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Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer and political commentator and Cenk Uygur, who co-founded and hosts left-wing populist show "The Young Turks" on YouTube, were both due to speak at the SXSW London festival and an event in Oxford. However they have been blocked from entering the UK - claiming the Home Office revoked their visas. The pair have blasted the UK government, claiming they were "banned for criticising Israel". Cenk Uygur joins Shelagh Fogarty to discuss the ban. Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #theyoungturks #shelaghfogarty #LBC #debate #news #uknews #netanyahu #gaza #politics #starmer #uknews LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
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0:00
Tell me this, were you told why you'd been banned
0:03
No, I only know through the reporting on The Times. They said that, you know, that I had criticized the king
0:12
I'm sorry, Israel. Or same thing. And so that that was unacceptable
0:18
By the way, I can criticize the British government all I like. I can criticize the king all I like
0:23
I can criticize anyone on planet Earth all I like, except Israel
0:27
So now you know who rules you. uh who rules us israel obviously i mean like you know in british history that uh the gravest
0:37
defense is insulting the king uh well i've insulted israel apparently so now you know
0:43
who your new king is that's not the gravest defense in this country you can insult the king as much as you like in this country no no i'm saying historically of course not today
0:50
um i i'm glad you started where you've started there because i did want to ask you about something
0:55
that you said, and again, I don't know the reason you've been banned either. We don't have that
1:00
information from the Home Secretary, but I know what your critics have said about you. So I'll
1:05
make our conversation in part about that, but only in part. In your conversation with Piers Morgan
1:11
yesterday, you said, and again, if I'm misquoting you in any way, you must correct me. You said
1:15
it's ironic to say we're banning criticism of Israel by saying our government is controlled by
1:22
Israel. And based on what you just said to me a moment ago, when you say our government, do you mean the UK government? Do you really believe it is controlled by Israel
1:30
No, until they banned me, I didn't think that necessarily at all. I was saying about the
1:35
American government and the American government is indisputable. The Israeli lobby gives to 94
1:42
of Congress. They're the number one lifetime donor to Joe Biden, to Donald Trump
1:47
to all of our leaders. And American media, now apparently the British government says
1:53
you must ignore the evidence of your eyes and ears. It is our most essential command
1:58
So no, there's, and by the way, they're not alone. Big Pharma also controls the American
2:03
Congress and so does Big Oil and defense contractors. A lot of people don't know this
2:07
because American media keeps it hidden from you, but America legalized bribery that happened in
2:13
Supreme Court decisions in 76, 78, and then of course, famously in Citizens United. So people
2:18
can just purchase our politicians. The Adelson family alone has given Donald Trump over $300
2:23
million to win these elections. When you said, or certainly your critics say that you said that
2:31
94% of Congress is essentially funded by Israel. Do you mean Jews via lobby groups? Because that's
2:39
different isn't it jewish people in america who have stuff to say like other lobby groups have
2:43
stuff to say that's slightly different isn't it than israel controls congress do you really mean
2:49
jews control congress yeah no look not at all and i'll tell you why okay yeah so i'll tell you why
2:56
so uh two reasons number one as i explain to everyone uh this isn't this actually at the core
3:03
of it has nothing to do with israel israel is the tip of the iceberg it a symptom uh the cause of The problem is the money in politics corruption Literally anyone can buy our politicians If Britain wanted to you could buy our politicians
3:17
So, and everyone has bought our politicians. They're the most deeply corrupt people on planet Earth
3:22
So all the Israeli lobby has done is figure out the same thing as the drug companies, etc
3:27
Hey, these guys are up for sale. And you'd actually be irrational if you weren't buying American politicians
3:34
Now, why is it not all Jews? Well, of course it's not all Jews
3:38
All Jews don't agree. That's a preposterous and, I would say, anti-Semitic thing to say
3:43
I have Jewish family... Hold on, hold on, hold on. Can I explain myself, given that you've just suggested I might have been anti-Semitic
3:50
can I explain why I asked you the difference in that particular instance between Israeli and Jewish
3:54
Is that when you talk about Israel buying Congress, that conjures a particular thing
4:00
But if American Jews want to donate to AIPAC, want to donate and lobby politicians, that's perfectly acceptable
4:10
That's why I asked you that distinction. It's not because I'm anti-Semitic. OK, so let's break that down a little bit further. OK, so number one, like I said, anyone can purchase Congress
4:21
So if you're an American citizen, you can do that. But does that mean that
4:25
Yeah. So does that mean that they represent all Jewish people? Of course not
4:29
Some of the best fighters in the peace movement and against Israel's war crimes are Jewish folks
4:34
Both in America and in the UK, Zach Polanski is terrific, the leader of the Green Party
4:39
Bernie Sanders is terrific. Literally, some of our best fighters are Jewish Americans, Jewish Brits, etc
4:45
I have Jewish family. I grew up with nothing but Jewish friends. And they're not for these wars
4:51
They're not for this genocide. So, you know, are most of the people contributing to AIPAC and the Israeli lobby Jewish
4:58
probably but not all there's tons of christian zionists and they also uh contribute so what
5:04
unites them is not their religion what unites them is their ideology which is zionism in this
5:10
case can i ask you you use the word genocide there and and again your your critics who say this is a
5:16
justified ban again we don't know the reasons for the ban but your your critics say that you describe
5:21
israel's the nation of israel's actions as genocide and you're within your rights to do so
5:27
it's not been established as truth but you're within your rights to do so. It's definitely
5:31
true. All right well we'll let the ICC make the judgment in the appropriate way. You've described
5:37
Israel as barbaric and savage. You've claimed Israel uses Jews as human shields. You've claimed
5:43
that the global war on terror was a global war against Israel's enemies. That America well we've
5:50
talked about Congress you talked about it being occupied by Israel. On those words it's your
5:56
Your critics claim that you're sitting dangerously close to the kind of language that is creating the kind of conspiratorial fever that's led to a huge amount of anti-Semitism on our streets
6:08
Now, you know, we cannot lay all of that. We cannot lay all of that at your feet. Of course we can't
6:12
But do you ever question the language you use? No, not at all
6:17
I question whether it should be tougher I mean we all going to ask ourselves later what did we do to stop a genocide A genocide was happening not only in our lives but with our money especially if you an
6:30
American, they're literally robbing us to pay for the most disgusting genocide you'll ever see
6:37
And so what people who are Zionist and fervent supporters of Israel do is they hide behind
6:45
anti-Semitism and they use anti-Semitism as a weaponized charge to defend the disgusting
6:53
immoral actions of a foreign government. Governments do terrible things. They don't
6:58
represent all the people in that government. I was born in Turkey and I'm an American citizen now
7:04
but my God, I hope that people don't judge me as a Turk based on the Turkish government or even
7:11
based as an American, based on what the American government has done. This is obvious to any elementary thinker, except the Israeli propagandists try to manipulate
7:22
everyone by saying, no, the only country on earth you're not allowed to criticize is Israel
7:27
because we're going to hide behind Jewish civilians. And by the way, cause them harm because you don't represent them and you're pretending to
7:34
For what it's worth, and I speak to the British public every day for three hours, five days a week, nobody in this country thinks you can't criticize Israel
7:41
I want to ask you. Well, I just got banned for it. Well, we'll see
7:45
We'll see exactly what the reasons were given. And then you may be right that that has happened
7:49
But that is the reason they gave it. They gave it to the press. That's the government. I'm talking about the people of the country
7:54
Can I ask you. Oh, the people of the country are beautiful. They agree with me. Well, not all of them do
7:58
But can I ask you about this conversation that's been reported by Axios
8:02
between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. Clearly, Donald Trump has given him all four barrels
8:08
Do you think Netanyahu will listen to that? and change anything that he's doing
8:13
So we're talking at an absolutely critical time and people are going to get to see with their own eyes and ears
8:18
what happens next. That's a great question. So I believe, so it's obvious that Netanyahu
8:24
is not going to listen to Trump. Netanyahu never listens to anyone, never listens to Trump
8:29
never listens to America, never tells the truth. He's a genocidal monster
8:34
And the fact that we've given him even a dollar is a great shame and is a stain on the morality of all of our countries
8:41
So no, the genocidal monster will not stop. He will attack, and he said it yesterday
8:47
So he said, no, I'm never going to stop. I'm going to keep attacking Lebanon
8:50
I'm going to bomb Beirut. Ben Gavir is talking about bombing the civilians in the suburbs of Beirut
8:56
The bombs are coming in the other direction as well. No, that's not true
9:00
So in 2024, Hezbollah and Israel made a ceasefire deal. Hezbollah, until the Iran war began, never violated it
9:09
Israel violated it over a thousand times. There's a ceasefire in Gaza right now
9:14
Israel hasn't listened to it at all. They've murdered over 900 people since the ceasefire
9:19
They will not stop murdering all of their neighbors. So we've got to stop funding these people
9:25
This is a moral stain on all of us. And our governments are so sick that they serve these Zionists and they making us morally complicit in these crimes against humanity so what going to happen next is Israel is going to drive us further into the war
9:40
and we would be insane to follow them insane if I can come back in you've used the genocide word a
9:45
lot you've used genocidal a lot and you've directly said that Benjamin Netanyahu is essentially a genocidal maniac you said to me a moment ago this will the Gaza situation um
9:55
will go down as the most disgusting genocide you'll ever see. Again, death is death
10:02
Dead children are dead children. It's an utter tragedy, however and wherever it happens
10:07
But is that not the kind of inflammatory language that might have contributed to being banning
10:12
Because most... Let me finish my question. More disgusting than the Holocaust
10:17
More disgusting than Cambodia. In our lifetime. More disgusting. They've all been..
10:21
Well, Cambodia and Rwanda have both been in my lifetime. Cambodia, Rwanda, the Holocaust
10:25
it's yeah that's the kind of inflammatory stuff that does get people fired okay no no no no no
10:31
it does get people fired up in jews against britain i've seen it happen no no that's insane
10:37
so wait a minute you want me to just give a pass to this foreign government no that's so no then
10:42
no no no no these are all tricks these are all tricks to say don't criticize this way don't
10:47
criticize that way no you're immoral if you're not deeply criticizing the israeli government
10:53
if you're not deeply criticizing the slaughter of 23,000 children. So we were all told after October 7th, including by me
11:01
that you should be disgusted by the actions of Hamas. They killed 36 kids
11:05
What did they have to do with the government of Israel? 36 kids, right? Were you disgusted by the actions of Hamas
11:11
What's that? You mentioned the actions of Hamas you were required to be disgusted by. Were you disgusted by them
11:16
Yes, that's what I'm telling you. I led the charge saying this is unacceptable
11:20
You can't kill civilians. If you're for the peace movement, you have to be for peace
11:24
If you're for nonviolence, you have to be for nonviolence for everyone. So your heart should break over those, the 1,200 people killed, the 36 kids killed
11:32
Now, everyone agrees there, and the media said, absolutely, you should hate the Palestinians
11:37
Look at what they did, right? And they said over and over again, you're terrorists, terrorists
11:42
Okay, I agree, 36 kids, terrible, 1,200 people, terrible. On the other side, 76,000 dead at a bare minimum, 23,000, a stadium full of children murdered, 23,000
11:54
And they go, not as big a deal. Hey, hey, hey, hey, don't drive hate. We get to murder
11:58
Don't drive hate. Don't drive hate. Well, how about you stop murdering children
12:03
Did that ever occur to the Israelis? And then they blame other people for saying, oh, you have offended me
12:11
Israeli feelings are more important than Palestinian children. are you kidding me has anybody has britain banned anyone for uh you know trying to uh
12:22
actually uh you know look i don't know britain is a different thing than america but uh in terms of
12:29
the palestinians uh no one cares about their feelings only the zionists say you have to care
12:34
about our feelings and our feelings are paramount and more important than your lives so i'm not
12:39
interested in that i have to leave you there just for time reasons it's time for our bulletin but Thank you for joining me, Cenk Uygur, for joining me today
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