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Daily Show host Jon Stewart promised a “lighter” episode this week, only to flip the script and discuss the desperate situation in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is waging war against Hamas after the insurgent group launched an attack on Israel and took hundreds of hostages.
“The first two, very controversial… Tonight, I’m done with it. Tonight, we discuss something light. Tonight, we discuss Israel-Palestine,” Stewart says, feigning a look of surprise and shock before joking that he “legally has to read what is in the prompter.” He offers a quick “Middle East Conflict Disclaimer” meant to be humorous while preemptively addressing any backlash.
Nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel’s offensive against Hamas, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain in danger as they are caught in the crossfire as the Israeli bombing campaign continues and ground forces advance through the enclave.
Jon Stewart’s humorous yet blunt approach is on full display
The Daily Show host Jon Stewart doesn’t pull any punches and assigns blame where it is due in a direct, straightforward manner. First, he plays a recent clip of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laying out his “plan for peace” and his vision for postwar Gaza, noting that it resembles a siege.
Stewart then addresses a key problem for Israel, saying, “Your plan to eliminate Hamas by destroying all of Gaza … doesn’t that just make more Hamases? Is that the plural of Hamas? Hamasi?” This is meant to be funny, but it also addresses a core aspect of this conflict that is particularly troubling. The only military “solution” for Israel is genocide because military action will inevitably radicalize more of the population against them.
This will create a never-ending cycle of more people being radicalized, who then become targets, which then radicalizes more people, who then become targets, and so on. Stewart explains that Hamas is as much an idea as an organization, so this plan wouldn’t work “unless you have a bomb that kills ideas.”
He goes on to give some advice to Netanyahu, saying, “If you believe that ends Hamas, we in the United States have a banner you can use. It’s a little wind-damaged but equally delusional.” The graphic on the screen shows Netanyahu standing in front of the Mission Accomplished banner that then-President George W. Bush gave a speech in front of on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003, approximately three weeks after Baghdad fell to coalition forces.
No party is spared for their role in the situation
Despite the seriousness of the situation, the Daily Show host gets his jokes in, at one point saying that America is Israel’s “work emergency contact.” In another serious yet humorous segment, Stewart compares the Biden administration’s response to war crimes committed by Russia to the war crimes committed by Israel, mocking America’s gentle requests of Israel as similar to “your coke dealer coming in with an eight ball and going, ‘Don’t stay up all night.’”
Stewart calls the Israeli position “untenable” before playing a clip of a Hamas leader calling for the destruction of Israel. He concludes that there is no diplomatic leeway in the Hamas position either.
The comedian goes on to share that he has three proposals to bring peace to the region. The first two are sarcastic. First, he mentions a program in Maine where Jewish and Palestinian teenagers are trading rockets for rackets and building positive relationships with each other. after joking that the program would probably need to be scaled up, he offers his second solution: asking God. He manages to sneak in a joke about the land actually belonging to the Scientologists.
A serious proposal for peace
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Stewart then shares his third suggestion, which is meant to be taken seriously: He proposes Israel ceases their offensive, Hamas releases the hostages, a two-state solution is enacted and the Arab nations surrounding Israel and Palestine work together to create a demilitarized zone and guarantee security to both nations.
Recognizing the need for a NATO-type organization in the Middle East, he jokingly recommends the name “METO.” After letting the audience laugh for a few moments, he addresses that the verbiage would need to be changed due to the #MeToo movement here in the United States.
Journalists bridging gaps
The interview segment of this week’s episode was particularly moving. Stewart interviewed Murtaza Hussain of The Intercept and Yair Rosenberg of The Atlantic. The audience appreciated a candid conversation between a Jewish journalist, a Muslim journalist, and Stewart, who is Jewish himself.
Rosenberg explained his view that the absolutists on both sides are pulling the strings. Stewart agrees and mentions that the US is part of the problem. Hussain agreed, explaining that part of the reason the Arab League plan failed in 2002 was because Israel knew that they had the US as a guarantor. With a superpower backing them, the Israeli government didn’t feel the need to compromise or negotiate in good faith.
This Daily Show episode encapsulates why Jon Stewart is an icon
Stewart’s discussion about this topic perfectly captures why he is highly regarded as a journalist despite his role as a comedian. His intelligence, blunt honesty, willingness to push back against all sides and seek out more information, and ability to call out lies without hesitation allow him to present a unique perspective to his audiences.
This episode is a reminder of why so many people fell in love with Jon Stewart's style of sharing the news in the first place. The veteran comedian has an uncanny ability to cut through the noise and directly address the problem. He doesn't cut corners and he doesn't let anybody off the hook for their role in contributing to the problem that is being discussed.
In this Daily Show episode, he criticized Israel, Hamas, the United States, the United Nations, and the surrounding Arab nations in the Middle East for their respective roles in allowing the situation to deteriorate into what it is today.
At one point, Stewart plays a video of Saudi Arabia talking about “wanting to see a good life for the Palestinians,” only to show that they don’t accept Palestinian refugees and they gave the Palestinian people the same amount of money they gave Phil Mickelson for his LIV Golf contract.
“Doesn’t it appear that no party is incentivized to solve this, to the detriment of the Palestinian people,” Stewart noted with his characteristic bluntness. He added that the Arab states, which are largely dictatorships with checkered human rights records, can use the situation in Palestine to keep their own people in check. Meanwhile, Netanyahu uses the fear of Hamas to maintain his grip on power in Israel.
Stewart also addresses the underlying problem that makes fighting ideological wars so difficult: No amount of bombing or killing will guarantee victory. In fact, the opposite is likely to occur: The more military force that a country applies, the more likely their target population is to become radicalized against them.
Stewart isn't afraid to call out powerful actors for their shortcomings and take a comprehensive look at the issues. During the interview section of this week's episode, he discussed one of his key issues with American foreign policy: the cavalier aspect with which it treats the local populations during military exploits. Stewart discusses his work advocating on behalf of veterans who have suffered the effects of burn pits, but he also notes that there is little to no action being taken to assist victims and families of victims living in the regions that were devastated by American foreign policy.
Stewart is honest in acknowledging the “twisted and much contentious history” that brought us to this point but, as he notes, “we are at this point. And anything that we do from here has to look forward.” It is this honesty and clarity from Stewart that has made him such an iconic voice in American media.
