Whoopi Goldberg sparks outrage by questioning whether Hamas or the Taliban are terrorist groups

In her latest brush with anti-Semitism, The View host Whoopi Goldberg questioned whether Hamas and the Taliban are rightfully viewed as terrorist organizations.

On Tuesday’s episode of The View, co-host Sunny Hostin praised House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s handling of progressive ‘Squad’ member Ilhan Omar‘s prior alleged anti-Semitic comments, while Republican Kevin McCarthy says he will kick her off committee assignments for them.

The Minnesota representative has come under fire for touting anti-Semitic tropes. In 2019, she tweeted that the support of US politicians for Israel is ‘all about the Benjamins baby,’ a reference to a song about $100 bills.

Hostin also praised Omar’s apology for the 2019 comment, which she proceeded to read out loud on air, and added that Omar has never ‘said anything like that again.’

Last year, however, Omar suggested the actions of Israel, the Taliban, Hamas and the United States are equivalent, which co-host Sara Haines pointed out to the group.

‘We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban,’ she wrote, referring to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and subsequent Taliban takeover. ‘We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity.’

Haines noted that Omar was equating the actions of the US government and Israel to those of at least one designated terrorist organization.

Goldberg, as she so often does, interrupted to say, ‘Depends on who you talk to.’

The View host Whoopi Goldberg suggested it is a matter of opinion whether Hamas and the Taliban should be designated ‘terrorist groups’

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Co-host Sunny Hostin (left) defended congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who has previously compared the US government and Israel to the Taliban and Hamas. Co-host Alyssa Farah (right), said she agrees with Kevin McCarthy’s desire to strip Omar of some committee assignments on the basis of her alleged anti-Semitism

Co-host Sara Haines pointed out that Hamas is a US-designated terrorist organization and that it bothered her that Omar would compare its actions to those of the US government and Israel

Hamas is a US-designated terrorist organization, and while the Afghan branch of the Taliban are not currently a designated terror group, the group’s state-sponsored violence, treatment of civilians (especially women), and radical Islamism match the working definition of an organized terror group.

Hamas, a political terror group with a habit of using civilians as human shields, is backed by the Iranian regime and operates in the Gaza strip, where group members routinely launch rockets from civilian centers, including schools and hospitals, into Israel.

Hamas terrorism is predicated on a deep hatred of Israel and the Jewish people.

It may be the case that members of Hamas and the Taliban would deny their official or de facto categorization as ‘organized terrorism communitie,’ but beyond those individuals, it is unclear who Goldberg believes would dispute the label.

Goldberg’s assertion arrived nearly one year after her bold claim that the ‘Holocaust is not about race.’

The host’s comments led to a temporary suspension from her View hosting responsibilities, and though she ultimately apologized, some questioned the sincerity of her response to the backlash.

During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Goldberg said she stood corrected, but added that it was difficult to decipher during the Holocaust who was and was not Jewish by looks alone.

‘This wasn’t based on skin. You couldn’t tell who was Jewish,’ she said.

‘You had to delve deeply and figure it out. My point is: they had to do the work,’ she said referring to the Nazi party, whose actions led to the extermination of more than 6 million Jews.

She added that a Jewish individual would not necessarily need to run and hide from a member of the KKK on the street.

‘If the Klan is coming down the street and I’m standing with a Jewish friend: I’m going to run,’ she said. ‘But if my friend decides not to run, they’ll get passed by most times. Because you can’t tell who is Jewish.’

Rep. Ilhan Omar has repeatedly come under fire for alleged anti-Semitic comments and those that compare Israel and the United States to terrorist organizations

Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy has said that if he becomes speaker, he will kick Omar off committee assignments because of her history of alleged anti-Semitic comments

Goldberg was previously suspended from the daytime panel show for saying, and then doubling down, on her view that the Holocaust was not about race

Goldberg’s defense of Omar’s previous remarks bolstered Hostin’s defense of the congresswoman against continued attacks by Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy.

McCarthy, who will likely become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, said in a statement that he wants to remove Omar from several committee assignments over ‘anti-Semitism.’

He has also said he will remove Reps. Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff from their respective committee assignments.

Omar responded to McCarthy’s plans by saying, ‘From the moment I was elected, the Republican Party had made it their mission to use fear, xenophobia, Islamophobia and racism to target me on the House floor and through millions of dollars of campaign ads.’

‘McCarthy’s effort to repeatedly single me out for scorn and hatred – including threatening to strip me from my committee – does nothing to address the issues our constituents deal with. It does nothing to address inflation, health care or solve the climate crisis,’ she added. 

Prior to her 2019 tweet, Omar spent her political youth cultivating a firmly anti-Israel stance. In 2012, she tweeted that the Jewish home state had ‘hypnotized the world‘ and prayed that ‘Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.’