not been linked to substantial transmission, and teachers and family members have not been shown to be at extra risk," he wrote, adding, "Meanwhile, the evidence has mounted of the human cost of school closures. Dropouts live shorter lives, so while the virus kills, so do school closures."

Citing the American Academy of Pediatrics, Kristof wrote, "'Children learn best when physically present in the classroom. But children get much more than academics at school. They also learn social and emotional skills at school, get healthy meals and exercise, mental health support, and other services that cannot be easily replicated online.'"

Kristof pointed out that school closures hit hardest children from underprivileged homes.

"School closures magnify these equalities, as many private schools remain open and affluent parents are better able to help kids adjust to remote learning," he added. "At the same time, low income children fall even further behind."

Kristof concluded, "Let's follow Europe: Close bars, and try harder to keep schools open."