Popular left-wing Twitch streamer Hasan Piker is stepping up his anti-Semitic, anti-Israel rhetoric

Hasan Piker, one of the most-watched streamers on the Twitch platform, has come under fire for anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric, which has escalated in recent weeks.

Piker, also known as HasanAbi, has welcomed several well-known lawmakers to his platform, including Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA). Critics also say his behavior reflects deeper problems with anti-Semitism at Amazon-owned Twitch, the dominant player in the streaming market.

In a recent stream, Piker explained, “It doesn't matter if there were rapes on October 7th, that doesn't even change the dynamic that much for me,” holding up his fingers in a pinching gesture. He had previously denied these atrocities.

“So that’s the other part of this problem that a lot of people don’t get to grips with,” he continued. “The Palestinian resistance is not perfect.”

Piker described efforts to force Israeli Charedim into military service as “inbreeding.” He added that it would be “weird” if Haredim left Israel in response to the policy, and also “very funny” if Haredi soldiers were sent to Lebanon.

On many other occasions, too, he referred to Israelis, particularly West Bank settlers, as “inbred,” laughed at the stories of Jewish students facing anti-Semitism on college campuses, and parodied Israeli accents.

During a reaction to Vice President Kamala Harris' recent CNN town hall, Piker and a co-host laughed at a participant who thanked Harris for her concern for the hostages and mocked her for asking about anti-Semitism on college campuses .

Piker, on his show with Ocasio-Cortez, blamed the Abraham Accords and other Trump administration policies for the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

Previously, he hosted a Yemeni influencer who filmed himself aboard a ship hijacked by the Houthis, comparing the Houthis to the hero of an anime show and defending arguments that Hamas' Oct. 7 attack was inevitable and potential understandable and justifiable.

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) recently spoke out against Piker in a series of social media posts.

“No one has been a greater amplifier of anti-Semitism than Twitch’s figurehead, Hasan Piker,” Torres said Jewish Insider on Monday and asked Twitch to cut ties with Piker. “Hasan Piker dehumanized Orthodox Jews as 'inbred' and dehumanized a Jewish man as a 'bloodthirsty pig'.”

Piker responded to Torres' criticism on social media by calling Torres “fucking crazy.” He's a psychopath… He's evil. Monster.” Piker's management team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But Torres and other critics of Twitch have argued that Piker is, in Torres' words, “the symptom of a disease, and the disease is the leadership of Twitch” and just the “tip of the anti-Semitic iceberg.”

“Hasan Piker is the anti-Semitic voice of a systemically anti-Semitic social media platform,” Torres continued. “If the KKK and the neo-Nazi movement were a social media platform, it would be Twitch. Twitch is a cesspool of anti-Semitism the likes of which I have never seen.”

Twitch did not respond to a request for comment.

Twitch recently came under fire in recent weeks after it was revealed that it had banned Israeli users from creating new accounts after October 7th. The company claimed that the ban was introduced after October 7, 2023 to prevent violent content and was then incorrectly left in place.

However, users have claimed that the company's statement has not stood up to scrutiny and have highlighted that it also contains a range of other anti-Semitic and pro-terrorist content, from popular creators affiliated with both the far right and far left. Twitch has reinstated some of these streamers after banning or restricting them from the platform.

Twitch's annual conference also featured a panel where streamers rated other streamers on a scale from “Arab” to “loves Sabra.”

Torres described Twitch CEO Dan Clancy as the biggest enabler of anti-Semitism online. The congressman said the company has a “fundamental problem” under its current leadership and that he is “on a mission to hold Twitch accountable.” He called on Amazon to take action against both Clancy and Piker.

“The level of anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism on Twitch is nothing short of breathtaking,” Torres said, adding that the platform deserves greater scrutiny from Congress.

He also said that Piker is “nowhere near the mainstream of American politics” and that he should not have been allowed to attend the Democratic National Convention.

After Piker and Khanna's conversation, which took place at the DNC, Khanna told JI in a statement that he planned to engage with a number of media outlets, including hosts with whom he disagreed.

“During the conversation organized by the DNC, I spoke about the importance of a secure Israel as an ally of the United States and Palestinian self-determination. Hasan and I may disagree on key aspects of the issue, but the aim of the conversation was to talk about a progressive agenda that includes upholding human rights for all and a two-state solution,” Khanna said. “I make an effort to speak to all media outlets, including those I may not entirely agree with, such as the Laura Ingraham and Jesse Watters shows on Fox News, which I also participate in at the DNC this week.”

Markey, who also appeared on Piker's show at the DNC, did not respond to a request for comment at the time. Ocasio-Cortez's campaign did not comment on her appearance on Piker's show in May.