Culture

John Oliver Has Had Enough Of People Taking “Both Sides” On Israel’s Attack On Palestine

"For the record, destroying a civilian residence sure seems like a war crime. Regardless if you send a courtesy 'Heads Up' text."

by Michelle Rennex  18 May 2021
John Oliver Israel Palestine War Crimes

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John Oliver is known for some pretty smart takes on current events, and his comments about Israel’s latest attack on Palestine aren’t an exception to the rule.

Despite Israel occupying Palestinian land for 73 years, the current violence that has erupted in Sheikh Jarrah and Gaza over the last week — which has resulted in the deaths of 197 Palestinian people in the region and 10 Israelis — has made headlines for the “conflict” between the two regions.

And on Last Week Tonight, unlike most people and publications who have attempted to remain neutral on the situation, John Oliver deliberately chose to not call Israel’s violent occupation of Palestine a conflict.

Instead, Oliver called the Israeli actions out for exactly what they are: war crimes.

While John Oliver recognised that there has been violence from both ends, he noted that the “massive imbalance” between the two countries meant that there was never an even playing field for Palestine.

“The point is: This isn’t tit for tat. There is a massive imbalance when it comes to the two sides’ weaponry and capabilities,” a frustrated Oliver started his monologue. “While most of the rockets aimed towards Israeli citizens this week were intercepted, Israel’s airstrikes were not.”

“They hit their targets. Including a house in a refugee camp, a building housing the Associated Press and Al Jazeera, and this 13-story office and apartment building.”

“For the record, destroying a civilian residence sure seems like a war crime. Regardless if you send a courtesy ‘Heads Up’ text,” Oliver continued before tearing into the Israel Defence Forces’ terrible attempt at a meme.

“In general you should probably never meme a war crime, but if you absolutely have to at least go with some less boring than the ‘before and after’ template.”

John Oliver also used the segment to call out those who have tried to “both sides” the situations when there is a significant and obvious power imbalance happening between Palestine and Israel.

“There’s a real tendency, particularly in America, to ‘both sides’ this situation, and I’m not saying that there aren’t some areas where that’s warranted. But it’s important to recognise there are also areas where it’s simply not,” Oliver said.

“Both sides are firing rockets, but one side has one of the most advanced militaries in the world. Both sides are suffering heartbreaking casualties, but one side is suffering them exponentially,” he continued, before digging into the neutral terms people have been trying to use to downplay Israel’s actions.

“Falling back on, convenient sanitised terms like ‘real estate disputes’ and ‘airstrikes on militants’ feels a little disingenuous when what you’re describing is forcing people from the homes they’ve lived in for decades and killing civilians, and children,” Oliver noted.

“And again, none of this frees Hamas from responsibility. But Hamas doesn’t represent all Palestinians just as what Israel is doing right now doesn’t represent all Israelis, or indeed Jewish people.”

“Lots is complicated here, but some things are pretty simple,” he added. “One side is suffering much more.”

But in true John Oliver style, the comedian also took the opportunity to poke fun at America’s seemingly unwavering support of Israel, which was only solidified by the news that the Biden administration had approved a $735 million weapons sale to the country.

“For decades, the backbone of America’s policy in the Middle East has been that America is an unwavering friend to Israel, which is a great thing to try and be but at the end of the day, I would hope that our real friend would tell me when I’m being an asshole,” Oliver joked.

“And definitely, when I’m committing a fucking war crime.”

Preach. You can check out the full Last Week Tonight episode here.