AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) wrote a scathing letter to the CEOs of Twitch and Amazon this week, accusing the popular Twitch streamer and left-wing pundit Hasan Pikker to become the “anti-Semitic poster child for a systematically anti-Semitic social media platform.”

Twitch, a subsidiary of Amazon, is one of the most visited websites in the world, attracting an audience of young Americans interested in gaming and politics. Piker, who Newsweek recently called the “left’s biggest influencer,” is one of the site’s most popular streamers and regularly goes live for hours to provide commentary on current events and gaming.

“I am writing to express my alarm at the increase in anti-Semitism on Twitch by Hasan Piker, one of the largest political streamers with 2.7 million followers. Since October 7, there has been an explosion of Jew-hatred on social media platforms,” Torres began in his letter obtained by Mediaite, adding:

Hasan Piker has emerged as the example of the outbreak of anti-Semitism in America after October 7. Mr. Piker has demonized Orthodox Jews as “inbred” and dehumanized a Jewish man as a “bloodthirsty pig dog”: the association of Jews with pigs and bloodlust is textbook anti-Semitism. Mr. Piker has all but exposed himself as an advocate for the sexual violence and brutal rapes of October 7. “It doesn’t matter if the rape took place on October 7. It doesn’t change the dynamics for me,” Mr. Piker declares before finally admitting that the “Palestinian resistance” (his euphemism for terrorism) is not perfect.”

Torres has made headlines in recent months for his staunch pro-Israel advocacy following the devastating Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas. The New York Democrat left the Congressional Progressive Caucus in February and has repeatedly spoken publicly to fellow Democrats about the war between Israel and Hamas. Piker has also made headlines with his stance on the war and recently offered kind words for the terrorist organization Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

“Mr. Piker has said he has “no problem” with Hezbollah, the world’s most heavily armed terrorist organization, and has given a platform to a suspected Houthi terrorist. The US government has declared Hezbollah a Foreign Terrorist Organization (in the case of the former) and the Houthis a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Group,” Torres’ lengthy letter continues, adding:

Platforming any of these terrorist organizations, as Piker has done, is impossible. Piker has even gone so far as to incite violence, telling his followers to “kill” and “murder” people “in the streets” and “soak the streets in their red-capitalist blood.” Incitement to violence deserves scrutiny by federal law enforcement agencies.

Outside of the context of October 7, Mr. Piker has even joked and mused about men raping women on a college campus and placed an image of a gun on top of a U.S. senator in what appears to be an open invitation to gun violence. against a sitting elected official. Inviting your followers to shoot an elected official, whether in earnest or in jest, is the kind of threat that deserves serious attention from federal law enforcement.

When he’s not joking and musing about rape, Hasan Piker alternates between rape denial and rape apology. He denies the sexual violence of 10/7, or he denies that it matters. Mr. Piker once described 10/7’s sexual violence as “rape fantasies” or “rape hallucinations.” Despite his disdain and disdain for Jewish rape victims in Israel, Mr. Piker remains one of the most popular political influencers on Twitch. What does his popularity reveal about the devaluation of Jewish lives in American society and Twitch’s role in deepening the devaluation of Jewish lives?

Hasan Piker has spoken out as an apologist not only for 10/7 but also for 9/11, mixing anti-Semitism with anti-Americanism. Here is Mr. Piker in his own words: “America deserved 9/11.” The 3,000 Americans were burned or otherwise murdered in the Twin Towers; the falling men and women plummeting to their deaths from 110-story skyscrapers; according to Mr. Piker, they got it all. They deserved it. It makes you wonder if Mr. Piker has ever seen an anti-American or anti-Semitic terrorist attack that he didn’t like? He seems to live in a morally inverted universe where the real terrorists of 9/11 and 10/7 were not the perpetrators, but the victims.

Speaking of the terrorists’ side, Mr Piker has glorified the ‘brave mujahideen’ for wounding US Congressman Dan Crenshaw, who served his country honorably in the Navy Seals; Mr. Piker’s loyalty is not to the members of the American armed forces, but to the mujahideen who kill and maim them on the battlefield.

In a recent video on Twitch, Hasan is seen laughing maliciously at a Jewish woman who simply thanked Vice President Kamala Harris for her efforts on behalf of the hostages and expressed concerns about anti-Semitism. I have a simple question for Mr. Piker and his folks at Twitch. What exactly do you find funny? Are you amused by anti-Semitism? Amused by the kidnapping of 30 children, including babies and toddlers? Amused by the kidnapping of elderly Holocaust survivors and Farhud?

Mr. Piker revealed the depths of his depravity when he posted an image of himself as a reincarnation of Vladimir Lenin, one of the fathers of 20th century totalitarian terror. It is estimated that Lenin caused the deaths of 7 to 10 million people; his successor, Stalin, the deaths of 20 to 30 million people; his follower, Mao Zedong, killed 40 to 70 million people in communist China. With idols like Lenin, it’s no wonder Hasan Piker seems so untroubled by the October 7 massacres. The only question that remains: why is Twitch so unbothered by Hasan Piker’s disturbing Jew-hatred?

Mr. Clancy: You are known as an admirer of Hasan Piker. You admire Mr. Piker so deeply that you even had your staff at Twitch sing “Happy Birthday” to him. You have praised Mr. Piker for “his candor and bluntness” and said “he is comfortable saying what he believes.” In light of all the anti-Semitism revealed about Mr. Piker, do you still find his outspokenness and bluntness? Is your company still comfortable with how comfortable Mr. Piker has become in expressing hatred of Jews, no matter how “honestly” and “outright” he does so?

Hasan Piker is just the tip of the iceberg: the anti-Semitic example of a systematically anti-Semitic social media platform. Twitch not only enables anti-Semitism, it encourages it. Look no further than streamer Sneako, who in one video screams like a raving lunatic, “Down with the Yahood,” which means “Down with the Jews.” Lest you think that Sneako’s anti-Semitism is just an isolated event, he paid effusive tribute to the mastermind of the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust: “May Allah (God) grant Yahya Sinwar the highest Jannah (paradise) inshallah. ” No less virulent in his anti-Semitism is Myron Gaines, who said we must “take back our country from these Jewish supremacists.” If the KKK or the Third Reich were a social media platform, it would be Twitch.

“If Twitch feels even the slightest semblance of social responsibility as a company – a questionable proposition considering the business you have – then the time has come for Twitch to stop popularizing those who popularize anti-Semitism,” Torres concluded. “Congress has taken a closer look at the heightened anti-Semitism that has taken hold in the aftermath of October 7. Just as no person is above the law, no company in America – not even Twitch – is above congressional oversight.”

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