What did Jon Stewart say about the Israel and Hamas conflict? 2014 sketch resurfaces as comedian's relevance trends on Twitter

In 2014, American comedian and political commentator Jon Stewart addressed the conflict in Giza in a sketch featured on The Daily Show. As the current Hamas-Israel conflict unfolds, a clip from his past commentary has resurfaced and is now going viral.

In the clip, Jon is seen delivering his monologue for the show. Every time he mentions the name "Israel," his colleagues jump up from under his desk to berate him about pro-Israel sentiments and anti-semitism accusations, as per Media ITE.

The comedian discusses Operation Protective Edge, a military campaign conducted by Israel in the Gaza Strip in 2014. This operation involved nearly two months of intense conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant organization, Hamas, before both parties agreed to a ceasefire in August.

---

Jon Stewart's 2014 monologue about tensions between Israel and Hamas

Jon Stewart's monologue went viral on Twitter after different users including @Cooperstreaming implied that "nothing has changed" between Israel and Hamas despite decades of violence and death.

In the clip from The Daily Show, Jon Stewart starts off by saying,

"We'll start tonight in the Middle East, where Israel..."

As soon as the comedian uttered the country's name his co-workers jumped up. Jason Jones yelled, "What, Israel isn't supposed to defend itself?" while Jessica Williams stated, "Oh yeah if Mexico bombs Texas we would exercise restraint?"

"What other country is held to the same standard as Israel?" asked Jordan Klepper, and then dubbed Jon Stewart a "self-hating Jew." A term he had been called in the past, before the 2014 monologue for talking against Israel, while being a Jew himself.

The monologue continued after four of his colleagues shouted incoherent words at him. The co-workers then backed away from his desk while Jon Stewart stared at the camera. He said,

"That was, that was weird. Anyway, what I was, what I was saying was last Thursday saw the start of a new ground offensive launched by Israel."

Following this, Keppler shouted "Tradition" in his ear, while others also bombarded him with more comments. Jon Stewart then moves on to the actual message behind the sketch saying,

"Just merely mentioning Israel, or questioning in any way the effectiveness and humanity of Israel’s policies, is not the same thing as being pro-Hamas."

However, he talked about Hamas and then was accused of being a "Zionist pig" who supports the murder of Palestinians, as per Newsweek.

The jabs come in contrast with the Palestine-Israel war where citizens and celebrities alike, often omit the part of suffering by the war-infested Gaza Strip and Palestinians and Israel losing lives. They focus more on Israel attacking Hamas as a way of retaliation, much like the events of the latest conflict on October 7, 2023.

The entire situation seemed eerily familiar to the current violence at the borders and people trended Jon Stewart on Twitter, sharing their opinion. Some of the reactions are given below.

Elon Musk also shared the video, emphasizing how the clip was 9 years old but still relevant. Jon Stewart has not given a statement about the current attacks.

---

The Israel-Hamas conflict

In July 2014, a conflict erupted between Israel and Hamas known as the 2014 Gaza War. This flare-up was triggered by Israel's launch of Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip, following nearly two years of a cease-fire. The underlying tensions between the nations escalated in response to the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas militants just a month before the conflict commenced.

The hostilities unfolded in the Gaza Strip and extended over a two-month period from July to August 2014, as reported by Newsweek. Eventually, both parties reached an agreement on a cease-fire to halt the fighting.

According to the New York Times, on October 7, 2023, Hamas, a Sunni Islamist political and militant organization that currently governs the Gaza Strip of the Palestinian territories attacked the southern and central territories of Israel. They launched thousands of rockets toward the cities, and invaded borders, killing and kidnapping several civilians.

Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister declared that there would be no electricity, food, or fuel delivered to Gaza, an already impoverished area of Palestine with 2.3 million people. As per CBS, the death toll has reached over 2,000 people including both sides.