During his closing monologue on Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher stated that pro-Hamas demonstrators should fight against the actual apartheid against women in the Middle East rather than the fictional apartheid in Israel and should have to deal with some of the same treatment women face at the hands of those who the protesters side with.
Maher said, “If you’re out protesting for a couple of hours wearing [a keffiyeh], you have to go all the way and spend an afternoon running errands wearing [a burqa]. You can’t side with the people who ruthlessly oppress women without at least getting a taste of what you’re supporting.”
Later, he added, “You want a cause? Because I totally got one for you, apartheid, yeah, apartheid, the thing you’ve been shouting about with Israel for months, never mind that Israeli Arabs are actually full citizens. … [T]oday, right now, hundreds of millions of women are treated worse than second-class citizens. When you mandate that one category of human beings don’t even have the right to show their face, that’s apartheid, and it goes on in a lot of countries.”
After talking about the oppression of women in Iran, Maher said, “I know 1619 was bad. But this is happening right now, right under your nose rings. … Fifteen countries in the Middle East, including Gaza, have laws that require women to obey their husbands, laws, not just Harrison Butker’s opinion. … Kids, if you really want to change the world and not just tie up Monday morning traffic, this is the apartheid that desperately needs your attention, gender apartheid. This is what should be the social justice issue of your time. How about, from the river to the sea, every woman shall be free?”
He concluded, “But in reality, it’s not an issue at all, for one reason: The people who are doing it aren’t white. I hate to have to be the one to break it to you kids, but non-white people can do bad things too.”
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