Jerry Seinfeld has reportedly compared the Free Palestine movement to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) during an appearance at Duke University on Tuesday (September 9).
The stand up comedian was appearing as part of a talk with Omer Shem Tov, a former Israeli hostage who was abducted during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Seinfeld has been a vocal supporter of Israel during the war in Gaza, even being recorded saying “I don’t care about Palestine” on video with an activist in February.
The sitcom star made an unannounced appearance at the event where, according to Duke University’s newspaper, The Chronicle, he equated the Free Palestine movement to racial hate group the KKK.
“Free Palestine is, to me, just — you’re free to say you don’t like Jews. Just say you don’t like Jews,” Seinfeld said.
“By saying ‘Free Palestine’, you’re not admitting what you really think,” he continued. “So it’s actually – compared to the Ku Klux Klan, I’m actually thinking the Klan is actually a little better here because they can come right out and say, ‘We don’t like Blacks, we don’t like Jews.’ Okay, that’s honest.”
In a statement to the paper, the university said: “Duke does not preview the remarks of speakers who are invited to campus, and the invitation of speakers to campus does not imply any endorsement of their remarks.”
Jerry Seinfeld is yet to comment on the remarks.
Last year, the star clashed with a member of the audience during his show at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. His routine was interrupted by an attendee who was giving a message in defense of Palestine. As the heckler was being removed from the building, Seinfeld mocked him and called him a “moron.”
The post Jerry Seinfeld reportedly compares ‘Free Palestine’ movement to KKK appeared first on NME.
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