Nas Daily claims biggest threat facing Palestinians is 'fellow countrymen' in bizarre rant on LBC

Vlogger Nuseir Yassin, a Palestinian citizen of Israel commonly known as Nas Daily, has drawn widespread criticism after saying that “the worst thing for a Palestinian is not Israel, it is our fellow countrymen”, and describing the term genocide as “a very emotional, non-scientific word”.

In an interview with the LBC on Sunday, host Tom Swarbrick opened the segment on Gaza by referencing one of Yassin’s videos, noting that he had said “the best thing to happen to Palestinians is the defeat of the terrorists”.

“I love that question,” Yassin replies. “By far the worst thing for a Palestinian is not Israel. It is our fellow countrymen. It’s the other Palestinian with an AK-47, aka Hamas.”

"Even though the argument would be, I guess, that they are resisting oppression, they're resisting occupation?" asks Swarbrick.

Yassin labels it a "bullshit argument" that "works on a western audience".

"I happen to also be Palestinian, and those people should never govern,” he continues. 

When asked by Swarbrick whether he had experienced apartheid growing up in Israel, Yassin similarly dismissed the term as "bullshit", saying it "is not like South Africa".

"If you view Israel and Palestine as two countries, then it’s not apartheid. It’s just a border, he said. 

"Inside Israel, there is no place I cannot go as a Palestinian-Arab Muslim," he argued, adding that he enjoyed employment and voting rights similar to those of Jewish Israelis.

'My opinion [on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict] should matter more than the average opinion of just another person who happens to be Muslim'

- NasDaily

While Palestinian citizens of Israel have more rights than Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, they also face scores of discriminatory policies and laws which reduce them to second-class citizens compared to their Jewish co-citizens. 

'Tribal' Muslims, 'woke' Europeans

When asked whether the situation in Gaza constituted a genocide, Yassin downplayed the term, calling it “a very emotional, non-scientific word”. He added: “If you believe what’s happening is a genocide, then it’s a genocide. I don’t really care what you define it as."

He also accused Muslims and "woke" Europeans of supporting Palestinians due to "tribalism" and a desire to support the weak, respectively.

"I know I am more qualified than the average Swedish person or the average immigrant in Birmingham," he asserted.

"I know this conflict a lot more, and therefore my opinion should matter more than the average opinion of just another person who happens to be Muslim and who says Muslim equals 'I'm with Palestine'".

The vlogger also linked pro-Palestine activism abroad to foreign influence, claiming that Iran and Qatar were responsible for both the “cycle of violence” in Gaza and pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the UK. 

He went on to claim that the UK is receiving "some of the most dangerous immigrants in the world". 

"They’re coming in the UK, setting up as a base to create essentially media to destabilise the Middle East," he continued. 

'Genocide whitewashing tropes'

The interview quickly drew a firestorm of online commentary, with many critics saying Yassin misrepresented Palestinian realities and views by invoking his heritage and personal experiences as proof for his claims. 

"You keep talking about being 'more qualified' than entire populations, yet somehow miss the most basic point, people don't care about Palestine because of tribalism, they care because it's a decades-long humanitarian crisis that the whole world has watched unfold in real time," said one user. 

"If anything, claiming your opinion should matter more because you think you're more informed than entire communities is the most tribal thing in this whole conversation."

Citing Yassin's statements about immigrants in the UK "destabilising" the Middle East, several social media users accused Yassin of echoing both Israeli and UAE arguments.

“The irony is I can’t tell if Israel paid for this particular press run or the UAE,” one person stated.

Several commenters also denounced the host for failing to challenge Yassin's claims.

"The moron says 'I’m more qualified than everyone' and follows it either way (sic) genocide whitewashing tropes and the instead of interrogating the assumptions, the interviewer feeds him more cues," wrote journalist Idrees Ahmad. 

Some social media users questioned why LBC had invited Yassin in the first place. 

"It's weird how @LBC doesn't do similar interviews with Palestinian citizens of Israel who are critical of the Israeli regime and have lived experience as Palestinians and who do not involve themselves in Hasbara (propaganda) efforts on behalf of the state," said human rights advocate Gary Spedding.

Yassin is a content creator who rose to popularity through a series of one-minute videos around ten years ago. 

He has come under fire for his views on Palestine and Israel over the years, with many people accusing him of whitewashing Israel's occupation and equating the experiences of Israelis to those of Palestinians under occupation.

After the 7 October 2023 attacks, the vlogger stated his support for Israel, and said that he identified as an "Israeli-Palestinian" rather than a "Palestinian-Israeli". 

The Palestinian-led Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement called for the blogger to be boycotted in 2020, saying that his training programme for Arab content creators was a cover for normalisation with Israel.