British journalist and commentator Mehdi Hasan sparked outrage after posting—and swiftly deleting—a claim that the so-called “Gaza genocide” was “worse than” the Holocaust, reports The Jerusalem Post.
In his now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), Hasan wrote: “One of the ways in which the Gaza genocide is worse than a lot of previous genocides – Rwanda, even the Holocaust – is that you didn’t have Hutus or Nazis mocking the genocide after it was over. They were shunned/deradicalised/prosecuted.”
The message, referencing the Holocaust in which six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis, provoked immediate and widespread condemnation. Piers Morgan was among those who rebuked Hasan, responding, “Have you lost your mind?”
Hasan’s post had been written in reply to journalist Eli Lake, who had sarcastically referred to “a genocide against the indigenous tunnels of Gaza.”
Following the backlash, Hasan—founder of digital media platform Zeteo and a long-time critic of Israel—attempted to clarify his remarks. He acknowledged he had phrased his point “clumsily” but did not withdraw his comparison. Instead, he accused critics of attacking him in “bad faith” and reiterated his view that Israel’s actions in Gaza constituted genocide.
“There was no offense meant to the Jewish community, and I abhor and condemn all genocides, unlike those pro-Israel politicians and journalists who defend or, worse, deny the current Gaza genocide,” he wrote. “Shame on them.”
Hasan previously hosted a show on MSNBC until early 2024, when the network cancelled it. His post was widely viewed as trivialising the Holocaust and insulting its Jewish victims—comments that many regarded as deeply antisemitic in nature.
Photo credit: Shannon Finney/Getty Images for Semafor
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