Israeli-Arab Nas Daily changed by Oct 7. Perhaps.
In a previous article on the responses of leftist Israeli NGOs to Oct 7th, I promised to return to something on “another day.” That day is today.
In that Oct 9th article, I wrote:
While Nas Daily [he’s not an NGO but a person, but I chose to start with him] is a controversial figure and has in the past blamed the “Israeli occupation” for violence against her, he did undergo a change after having seen what happened in these past two days. In a new post on “X,” he wrote that among the dead were Arabs killed by Arabs, not just Jews.
And I do not want to live under a Palestinian government. Which means I only have one home, even if I’m not Jewish: Israel. That’s where all my family lives. That’s where I grew up. That’s the country I want to see continue to exist so I can exist.
So from today forward, I view myself as an “Israeli-Palestinian”. Israeli first. Palestinian second. Sometimes it takes a shock like this to see so clearly.
This raises the question: if no Arabs had been killed by Hamas, only Jews, would he still have changed his mind about where his safety lies? But we will leave that for another day.
* * * * *
If you look at his Facebook page, you would think all that concerns him is building his wealth. He has millions of followers and has earned millions of dollars. He opened a company called Nas Company, that has Palestinians and Israelis on staff and staff around the world to make his videos. He started a travel agency and most recently he opened a hotel in Dubai called, you guessed it: Nas House. He does share one self-revealing video in which he talked about the crises he faced in 2023 that could have broken him but which he used, instead, to see as an opportunity for breakthrough.
He talked about our part of the world more on “X.”
He posted the piece I quoted at the start of this article on Oct 9, and the day before that he tweeted:
Today, I feel sad for my home country of Israel.
I also feel angry. But I can’t find the words to express my anger right now.
My family is safe. But many others are not. The next few months will not be good.
Yet, I’m still hopeful. We will see peace in the Middle East during our lifetime.
You know how hot mic incidents (when the microphone is on but people don’t know it is) can sometimes show us what people really think? Is this clip below an example of a hot mic incident, or are we missing the context, perhaps purposefully chopped off in order to implicate Nuseir Yassin (his real name) as a hypocrite?
In the clip, Nuseir says “Fuck Israel” with a big smile and a hug. When the person recording the event asks, “Fuck what, you say? Fuck Israel, you say?” Nuseir looks up and says “We love Israel and we love Palestine.”
Dis you? https://t.co/aj49UxJkFD
— Zane (@Real_Zane_) October 9, 2023
On Oct 14th, Nuseir said that he wasn’t able to work for the entire week (a whole week!) and now he wants to introduce us to his Jewish partner in his company, Nas Company, whose goal is making the world better. Oct 7th presented them with a challenge like they had not faced before, where more than ever it seemed like Jews versus Moslems and vice versus. But Nuseir says Jews and Moslems are more similar than they are different. He says that he and his Jewish partner (with an Anglo accent, not an Israeli accent) show that Israel and Palestine can live as independent countries side by side.
peace pic.twitter.com/LHBb4DtmW9
— Nuseir Yassin (@nasdaily) October 14, 2023
Then, on Oct 20, he reposted a video he had made a year earlier. Here he equates Israel and Palestine, saying there is pain, anger, and suffering on both sides. He tells his viewers from far away that for them it is a conflict thousands of miles away whereas for him it is life and death. He says, “If Israel doesn’t exist that means the death of my family. If Palestine doesn’t exist that means the death of my people. And that’s why we need two independent countries for two people … with nobody dying, not from an airstrike or a knife attack. It’s my job and yours,” he says, “to push for a solution that stops the suffering.” (Continued below the video)
I made this 1 year ago. It’s best viewed today. pic.twitter.com/fTfhoOg4p3
— Nuseir Yassin (@nasdaily) October 20, 2023
“So instead of siding with the extremists,” says Nuseir, “get out of your village and befriend an enemy!” He suggests that if you do this, you will see what he has seen for 30 years — that we all want the same things.
A little editorial comment here, if you don’t mind, Nuseir: when some Israelis befriended some Gazans, they ended up having provided Hamas with maps of the kibbutzim down to homes with dogs and children and many of them ended up dead or abducted. One example here. So pardon me if I remain skeptical.
And then, at the end of his video, he told a story that made him sad. It was about a 12-year-old boy from a country he won’t name who told Nuseir that he loves his videos because he wants peace. Adults around him told him he cannot say that because they want justice for themselves and to defeat the enemy. A year later, this same kid told Nuseir that he wants to defeat the enemy.
Everyone talks about defeating the enemy; who talks about wanting justice?
His next post (Nov 10) is from Indonesia about a solar farm built on the water that provides solar energy in a country that needs all their land for agriculture and doesn’t have enough wind for wind power.
And then on Dec 5th, he gets back to something related to our part of the world.
In the West, we look down at politics. It doesn’t pay much. We say it’s stupid. It’s for power hungry old people.
But political leaders can save millions of lives, or destroy tens of millions
North and South Korea is the clearest example we have on planet Earth.
— Nuseir Yassin (@nasdaily) December 5, 2023
and
You can extrapolate this learning to any other conflict.
Israel and Palestine
Ukraine or RussiaMake your own conclusions.
— Nuseir Yassin (@nasdaily) December 5, 2023
Then, he goes back to sharing his business exploits until, exactly one month ago, on March 17th, he put up a 20-minute video promoting the two-state-(so-called) solution:
a message to all peace makers. pic.twitter.com/Ro74WaGSw3
— Nuseir Yassin (@nasdaily) March 17, 2024
In fact, this video was his acceptance speech when he was awarded the ADL Daniel Pearl Award for bringing people together and promoting peace between Jews and Moslems.
At about 6 minutes in, he says that the Jews and the Moslems are “equally indigenous” to the region. I disagree with that statement except for the caveat that Moslems who were originally Jews and accepted Islam during the generations of Islamic rule after the Arab Conquest of 650 CE are also indigenous. But not those who conquered and colonized the country.
Something else I strongly disagree with is the suggestion that if/when there is peace between Israel and Palestine then Palestine will build a future just as Japan and Germany did. He brings Japan and Germany in as examples of successful modern countries who made peace with their former enemies: Japan and the USA, Germany and Israel. He neglects to mention that both Japan and Germany were soundly and most definitely defeated!
If we put in the logic that he omitted, we conclude that Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PLO, and all other warring terrorist Palestinian Arab organizations need to be soundly and most definitely defeated before the people they say they represent can be expected to be open to a peaceful future.
Nuseir Yassin, as Nas Daily, has made an incredible career for himself. His videos from around the world are fascinating and worth watching. But as a promoter of peace between Israel and Palestine (so-called)? Naw!
But I have to say something in his favour even though I disagree with him most emphatically on the issue of Israel-Palestine: electronic intifada published such a vile hit-piece on him (and the ADL) that it makes me want to hug him. I don’t think he needs my hug, but I just wanted to share wtih you my spontaneous reaction to how they tore into him, a fellow Israeli.
