The Tucker Carlson Show - August 20, 2026


Whistleblower： Americans Are Being Murdered While Trump Does Nothing and the Media Cover-up Grows


Episode Stats


Length

1 hour and 9 minutes

Words per minute

149.33

Word count

10,421

Sentence count

568


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 The most shocking part of the story of the USS Liberty, the American ship bombed by the
00:00:05.520 Israeli government back during the Six-Day War in 1967, is not simply the facts of the
00:00:10.220 case, 34 Americans murdered by the Israelis, 171 wounded, bombed, strafed with machine
00:00:16.440 gun fire, etc.
00:00:18.020 That's a tragedy and it's shocking.
00:00:20.760 But the most shocking part of the story is that the U.S. government, beginning with the
00:00:24.840 then-President Lyndon Johnson, covered it up, prevented the survivors from talking about it,
00:00:30.420 prevented the public from knowing that it even happened. That's ongoing, by the way.
00:00:35.320 American officials still refuse to talk about what happened to the USS Liberty, by and large,
00:00:40.180 with some exceptions. So that's the part of the story that really makes you wonder what is going
00:00:46.780 on here. It's one thing for a foreign country, foreign government, to murder your citizens.
00:00:51.280 that does happen. But the idea that your own government would take the side of the foreign
00:00:59.480 nation as it murders your people, the people your government is in charge of caring for,
00:01:05.220 that is really stunning. And you have to ask why. Well, in some cases, of course,
00:01:10.040 just a product of evil intent. There are bad people in positions of power.
00:01:13.680 But for the most part, it's not active evil, it's passive evil. It's the result of moral cowardice.
00:01:19.560 It's more painful to take the side of your own people than it is the side of a foreign
00:01:24.320 government.
00:01:24.920 Therefore, you take the side of a foreign government.
00:01:26.620 That's just the truth about the way most people are, unfortunately.
00:01:32.020 So as you think about that, you think about the depth of the betrayal involved in the
00:01:38.160 aftermath of the USS Liberty murders.
00:01:42.740 You think, well, that couldn't possibly happen now.
00:01:45.000 Well, in fact, it is happening now, right now.
00:01:48.360 More than a dozen American citizens have been murdered in pogroms in the occupied territories that Israel controls, the West Bank.
00:01:57.280 And they've been murdered by Israelis, mostly Israeli settlers, the ones conducting these pogroms.
00:02:03.920 Armed by the U.S. government, carrying American rifles.
00:02:08.300 And if you think the term pogrom is too strong, you don't know the details of what's happening there.
00:02:13.020 Israeli settlers, many of them American citizens, carrying American weapons, murdering
00:02:19.840 the local population. Palestinians, some of whom, more than a dozen of whom, have been American,
00:02:26.760 and by the way, who are prohibited from defending themselves. They cannot carry weapons,
00:02:30.380 of course. Palestinians can't carry weapons on their own land, but Israeli settlers who seek
00:02:37.840 to steal that land can. So these pogroms have been ongoing, of course, but most Americans have
00:02:43.440 no idea that American citizens have been murdered during the course of them. And they have no idea
00:02:49.340 because the media by and large don't report it and American officials have no interest in talking
00:02:53.880 about it. So we want to bring you a very specific story of a young American man. And by American,
00:03:04.280 we mean literally American, born in the United States, worked at his family's ice cream shop
00:03:09.320 in Tampa, who was murdered last summer in July of 2025 in the West Bank. He was murdered attempting
00:03:17.140 to go to land that his family owns, has a deed to, not owns in some conceptual sense, but literally
00:03:23.460 owns. And he was killed by settlers, none of whom have ever been punished for that crime.
00:03:30.140 And under normal circumstances, we would give long monologue about why this is bad.
00:03:35.240 Of course, it's self-evidently bad and what it means.
00:03:37.920 But we've just conducted two of the most extraordinary interviews we've done in a long time.
00:03:42.960 One with the father of the boy who was murdered, and another with an American journalist who
00:03:48.620 works for a Christian, a Catholic publication, who was effectively prevented from talking
00:03:54.520 about this entire topic, who was censored on behalf of the Israeli government.
00:03:59.180 in the United States? So these two interviews answer at least two questions. The first is,
00:04:06.560 what is happening? You may not know the details. With your money in your name to your fellow
00:04:13.100 citizens in a foreign land. And the second is, why haven't you heard about this? Why is there
00:04:18.540 effectively a media blackout on the details? Not a total media blackout. In fact, we're about to
00:04:22.880 play you a clip from CNN, which to their credit, they did about the murder last summer of the
00:04:28.960 boy from Florida. But by and large, the American media do not report on the details of these
00:04:35.260 crimes, of these pogroms. Why is that? And the second interview with the editor, former editor
00:04:41.540 from this Catholic publication, gives you a sense of just how the news coverage is shut down at the
00:04:49.060 level of the news organization, what the censorship looks like within the newsroom. And so we want to
00:04:55.400 framed the first interview we're about to bring you with that clip we just mentioned from CNN,
00:05:00.020 which has video in it that you may not have seen, but this is something worth watching.
00:05:07.140 So what you're about to see is video of the father accompanied by a news crew attempting
00:05:11.760 to go to the place where his son was beaten to death during these pogroms. Watch.
00:05:17.260 Camel Muslet hasn't been able to reach this land in over a year. This is the hillside where his
00:05:24.000 son, Saif, an American citizen, was killed, beaten to death by Israeli settlers exactly
00:05:32.620 one year ago. Since then, settlers have illegally occupied the area, preventing this father
00:05:40.020 from getting the closure he so desperately seeks.
00:05:43.120 We have to keep an eye because usually they'll come down that way.
00:05:46.320 But this solemn, sacred moment won't last. Within seconds, we spot a car speeding towards
00:05:53.060 us we start to leave but as we drive away we see that four settlers have set up a roadblock
00:05:58.740 armed with clubs and rocks they try and block our way first with their bodies
00:06:05.140 and then and now it looks like he's trying to slash our tires he's trying to slash our tires
00:06:10.900 a group of independent journalists and activists are in the car behind us
00:06:14.420 But their vehicle isn't armored.
00:06:23.380 But the settlers aren't done.
00:06:25.600 More arrive, blocking another road before chasing us and attacking us again.
00:06:31.560 They're trying to stop our car again.
00:06:34.900 They're hitting us.
00:06:37.640 We finally make it back to safety where I get on the phone with the Israeli military,
00:06:41.960 which is responsible for security in this area.
00:06:44.840 But settlers have also called the military,
00:06:47.940 and these soldiers are only interested in harassing us,
00:06:51.780 refusing to take action against the settlers.
00:06:54.680 That man, as you just saw, is called Kamal Mousselet.
00:06:58.300 He runs an ice cream shop and a smash burger store in Tampa, Florida.
00:07:03.520 And we're about to bring you our interview with him.
00:07:06.060 And we're not going to say a lot more because nothing we could say
00:07:09.500 would be half as affecting or informative
00:07:12.300 as what you're about to hear him say.
00:07:16.260 But we just add one thing.
00:07:17.860 You will hear him describe his efforts
00:07:19.560 to get the attention of his own U.S. Senator,
00:07:22.820 Rick Scott of Florida.
00:07:23.980 Now, keep in mind, Colin Moosad is from Florida.
00:07:26.100 He grew up in Clewiston, Florida,
00:07:27.920 right near Lake Okeechobee.
00:07:29.680 He's not some foreigner.
00:07:30.640 He's an American, an American citizen,
00:07:33.200 and has always been.
00:07:34.060 His family, his parents were American citizens.
00:07:37.260 And of course, his son, now gone,
00:07:38.940 was an American citizen too.
00:07:41.020 Rick Scott is the Republican senator who represents him.
00:07:45.280 And yet Rick Scott has refused to meet with him.
00:07:48.500 Rick Scott is always welcome on this show to explain why.
00:07:52.020 Consider this an official invitation to Senator Scott.
00:07:55.420 But keep in mind as you listen to this,
00:07:57.720 that his representative in the United States Senate,
00:08:00.800 Rick Scott, has refused to meet with him
00:08:04.460 or do anything to affect justice in this case.
00:08:06.820 the killers of his son, remain unpunished. So with that, here's our interview with Kamal
00:08:11.440 Mousselet. Kamal Mousselet, thank you so much for joining us. So I'm hoping you'll tell us
00:08:18.360 the story of your son. And I just want to be clear for people watching that he was an American,
00:08:23.380 not simply a green card holder or even a citizen, but a birthright American born in Florida,
00:08:28.460 fully American. And he was murdered in the occupied territories by settlers. So tell us
00:08:35.880 who he was and what happened, if you would.
00:08:39.240 Sayfullah Musalat, my son, my name is Kamel Musalat.
00:08:44.840 Sayfullah Musalat was born in Port Charlotte, Florida.
00:08:48.920 He was working at an ice cream shop in Tampa, Florida.
00:08:53.620 And me and him, you know, built it together and we opened it up
00:08:59.280 and he was serving ice cream to kids, you know.
00:09:03.840 That was his job description.
00:09:05.880 Saifullah, in the summer of 2025, July, he was in West Bank, Palestine.
00:09:17.120 He wanted to visit his family.
00:09:18.760 He wanted to visit.
00:09:19.560 My wife was there at that time, and his siblings were there.
00:09:24.300 And honestly, he wanted actually to hopefully find a potential wife.
00:09:29.920 He wanted to get engaged.
00:09:32.160 And he said, maybe I can find my spouse there.
00:09:37.240 And so I told him, you know, I was debating because business was booming.
00:09:41.700 The ice cream shop was doing well.
00:09:44.280 But he convinced me that let me go there for now.
00:09:48.540 I told him, okay, but what we'll do is that we'll kind of switch places.
00:09:53.020 You know, I'll go take care of the ice cream shop while you go there.
00:09:56.260 We spent some time together there together.
00:09:58.840 We spent our holiday, the Eid, and we attended my nephew's wedding, which is his cousin.
00:10:07.540 And I came back to the States.
00:10:11.800 I left him there.
00:10:14.200 So Israeli settlers, since April of 2025, they've been basically trying to steal more land, the land theft that they're doing.
00:10:28.120 and the land theft that they're getting away with.
00:10:31.300 And since April, they've been coming to our town.
00:10:36.100 It's basically across from our village.
00:10:38.580 Across from our village, meaning these two big mountains or hills,
00:10:43.720 or one of them has the homes and schools and so forth.
00:10:47.160 And then the other one is kind of like open field, but it's part of our village.
00:10:50.500 Tucker as
00:10:52.580 you might have heard before
00:10:55.280 our village consists of
00:10:57.340 80% American citizens
00:10:59.740 yes
00:11:02.120 and most of Ramallah area
00:11:05.700 so like my father
00:11:07.360 is the one that came to the states
00:11:08.500 my grandfather came to the states in
00:11:11.100 1895
00:11:12.680 on a
00:11:14.100 on a boat
00:11:16.460 and lived in New York
00:11:19.260 My father came in the 60s.
00:11:22.640 So, you know, I'm second generation.
00:11:25.480 I've been here for years.
00:11:26.600 And I grew up in Clewiston, Florida, a small town by Okeechobee.
00:11:33.560 I know it.
00:11:34.340 Yeah.
00:11:35.800 I went to Friday night football games.
00:11:40.260 You know, that's who we are.
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00:13:43.720 So, you know, we are Americans.
00:13:49.000 My son was born in the States.
00:13:51.420 My older brothers were born in the States and so forth.
00:13:54.940 So our village, just like my father,
00:13:58.120 most of the older generations, they moved to the States.
00:14:01.680 So 80% of our village consists of 20,000 people.
00:14:05.900 only 4,000 live there and 15,000 live abroad, either in the States or South America, and most
00:14:12.720 of them are American citizens. So most of these American citizens own these lands. I own a piece
00:14:18.640 of land in this land, in this mountain. And the Israeli settlers have been going there since April
00:14:25.000 2025 and preventing us from getting into our lands. And as you know, Tucker, there's area A,
00:14:30.560 B, and C. Believe it or not, this land where these settlers are at right now, this moment,
00:14:38.480 as we speak, I can't get to my land. It's area A and area B. It's not this area C disputed
00:14:46.080 Oslo agreement saying that it's under Israeli authority. No, this is under Palestinian
00:14:51.020 authority. But the Palestinian authority doesn't even go there. We don't go there.
00:14:57.260 So they were trying to get to their lands since April.
00:15:00.880 And week after week, they were attacked and attacked and attacked.
00:15:05.280 And it just doesn't make sense that we can't get to our lands because of five or six or seven of these Israeli settlers attacking us.
00:15:15.360 They're armed with M16s.
00:15:19.480 They're armed with sticks, with rocks, and so forth.
00:15:24.440 And every time someone would try to go there, they would get hurt or attacked.
00:15:29.020 And ever since, but it's our right to be in our land.
00:15:32.120 You know, this is land that is owned by us.
00:15:34.620 It's land owned by American citizens, Tucker.
00:15:36.780 This is like, there's many Americans all over the world that buy land and own land in many foreign countries.
00:15:45.100 um so that july uh 11th um just like every other week uh many people were trying to get into their
00:15:56.260 lands and they were prevented by by these israeli settlers say falaw was one of the people that was
00:16:02.420 trying to get to their to his land you know i have land there that's um about an acre land there
00:16:08.100 in area A
00:16:10.040 and
00:16:11.500 there wasn't many settlers
00:16:14.860 or they didn't see many settlers
00:16:16.340 it seemed that they had
00:16:17.920 an ambush ready for them
00:16:19.900 when they got there
00:16:22.520 maybe 50 settlers
00:16:25.500 a mob of them
00:16:27.780 ambushed
00:16:30.060 Saifullah
00:16:31.880 ambushed his friend
00:16:33.980 Muhammad Al-Shadabi
00:16:34.900 attacked many other people that day his friend Muhammad Chalabi was shot in the back
00:16:42.560 a close friend of him a Palestinian but his name is not known as much because he's not an American
00:16:49.820 you know Saif Allah was beaten to death that day and what happened was that
00:16:58.660 the ambulance
00:17:01.060 a first ambulance
00:17:02.720 was trying to reach him
00:17:03.760 and on the way there
00:17:06.320 it was attacked by stones
00:17:07.400 and had to go back
00:17:08.260 my other son
00:17:10.400 Muhammad
00:17:10.920 when he heard about this news
00:17:13.520 and I'm in the States
00:17:15.140 Tucker right now
00:17:15.980 at this moment
00:17:17.180 and
00:17:18.420 sorry
00:17:29.280 no it's alright
00:17:30.720 it's hard to imagine
00:17:36.600 yeah
00:17:37.860 it's my oldest son
00:17:39.620 you know
00:17:39.880 it's like
00:17:40.260 so
00:17:42.700 I get these messages
00:17:45.220 that are
00:17:46.200 that's saying
00:17:47.100 that
00:17:47.420 that Saifullah is in this mountain and Saifullah has been hurt.
00:17:53.640 Nobody's giving me direct messages.
00:17:55.660 Nobody's telling me exactly what's happening.
00:17:59.340 And I understand that.
00:18:01.560 Nobody wants to tell the father what's going on.
00:18:05.320 My younger son, Muhammad, he heard what happened.
00:18:09.240 He crossed this mountain and he just, I guess they drowned and pumped into him.
00:18:14.800 And he wasn't afraid that there was Israeli settlers there.
00:18:19.060 He wasn't afraid that the Israeli army, remember, Tucker,
00:18:21.560 Israeli army, their presence was there at that moment.
00:18:24.980 And that's why we couldn't get another ambulance.
00:18:27.660 And after the first ambulance went back,
00:18:31.320 they had to get a permit for another ambulance to enter to get to Saifullah.
00:18:37.800 And it took two and a half hours until they finally got the permit to reach Saifullah.
00:18:44.160 But my son, when he heard this, he went there, he crossed this mountain,
00:18:49.000 and he told me there were settlers on top, but they didn't see him.
00:18:57.440 The Israeli soldiers didn't see him.
00:18:59.300 He got to his brother.
00:19:01.000 He reached to his brother.
00:19:02.220 And I was calling and calling and calling.
00:19:04.880 When I saved Allah's phone and someone answered,
00:19:11.000 I was kind of relieved at that moment.
00:19:12.660 but you know it wasn't safe
00:19:14.660 because Saifullah's face was blue
00:19:16.920 he had a hard time
00:19:19.280 breathing you know his body
00:19:21.200 just couldn't take it
00:19:22.260 and what's sad
00:19:25.400 is my other son
00:19:27.400 told me that
00:19:28.860 he was
00:19:31.340 still breathing
00:19:32.020 and waiting
00:19:35.120 for some sort of help
00:19:36.180 he was unconscious with his eyes
00:19:39.080 open and
00:19:40.520 And when I called him later on, my son told me that he didn't look good, that he needed some sort of medical attention, medical help.
00:19:54.100 And when they finally approved for this ambulance to get to him after two and a half hours, they put him on the stretcher.
00:20:04.040 And five minutes before he got into the ambulance, my son told me that he took his last breath.
00:20:10.520 So it was just that matter, just that time, you know, like if they allowed the ambulance,
00:20:19.360 if the first ambulance got into him, you know, he would be with us right now at this moment.
00:20:23.760 I would not be having this interview with you at this moment.
00:20:27.320 You know, I would be with my son.
00:20:29.800 We would be in an ice cream shop working together.
00:20:33.480 The first one didn't make it.
00:20:35.520 Why not allow the second one to get there sooner?
00:20:38.040 Like, they should have been the ones knowing that Israeli illegal, Israeli settlers, being in land that that's not theirs, under Oslo agreement, under international law, under Israeli law.
00:20:54.200 You know, there's these big signs up there.
00:20:56.540 I don't know if you've seen pictures of them, that it is illegal for an Israeli to be in Area A.
00:21:02.860 There's these big red signs.
00:21:04.260 So it's under Israeli law, it's illegal for them to be there.
00:21:08.040 They attacked my son. They attacked many other people. Why are they not even sending
00:21:12.280 ambulances to help these people that have been hurt? And he took his last breath at that moment.
00:21:21.880 And ever since then, there's been no accountability. There's been no justice.
00:21:28.920 There's only been more settlers going there. Till this day, over a year,
00:21:36.120 and settlers are still in those areas every time we try to go there we get attacked and
00:21:45.240 just on the one year anniversary i don't know if you've seen the cnn report that i did with jeremy
00:21:51.160 diamond i agreed with cnn that i would you know do a follow-up with them but like i had a condition
00:22:04.360 that i needed to be safe they provided me an armored car and they provided me bulletproof vests
00:22:13.960 so think about it to try to get to my own land the only way that i can feel safe is if i'm in
00:22:19.480 an armored car and this is one year later since that that that you know my son was murdered and
00:22:27.400 we all know you know what did Mike Huckabee say when he learned about Saifullah's murder you know
00:22:36.600 he called it a criminal and terrorist act a criminal and terrorist act um what did the director
00:22:47.720 of the FBI say I was listening to him not long ago and and this thing popped up he said this is his
00:22:55.960 exact words. If you kill an American citizen in an act of terrorism, we will hunt you down.
00:23:03.460 We will bring you to justice and you will face justice here in America.
00:23:11.200 And Mike Huckabee called it a criminal and terrorist act.
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00:24:31.200 So, like, why is my son different than any other American?
00:24:37.800 If it was any other place in the world, Tucker, that a mob,
00:24:43.940 a mom
00:24:49.120 you know
00:24:50.960 beats an American citizen
00:24:53.340 to death
00:24:53.940 in a foreign country
00:24:56.580 what would be the outcry of it?
00:24:59.740 Would they not send
00:25:01.120 authorities
00:25:03.780 from the US
00:25:04.960 to investigate it?
00:25:07.560 Why is my son different
00:25:09.100 in this situation?
00:25:11.600 Like
00:25:11.820 it just doesn't make sense
00:25:13.760 I didn't get a call from Rick Scott.
00:25:18.520 I didn't get a call from DeSantis.
00:25:20.680 I tried to set up meetings with him when I went to DC.
00:25:27.120 But don't get me wrong, there's many senators out there that are so sincere.
00:25:34.780 And Van Hollen is one of them.
00:25:36.880 And him and 27 or 28 other senators signed a letter demanding an investigation, an independent investigation led by the U.S.
00:25:49.980 And to all this day, you know, nothing.
00:25:54.480 You know, I try to get some answers from the Israeli authority and they haven't sent, you know, they gave me no updates.
00:26:03.100 um you know so that day when i went with jeremy one year later you know i wanted to go to the
00:26:13.640 place where my son was killed i wanted to maybe would give some closure you know uh i wanted to
00:26:22.040 see this tree that he was under uh because they put he was he was under a tree his friends put
00:26:28.640 under a tree where there was shade. It was hot that day. And I wanted to reach that tree.
00:26:37.040 But that day when we went with CNN, one year later, they're still there. We got attacked.
00:26:44.800 The car was attacked. The journalists behind us got attacked.
00:26:49.120 We were safe because we were an armored car. The footage shows that the settlers were trying to
00:26:54.240 to slash the tire with a knife and it was this was after reaching the area that that the attack
00:27:03.920 occurred you know I reached that area and to be honest it was really hard on me because I was
00:27:12.980 started I started to imagine my son being in that area being attacked and his friends being attacked
00:27:18.500 and our next step was our next like area our goal to reach was the tree that he took his last
00:27:26.320 breath in under and on our way there when we were attacked then we were chased then we were chased
00:27:34.680 around the whole mountain until we got out safely and even after that they came down to the village
00:27:41.060 and they started an attack and so forth.
00:27:44.720 And it's like, until when?
00:27:47.620 Why is there not sanctions on these people,
00:27:50.720 on these terrorists?
00:27:54.020 Why is there not enough international pressure stopping this?
00:27:59.720 And this is not only happening to Palestinians,
00:28:05.400 this is happening to Americans.
00:28:08.360 So we're funding this.
00:28:11.060 That day, they said, the day that we were attacked with Jeremy, CNN, they said they apprehended four people.
00:28:22.280 But what really happened?
00:28:23.680 Because the next day we couldn't get there.
00:28:26.120 You know, it's like the Israeli army being, you know, claiming that they're that great.
00:28:34.120 they can't remove seven or eight settlers from this mountain
00:28:39.780 because the Palestinians can do only so much.
00:28:45.040 And they can't really retaliate against them.
00:28:51.740 And the only thing that they can do is just basically nothing.
00:28:57.980 We took it to the courts.
00:28:59.480 We took it to the courts and tried to evict them,
00:29:03.320 Which makes no sense evicting them from land that's not even theirs or evicting them from land that they're trying to steal.
00:29:11.560 And the court's order from the Israeli courts, the Israeli Supreme Court, has a court order that they must be removed, that they must leave.
00:29:23.860 And still nothing.
00:29:26.240 No investigation from the U.S. Department of State.
00:29:29.640 Israeli authorities
00:29:32.240 are not removing them
00:29:33.360 and they're just saying
00:29:34.660 that they're
00:29:35.180 you know
00:29:36.360 they're just a bunch of
00:29:38.060 a wild gang
00:29:40.960 or some sort of
00:29:42.820 and
00:29:44.320 till this day
00:29:46.160 you know
00:29:46.720 you know
00:29:49.760 I'm there
00:29:50.520 as a father
00:29:51.880 I feel
00:29:52.420 I have a responsibility
00:29:53.640 for my son
00:29:54.960 for SAFE
00:29:56.060 that I can't give up
00:29:58.140 you know
00:29:58.820 and do what I can as an American.
00:30:02.260 Tucker, he loved being an American.
00:30:06.320 I mean, he got his new passport one day,
00:30:11.100 the new passport with the card.
00:30:13.500 He sent me a video.
00:30:14.740 He said, Dad, Dad, look at the new passport.
00:30:18.280 It's different.
00:30:19.940 Then his friend sent me a video after he was killed
00:30:24.100 that I'd never seen before until after he was killed.
00:30:28.820 and he was holding this U.S. passport
00:30:32.720 and he was saying
00:30:35.380 blue is blue
00:30:37.640 it doesn't matter
00:30:39.280 this was Safe's direct word
00:30:43.200 he said
00:30:43.640 it doesn't matter if you're
00:30:45.860 a Palestinian American
00:30:47.860 it doesn't matter if you're any other
00:30:50.520 he said
00:30:51.340 blue is blue
00:30:52.600 American is an American
00:30:54.960 and this was
00:30:58.100 Like, he believed in it so much, you know.
00:31:02.080 And it kind of, you know, like, how disappointed would he be right now that his passport did nothing for him?
00:31:12.020 Oh.
00:31:12.820 Okay.
00:31:13.920 You know, this is who saved us.
00:31:16.780 Let me ask you two questions.
00:31:18.880 Has anyone ever been arrested for your son's murder?
00:31:21.460 uh they claim at the beginning some uh they were four were arrested that day they didn't give me
00:31:30.340 information on who they didn't say but uh you know they were uh released soon after so no no one's
00:31:38.040 been punished for murdering your son nobody's been punished home ownership has always been at the
00:31:42.780 center of the american dream it is an actual asset a place people work their entire lives
00:31:47.980 to build, a place of stability and security and real value. Right now, though, too many homeowners
00:31:53.900 are stuck swiping credit cards to cover groceries. There's basically a survival tax of 20% interest
00:31:59.660 or more. So why keep handing your money to the banks when you could keep it for your family?
00:32:04.500 Interest is what kills you. Our friends at American Financing have a better way. They're
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00:32:24.240 a true financial reset. We recommend American financing. They're called America's home for
00:32:29.480 home loans for a reason. So get out of credit card debt. I mean, it is just crazy to borrow money.
00:32:36.580 No judgment, but it doesn't make any sense to borrow money at that rate.
00:32:39.960 If you want out, call 800-685-5696, 800-685-5696, or visit AmericanFinancing.net slash Tucker.
00:32:51.940 That's my first question. My second question is, I just want to make sure I have this clear.
00:32:56.120 You're an American. You run an ice cream shop in Tampa where your son and American citizen work,
00:33:01.680 but you're floridians and rick scott the republican senator from florida will not meet with
00:33:09.120 you after your son an american citizen in florida resident was murdered in a foreign country
00:33:13.920 is that is that right we we've tried we've tried to do direct meetings with him uh i think they
00:33:20.960 wanted us to meet with their staff or so forth and i wanted a direct con i wanted to meet him
00:33:27.760 directly you know i went to dc i met many senators you know why not my senator you know you know my
00:33:36.400 floridian senator i just want to say that again rick scott and his the phone number for his office
00:33:41.520 is on the internet encourage everyone to look it up and give the office a call um rick scott the
00:33:46.800 republican senator from florida will not meet with his own constituent whose son was murdered in a
00:33:52.560 foreign country that you know you think like the uss liberty could never happen now that american
00:33:58.560 leaders would never tolerate their own people being killed by a foreign country they'd never
00:34:02.480 cover up on behalf of foreign power when americans are murdered but clearly it is happening again
00:34:10.640 and my son is not even the only american that's been killed there you know since 2003
00:34:16.720 um a dozen americans have been killed and even after my son you know like my whole thing was
00:34:22.560 And maybe this time will be different.
00:34:25.940 Maybe something will happen.
00:34:29.640 Something will, there'll be a change because of, there was, you know, there was media out
00:34:36.340 there about covering about safe story and it won't happen again.
00:34:41.460 There'll be some sort of international pressure.
00:34:43.120 No other American will be killed there.
00:34:45.520 And even after my son was killed, two more Americans were killed.
00:34:52.560 by Israeli settlers after my son and and it just doesn't stop and like you know my whole
00:35:04.360 thing is like like you know why is the US government not doing enough for their citizens
00:35:12.440 You know, when it comes to, you know, them being killed, you know, by Israelis, you know, I don't know, Tucker, like, don't you think if it was any other place in the world, there would be this investigation, you know, they'll send out, you know, their investigators and so forth to see what happened.
00:35:40.140 And, you know, it's been a year down the road and like, I just feel now it's even too late.
00:35:47.400 Like, you know, what kind of investigation can you do after a year?
00:35:51.600 You know, when, you know, I'm going to try to keep doing my part, you know, and demand
00:36:02.560 justice, demand accountability.
00:36:04.040 and hopefully this impunity that they have
00:36:08.420 thinking they can do anything they want
00:36:10.980 and get away with it because they are.
00:36:13.880 And nobody's stopping them,
00:36:16.300 slap to the wrist or so forth.
00:36:19.440 But there's no true accountability.
00:36:23.700 There's nobody going to jail.
00:36:27.000 And like I said,
00:36:28.320 what the director of the FBI said,
00:36:31.580 And, you know, he's claiming that you're not going to get away if you kill an American citizen.
00:36:41.180 But these guys have.
00:36:44.520 You can also rape children and molest children in the United States and flee to Israel and never face justice.
00:36:51.680 And that's happened a lot.
00:36:53.020 So, of course, they behave as if they have impunity because they do have impunity.
00:36:58.620 That's the answer.
00:36:59.060 They do have impunity.
00:37:00.280 And...
00:37:01.580 You know, Mike Huckabee, you know, called me up, you know, two days after.
00:37:09.400 And these were my exact words that I asked him.
00:37:14.560 I said, should I not fear to go into my land as an American that is under my name that I purchased anytime I want?
00:37:29.440 and he said no you should not
00:37:32.580 I remember one year later
00:37:35.780 I still fear going into my land
00:37:38.440 he came to my house
00:37:41.760 we sat with each other
00:37:44.320 and he told me he wants to get answers
00:37:49.280 from the Israeli authorities
00:37:51.460 and still today
00:37:54.260 no answers from them
00:37:56.180 um the the case is still open you know when when we asked but with with no answers with with nothing
00:38:06.380 well he is the United States ambassador in a country that would only ex only exist because
00:38:11.480 of the United States so if he wanted answers he could get answers he's the envoy from the
00:38:17.120 Trump administration the benefactor of Israel so it's like not not that hard to get answers if you
00:38:21.920 you really want to so he doesn't really want to what what hurts a lot uh tucker is like
00:38:28.400 you know imagine what it feels like like my own tax dollars that i pay
00:38:37.680 you know contributed to my own son's murder yes you know that hurts
00:38:45.600 that hurts
00:38:49.320 because we all know
00:38:50.720 our tax dollars go there
00:38:51.980 and my son
00:38:55.060 was killed there
00:38:55.780 so do I have a part of that
00:38:58.740 in reality
00:39:00.280 you know so
00:39:05.760 I can
00:39:07.220 we can pray for the best
00:39:09.960 and
00:39:10.420 and you know
00:39:13.800 hope that
00:39:15.340 there'll be some change you know
00:39:17.300 they'll finally put a stop to this
00:39:19.760 land theft that just
00:39:21.760 keeps going and going and going
00:39:23.320 and just three weeks ago
00:39:25.700 just
00:39:27.760 three weeks ago
00:39:28.500 they put a new outpost
00:39:31.680 in our land
00:39:32.820 in the Mazra Shalqia land
00:39:35.700 land that's owned by mostly 80%
00:39:37.960 Americans from our village
00:39:39.820 and they brought their sheep
00:39:43.640 they started small
00:39:45.560 Now there's a tent there.
00:39:47.320 And now every day, more and more settlers are going there.
00:39:50.080 And now another area of our village that we can't go to
00:39:53.340 because there's Israeli settlers there.
00:39:55.760 This was just three weeks ago.
00:39:57.800 So it's not stopping.
00:39:59.820 It's not, it just, it's increasing actually on an every day.
00:40:08.480 I appreciate your taking the time to tell your story
00:40:11.620 and the story of your son
00:40:12.600 and what happened after he was murdered in this pogrom.
00:40:19.040 And I hope many people will see this
00:40:20.920 and I hope that change is the result of that.
00:40:24.240 So thank you very much.
00:40:26.480 Well, thank you, Tucker, for having me
00:40:28.560 and letting me give my story
00:40:31.200 and letting my son's legacy live on.
00:40:35.400 Thank you.
00:40:36.720 So if you just watched that entire interview,
00:40:39.400 we were emotionally exhausted by the end of it,
00:40:41.840 You may be asking yourself, among many other questions,
00:40:44.400 why didn't I know that this happened?
00:40:47.180 Pogroms are underway, literal pogroms,
00:40:49.720 where people are being murdered,
00:40:51.840 including American citizens,
00:40:53.240 including a boy from an ice cream shop in Tampa,
00:40:55.620 and I didn't know that even happened.
00:40:58.480 Well, the reason you may not have known
00:41:00.380 is because the media are, by and large, not covering it.
00:41:05.080 There is one exception.
00:41:06.680 It's a Catholic publication
00:41:07.820 whose political editor you're about to meet,
00:41:09.940 former political editor, and his name is Stephen Harriot. Harriot describes how coverage of this
00:41:18.420 story and stories like it has been shut down at a Christian publication. And of course, if it's
00:41:24.760 shut down at a Christian publication, you can imagine it has no shot at all at most media
00:41:30.060 outlets in the United States. But without delay, here is editor Stephen Harriot. Stephen, thanks
00:41:38.740 so much for doing this um this story what happened to you recently is it's it's hard to believe at
00:41:46.600 first um so if i understand just the outline of it you were working for a catholic news organization
00:41:53.120 and you were told not to allow anything in print that might criticize discredit the state of israel
00:42:00.840 up to and including the state of israel's mistreatment of christians is that is that right
00:42:06.160 um it's it's not quite um such a complete prohibition um more alarmingly i guess here's
00:42:15.440 the thing let me just for a little context yeah i work for and i i'm a longtime political editor
00:42:20.500 for zeal news which is a catholic catholic votes uh news outlet and we have in the past done a lot
00:42:29.820 of coverage until very recently, done a lot of coverage, arguably more than any other Catholic
00:42:35.900 outlet, on the mistreatment of Palestinians by Israeli forces and by the Israeli settler movement.
00:42:45.000 And one of our main sources on the ground has been the organization, the Vulnerable People
00:42:48.820 Project, which I know you've heard of and I've seen mentioned on your show. And what happened
00:42:55.620 is right after the Napa conference, it was conveyed to me that we were now adopting a new policy
00:43:02.100 and it was to drastically reduce our coverage of Israel. Now, I will say it's been presented
00:43:10.360 to me in various ways. On one occasion, yeah, it was a total prohibition. No coverage of Israel
00:43:16.160 until the elections. That's as a rule. And maybe with exceptions, and there will be,
00:43:24.260 If there are exceptions, it has to be explicitly put, you know, brought to the CEO and under
00:43:28.380 brought under extra scrutiny.
00:43:30.700 I'm sorry to ask you to pause until which elections?
00:43:33.240 I guess the upcoming midterms would be the reference.
00:43:38.520 And so to me, though, what was what was alarming on the outset was this came in the context
00:43:43.940 of right after the NAPA conference in California, which was attended by the U.S. ambassador
00:43:50.580 to the Vatican.
00:43:51.840 And what is the what is the NAPA conference?
00:43:54.260 The Napa Conference, the Napa Institute, it's the people present would be Catholic, influential Catholics in politics and media donors.
00:44:03.740 And U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, Brian Birch, who is the former president of Catholic Vote, was there.
00:44:12.200 And the current CEO of Catholic Vote and of Zeal, Kelsey Reinhart, and another executive met with him.
00:44:19.160 uh they also met with donors um meaning the current ceo and other executives met with donors
00:44:26.440 and it was presented to me as coming from that like one of the takeaways from our meeting
00:44:31.160 uh our meetings with donors and from our meeting with the ambassador is we have to change our
00:44:37.440 editorial policy on all issues with you know all articles that we were publishing with regard to
00:44:43.280 this one issue, Israel. That in itself, without even getting into the substance of what the
00:44:49.400 policy change might be, was so alarming that I immediately went to my immediate supervisor and
00:44:54.360 said, I think this violates my conscience. I don't think I can abide by this. But that was only,
00:45:01.140 I guess, the beginning. If you're over 35, you remember exactly where you were
00:45:05.540 on 9-11, that morning, September 11th, 2001, 25 years ago.
00:45:13.280 But amazingly, after a quarter century, we still can't say with certainty what happened that day.
00:45:18.240 Why? Because the government is holding so many of the 9-11 files 25 years later.
00:45:24.320 That's not the behavior of someone who's telling the truth.
00:45:26.580 That's the behavior of a government that is lying.
00:45:29.360 Secrecy is a signifier, is a sign that someone's lying.
00:45:33.960 Now, former Congressman Kurt Weldon has been on this for a long time.
00:45:36.720 The FBI actively tried to destroy his life for asking questions about what happened.
00:45:41.340 And his new book outlines it all, the buried intelligence, the bureaucratic cowardice, and yes, the cover-up spanning multiple administrations, indeed generations.
00:45:52.040 9-11 changed history, so it's worth understanding what really happened.
00:45:55.700 And you can get a lot closer to that in Kurt Weldon's book, Able Danger, What the 9-11 Commission Never Told You.
00:46:02.400 It's available now on TuckerCarlsonBooks.com.
00:46:06.280 TuckerCarlsonBooks.com.
00:46:08.380 May I ask you again to pause and tell us what your supervisor said when you explained your
00:46:14.760 conscience won't permit you to work under these conditions?
00:46:18.360 Oh, my direct supervisor was very sympathetic.
00:46:20.940 And there are, as you know, on this issue, there's a lot of sympathy.
00:46:28.100 In fact, as I said to one of my bosses, you could cast about for sympathy for days.
00:46:34.500 uh uh and if you tell people we're changing our policy on israel stories until the elections
00:46:40.980 you'll find that sympathy in one or two retirement communities and maybe florida and
00:46:46.480 new york and maybe in some boardrooms in dc but every as you've seen i mean people are very morally
00:46:53.860 outraged by the comportment of israel in the west bank and of course in gaza over the last three
00:46:58.740 years almost. So yeah, my direct supervisor is very sympathetic. There are plenty of people who
00:47:04.940 are very sympathetic. And in fact, Tucker, I'd honestly say, and I said this to everyone before
00:47:10.400 I resigned, I said, I believe that you are fundamentally in agreement with me on this.
00:47:15.300 I view you not as some bad guy trying to impose something on me, but as a good person who's been
00:47:21.800 manipulated. And to me, that's my main attitude toward this. And I feel bound in conscience.
00:47:27.960 And I even said this to executives before I resigned. I said, this is unmistakably a moral scandal. And with the involvement of the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, especially in light of how outspoken our Holy Father has been, as well as his right-hand man and the holy man, you know, Virabatista Pizzabala, the cardinal who is the patriarch of Jerusalem, to say nothing of the clergy on the ground in the West Bank.
00:47:53.040 for the U.S. ambassador to be going to the U.S.
00:47:58.440 and meeting with an executive at a media organization
00:48:00.740 and saying we need to adjust our policy toward Israel
00:48:04.080 and the way we cover it is inherently scandalous.
00:48:07.760 And I said, I will not be complicit in such a scandal.
00:48:10.980 And I don't appreciate being put in the position of sitting on it.
00:48:15.900 And sure enough, when I reached out to your team,
00:48:19.740 Your response, I think, was as commonsensical as mine.
00:48:24.160 Like, are you kidding me?
00:48:25.480 You know, that's very alarming.
00:48:27.440 There's no mistaking it, is there?
00:48:30.680 No, it's shocking.
00:48:32.380 I mean, this is a Christian news organization
00:48:34.480 reporting on, among other things,
00:48:36.560 the mistreatment of Christians in the Holy Land.
00:48:40.260 And so to hear not just the U.S. official,
00:48:45.060 but the ambassador to the Vatican
00:48:47.320 would be trying to shut that down.
00:48:51.300 Yeah, I had trouble believing that could be true,
00:48:53.500 but that's a daily experience for me.
00:48:57.880 Well, and to be clear, Tucker,
00:48:59.120 I wasn't privy to this conversation.
00:49:00.840 I didn't have a conversation
00:49:01.660 with you as ambassador to the Vatican,
00:49:03.020 but it was very strange to me
00:49:05.460 that three executives independently confirmed
00:49:07.940 that this conversation had taken place.
00:49:10.120 Two of them were present and recount,
00:49:12.720 yeah, as I was saying to Brian and as he said,
00:49:16.620 So to be meeting with the ambassador to the Vatican
00:49:19.200 and coming out of that meeting with,
00:49:23.000 and here's our new editorial policy
00:49:24.420 with regard to all stories having to do with Israel.
00:49:26.880 By the way, I'm Catholic Votes in a sense.
00:49:29.080 I'm Catholic Votes' most senior editor.
00:49:33.640 I'm not, you know, I'm the political editor.
00:49:37.580 To hear this as sort of just marching orders out of the blue
00:49:41.060 and for it to be presented, frankly, cavalierly,
00:49:45.520 Here's the other thing.
00:49:46.500 You know, when I talked with the CEO, she did mention, I do, quote, I do.
00:49:55.180 She said, I understand that some things have been communicated in a clunky and alarming way.
00:50:00.820 At one point, she even said she would have one person who communicated it to me rescind his communique.
00:50:06.840 Nonetheless, I was like, no, you don't go oops on something like this.
00:50:10.940 This is very grave.
00:50:12.040 um and i was very frankly it's just fair i'm still mystified um that they would not
00:50:19.460 see how serious i was but also how grave the situation is if that makes sense what what do
00:50:27.400 you think motivated this what kind of coverage and pardon my ignorance were you all doing
00:50:32.180 before this conversation wonderful coverage um really i'm very proud of it i'm very proud of them
00:50:38.860 um they really stuck their necks out um we one of our main focuses to give you a flavor of it was
00:50:46.060 taiba and thank you by the way i've heard you mention taiba on your on your show um it's the
00:50:52.800 last all christian town in the west bank and it has been subject to some of the some really nasty
00:50:59.780 settler violence and menacing activity by settlers surrounding it we're trying to push
00:51:04.600 the local community out. This is an ancient Christian community. They descend from the
00:51:09.300 first converts. I mean, the West Bank is made up of descendants of Christ's first followers.
00:51:17.740 But we've done some beautiful coverage of Taiba that included exclusive comments from the residents
00:51:23.620 there. That coverage included citations of those residents expressing, well, essentially alleging
00:51:32.340 that Israeli forces were complicit in or even facilitated settler violence against them
00:51:39.960 and threats against them by settlers. So there's a final chapter to this.
00:51:46.780 Hours after I tendered my resignation, the Zeal website published its first report on Taiba
00:51:55.320 without my editorial oversight, and presumably in keeping with the new policy that they had
00:52:02.880 adopted on Israel. And in sharp contrast to all of the past reports on Taiba, there were no direct
00:52:09.640 quotations from the residents. The main source it cited was an official statement from the Israeli
00:52:17.020 military. And that statement gave its rationale as we are coming and declaring Taiba a closed
00:52:25.940 military zone in order to protect the residents from settler violence. It flies in the face of
00:52:34.140 everything we, the whole perspective of the local community, including, by the way, Father Bashar,
00:52:40.920 the local pastor, who we've quoted in our past reports. These are exclusive quotes. By the way,
00:52:46.860 I got these exclusive contacts
00:52:48.340 through the Vulnerable People Project.
00:52:51.400 And a major part of the policy
00:52:52.880 that troubled me the most
00:52:54.420 when they said,
00:52:55.420 we're going to be changing our policy on Israel
00:52:56.840 was zero, absolutely no more citations
00:53:00.760 of the Vulnerable People Project as a source.
00:53:04.400 And I'm like, they're our main source.
00:53:07.380 They're a gold mine.
00:53:08.740 They're a US-based Catholic apostolate.
00:53:11.680 Their work has been favorably written up
00:53:13.420 by the official Vatican news portal.
00:53:15.160 they have contacts with everyone on the ground
00:53:18.640 including Father Bashar
00:53:19.920 it's through them that I got these exclusive
00:53:22.640 comments from Taiba's residents
00:53:24.920 to suddenly no longer
00:53:26.960 be able to cite VPP or use them as a source
00:53:29.020 and they're offering us exclusives freely
00:53:30.480 to suddenly, that's a major curtailment
00:53:33.200 of my ability to cover what's happening
00:53:34.720 to the community in the West Bank
00:53:36.940 and
00:53:39.720 so anyway, in this report
00:53:42.240 no quotations of local residents
00:53:44.680 the main quotation was an israeli press release from the military and by the way since then i've
00:53:52.840 been in a group chat with residents of taiba and they sure enough of course they told me
00:53:59.600 um we we the the general mood you know that our sentiment on the ground is uh we are frightened of
00:54:08.360 of the presence of the new the increased israeli military presence and um we don't trust it and
00:54:14.040 We're afraid that it might even lead to a worse outcome.
00:54:17.980 We feel more under threat.
00:54:19.700 And in addition to that, settlers are still getting through.
00:54:22.880 This is supposedly a closed military zone.
00:54:25.420 The Christian residents of Taiba are saying our movement is being restricted,
00:54:29.480 but settlers are walking into our town armed and not being stopped,
00:54:34.760 which presumably would be the purpose of this closed military zone,
00:54:38.480 would be to check them before they get in, right?
00:54:41.540 So, and we've seen, there's footage now of people in Taiba being confronted by settlers,
00:54:47.320 and then the Bedouin communities right outside of Taiba are being directly attacked by settlers.
00:54:52.720 Yesterday, I was literally in communication with them directly while these attacks were happening.
00:54:57.920 So, the military zone is not working.
00:55:00.500 More importantly, the residents don't even believe it was intended to, if that makes sense.
00:55:03.960 Yeah, it sounds like it is working, according to its purpose.
00:55:07.580 Right.
00:55:07.820 It's so disgraceful, it's so evil.
00:55:09.640 um why would the united states ambassador to the vatican abet the ethnic cleansing of christians
00:55:17.680 from the land that jesus walked i don't i don't understand i don't either talk and i can't um i
00:55:27.400 can't speculate beyond to say like in a way i think that what's happening right now we we battle
00:55:34.440 as scripture says
00:55:35.420 against powers
00:55:35.980 and principalities
00:55:36.840 it would be simplistic
00:55:39.560 and unproductive
00:55:40.960 to go
00:55:42.380 okay I found
00:55:44.020 the bad guys
00:55:44.680 right
00:55:45.520 now jump on my bandwagon
00:55:46.880 exactly
00:55:47.380 where none of the bad guys are
00:55:48.540 we're all good
00:55:49.120 the line as
00:55:50.960 Solzhenitsyn said
00:55:51.660 between good and evil
00:55:52.380 runs through the human heart
00:55:53.520 and I just found it
00:55:54.260 runs through
00:55:54.680 the hearts of everyone
00:55:55.920 in my organization
00:55:56.660 right
00:55:57.180 yeah
00:55:57.600 and ours
00:55:58.800 for that matter
00:55:59.680 and ours
00:56:00.080 right
00:56:00.680 and so the message
00:56:01.800 that I feel
00:56:02.680 I want to send
00:56:03.340 is more like
00:56:04.440 Right now, the church in the Holy Land is suffering, and I want Catholics in America to be intimate with Christ, to be close to Christ, to look to Christ and not lose sight of Christ on the cross and not lose sight of the body of Christ where it's suffering, especially, and not allow whatever the interests might be that would say,
00:56:28.460 well, until the elections, we need to focus, you know, downplay some, you know, like, that's just
00:56:33.160 not an option for us as Christians. It's not. We have to be focusing on being in solidarity,
00:56:41.760 I think, especially with our co-religionists when they're under attack. As you said, in the land
00:56:46.660 where Christ walked, the birthplace of our faith, what could be more important than that?
00:56:53.440 um someone's ambitions for 2028 maybe some donors who are angling for something in the
00:57:01.060 it's certainly by the way not even in the interest of the current administration
00:57:03.940 which has been outspoken increasingly outspoken by the way against israeli aggressions we have
00:57:09.160 trump directly decrying netanyahu's use of arms in lebanon uh where their uh their offensive is
00:57:16.240 explicitly modeled after their gaza offensives and um he's specifically calling it out for high
00:57:22.080 civilian casualties. We have Vice President Vance warning about domestic efforts to pressure people
00:57:28.020 to comply with Israel's interests. And we have the Trump administration repeatedly calling them
00:57:35.660 out over annexations, over the settler movement, explicitly. So yeah, again, if you know what I
00:57:43.140 mean i guess i'm saying why would this happen uh because there's a devil um not because aha i found
00:57:53.760 them the bad guys this guy's turned bad and or you know something like that it's not as simple as that
00:57:58.200 in fact you know what i would also say is that i would say that especially alarming is the fact
00:58:02.960 this is all especially alarming because of how good everyone involved is yes there is a powerful
00:58:09.340 just outpouring of power in the direction of keeping American Christians from looking at
00:58:19.940 their own church where it suffers and their own Lord and being intimate with the people in the
00:58:26.360 Holy Land. It's so powerful that even the best of us, you know, again, a Catholic Golden Zeal,
00:58:32.880 I think have done, I would say, arguably, they've been the best of all outlets in the U.S. in terms
00:58:37.860 of coverage of this issue and even they someone even got to them you see what i'm saying of course
00:58:44.360 i do yeah so to me it's almost like it's not like i found the bad guys and i want to go on a tucker's
00:58:49.960 show and you know get you know tell everyone how bad they are um my attitude is almost more like
00:58:55.300 wow this is so bad that even the best people um the the who are advocating ostensibly for the
00:59:02.680 interests of our faith and of our Lord and of the body of Christ are feeling enough pressure that
00:59:09.120 they're going to their editor and saying, shut up. We have to be real careful, whatever. Like I said,
00:59:15.660 even if they weren't saying shut up and no coverage, even if they were saying we've got a
00:59:19.020 new policy on this one issue, that's it. That's enough for me. I'm like, no, that's very alarming.
00:59:26.220 That is such a wise perspective. And I just want to thank you for it.
00:59:29.620 because it's bigger than the story itself,
00:59:33.080 and it is of a piece.
00:59:35.140 And the rest of the piece is Christian persecution,
00:59:38.280 and it's happening in a lot of different places,
00:59:40.120 most strikingly in Ukraine,
00:59:42.560 where the Bolshevik in charge
00:59:44.920 has banned the largest Christian denomination,
00:59:47.140 and not one in a thousand Americans
00:59:48.460 knows that their tax dollars are supporting this.
00:59:51.500 So I wonder if you see this as foreshadowing
00:59:54.160 of Christian persecution in the United States.
00:59:56.280 uh yes and no i mean yes i shouldn't say no of course uh yes in the sense of um
01:00:03.940 you know there's the the symbol that convinced me and kept me tied to christianity even when i
01:00:10.900 struggled most profoundly with my faith to the point of identifying as an atheist
01:00:14.200 was the crucifix and it was because it looks like reality um christ identified himself went
01:00:24.180 out of his way to identify himself kind of especially with people who are not let in on
01:00:29.000 the program you know people who are marginalized who are not respected or represented and then
01:00:37.540 he died like one of them and he said you have to treat them like they're me right now I see
01:00:46.700 definitely in our political messaging something that is more dangerous to Christians because it
01:00:53.200 doesn't directly target christians instead it inveigles them into complicity and attacking
01:00:59.820 their innocent neighbors who are not christian and so it's still a betrayal of the heart of
01:01:07.500 christianity it is not it is a betrayal of love and of human solidarity um and it uh is a stumbling
01:01:15.220 block to our neighbors who to whom the gospel is meant to be good news not a threat
01:01:22.300 So right now in our messaging, and unfortunately, Catholic vote has even been, again, some of
01:01:28.100 the best of us are being drawn into this.
01:01:30.100 You've seen the messaging about Muslims.
01:01:32.600 We're living in a context where we as American taxpayers have been made complicit by our
01:01:38.080 taxpayer dollars in numerous, decades of numerous unjust military actions, including against
01:01:45.960 civilians throughout the Arab world, most of the victims of which, yes, are Muslims.
01:01:51.580 many of whom are obviously also Christians,
01:01:54.600 and there's no downplaying the gravity of ISIS,
01:01:59.120 the rise of radical Islam,
01:02:00.900 and the persecution of minorities,
01:02:02.200 Yazidi, Christians, et cetera,
01:02:04.180 throughout the Middle East.
01:02:06.160 But in the context of this,
01:02:08.360 we are part of,
01:02:09.180 we helped get people elected
01:02:10.460 who are involved in horrifically unjust.
01:02:13.920 We just bombed a girls' school in Iran
01:02:16.900 based on like 1.0 level GPS, AI systems.
01:02:23.160 No apologies, it's just sort of,
01:02:26.460 and that's just the latest of a long train of examples
01:02:30.800 of abuses, military brutality,
01:02:33.380 to say nothing of our backing of Israeli policies
01:02:36.060 that have hurt people.
01:02:37.460 Trump went to the Knesset and gave a speech at one point
01:02:39.820 and he boasted of US manufacturers providing the arms
01:02:43.140 that Netanyahu used in Gaza.
01:02:45.520 and then he turned to Netanyahu who was present and said,
01:02:48.580 and you used them well.
01:02:50.720 I cried that day.
01:02:52.060 It twisted my guts because I helped get this man elected
01:02:57.560 and this is evil.
01:03:01.800 But right now, the messaging of Muslims,
01:03:06.100 El-Sayed, you can oppose the guy's candidacy
01:03:08.480 for numerous reasons, but he said, inshallah,
01:03:11.760 so that's actually code for I'm declaring war
01:03:14.420 on western civilization i have a co-worker by the way he's a lebanese christian lebanese american
01:03:19.640 she just says inshallah it's a it's it's like saying how are you i mean it's so common in their
01:03:25.440 language throughout the arabic world one person um by the way who works for vpp uh is a christian
01:03:32.380 he's a he's an expat from gaza he said i say inshallah like 20 times a day do you know what
01:03:37.600 it means literally do you know what the english translation from the arabic means god willing
01:03:41.980 roughly exactly exactly exactly that's god willing and as a christian i there's kind of
01:03:49.080 no sentiment i endorse more than that that's not in conflict with my faith it's it's an expression
01:03:54.660 of my faith so yeah yeah and the other thing is that you know the messaging on the right
01:04:00.200 the right we can't be complicit in it man as christians oh i know the the it's funny too i
01:04:07.320 mean there's christian community in dearborn michigan and it's all about how they're going
01:04:10.620 to slaughter everyone as soon as we're not
01:04:12.520 looking. This is a group of
01:04:14.700 they've
01:04:16.440 partnered with local Christians to get
01:04:18.260 LGBT extremes out of schools.
01:04:21.140 Yeah, I know. They're social
01:04:22.480 conservatives. They're family
01:04:24.420 oriented. Oh, I know. Oh, I know them.
01:04:26.740 Yes. Yeah. And
01:04:28.300 they all worked to elect Trump, which
01:04:30.400 is the irony. They all did.
01:04:32.740 I don't know.
01:04:34.320 The support that Trump got from
01:04:36.660 Arabs in the United States, Arab American
01:04:38.540 voters, was really
01:04:40.480 really strong, the majority. And by the way, I think if I remember correctly, Jesus spent two
01:04:48.020 full days in a Samaritan village, right? And I mean, the Samaritans were the enemies of the Jews,
01:04:55.060 of course. They were going to hell. They were heretics, apostates, and Jesus lingered in their
01:05:02.020 village and brought them over to him. So it's like the idea that we have a moral duty to hate
01:05:07.820 Muslims know we have a moral duty to love people, period.
01:05:12.040 Yeah, especially people when they are most directly under threat.
01:05:15.620 Yeah.
01:05:16.200 And I don't appreciate my friend having a crosshair put over her face
01:05:20.180 because she has a Middle Eastern last name and because she says Inchilat.
01:05:26.360 And that's wrong.
01:05:27.640 It is wrong.
01:05:28.400 Christians have, I'm sorry, I mean, Christ demands that we not do that.
01:05:33.720 Right.
01:05:34.000 Well, I must say I'm really impressed by your bravery in resigning, something people almost never do.
01:05:44.340 And I'm grateful that you did because it opens up your future to something else.
01:05:49.740 And you're clearly on a path that will help this country.
01:05:54.720 So what is your next step?
01:05:57.580 My next step, if I may, is I asked Father Bashar.
01:06:02.620 i said i'm about to do an interview i didn't say where um that's high profile and that will air
01:06:08.340 soon um would you like to say something to american christians um i'd be honored if i could
01:06:15.360 convey what your message is father bachar is the the pastor in taiba and i wanted to know his
01:06:21.360 perspective on what unfortunately zeal reported was a a new policy of a close declaring taiba
01:06:28.680 a closed military zone so that the IDF could protect Christians in Taiba.
01:06:34.760 If you wouldn't mind, could I read his statement?
01:06:36.920 Oh, I would be grateful if you did.
01:06:38.840 Okay.
01:06:42.400 This is what he texted to me.
01:06:49.560 Taiba is not simply another village on the map.
01:06:53.260 It is an ancient Christian community rooted in the land of Christ for centuries.
01:06:57.560 and today our people are facing a very serious threat to their ability to remain on their land
01:07:02.420 in security, freedom, and dignity. For months, we have experienced repeated settler incursions
01:07:08.500 onto private and agricultural lands, fires, damage to property, intimidation of families and workers,
01:07:14.400 and attempts to establish a permanent presence around our town. Even after Taiba was declared
01:07:19.460 a closed military zone, settlers have continued to enter areas around the village. This is why
01:07:26.020 we believe that any new military presence or security measures must be judged by what actually
01:07:31.140 happens on the ground. Are the attacks stopped? Are our homes and lands protected? Can farmers
01:07:37.500 and workers reach their land safely? Can our children and families live without fear?
01:07:42.740 Our concern is that measures announced in the name of protecting Taiba must not end up restricting
01:07:47.860 the people who are being threatened while failing to stop those responsible for the violence.
01:07:52.940 Protection must mean real protection of this community,
01:07:56.040 its freedom of movement, its property, and its future.
01:07:59.180 To our Christian brothers and sisters in the United States,
01:08:02.100 I would say, please do not look at us only as Christians who need sympathy.
01:08:07.720 See us as your brothers and sisters who are asking for justice,
01:08:11.840 dignity, and the right to remain in the land where Christianity was born.
01:08:15.660 We do not ask that you stand against anyone.
01:08:18.900 we ask you to stand for human dignity,
01:08:21.420 for justice, for peace,
01:08:22.540 and for the protection of innocent people.
01:08:25.060 Use your voices, your churches, your institutions,
01:08:28.320 and your relationships with your elected representatives
01:08:31.440 to ensure that the protection of Christian communities
01:08:34.340 in the Holy Land is not only spoken about,
01:08:37.340 but translated into concrete action.
01:08:39.900 And please come and see us.
01:08:42.000 Visit Taiba, pray with us,
01:08:43.860 meet our children and families,
01:08:45.560 listen to their stories,
01:08:46.460 and then go home and tell others what you have witnessed.
01:08:50.940 Despite everything, our message is not one of despair.
01:08:54.000 We intend to remain.
01:08:55.660 Our answer to fear is faith.
01:08:58.180 Our answer to isolation is solidarity.
01:09:00.900 And our answer to the threat of displacement
01:09:02.540 is to strengthen life here
01:09:04.400 through our schools, jobs, healthcare,
01:09:06.740 support for young families,
01:09:07.760 and especially through giving our children
01:09:09.080 a reason to believe that they have a future
01:09:11.400 in their homeland.
01:09:12.940 Please pray for us, but also walk with us.
01:09:15.580 Help us keep hope alive in Taiba
01:09:17.780 and keep the Christian presence alive in the Holy Land.
01:09:21.560 With gratitude and hope, Father Bashar.
01:09:27.880 Stephen Harriot, thank you very much, very much
01:09:30.320 for doing this interview and for explaining it so well
01:09:33.160 and for your integrity in how you responded.
01:09:36.660 It's definitely a model for the rest of us.
01:09:38.320 I hope we see you again.
01:09:40.140 Thank you, sir.
01:09:41.200 That's it for us tonight.
01:09:42.140 Thanks so much for watching.
01:09:43.200 We'll see you next Wednesday.
01:09:44.980 Oh, oh, oh, oh