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Shortly after the University of Washington announced a lecture by controversial online personality Hasan Piker, it canceled it, citing a procedural issue.

“As we’ve stated multiple times, the Office of Public Lectures made the decision not to proceed with the event after a review of the process by which the event was planned determined that that it did not meet the necessary level of rigor for University-hosted events in the Speaker Series,” UW spokesperson Victor Balta told the Cholent.

That didn’t stop — or perhaps created an opportunity for — the Twitch streamer and self-described propagandist known for his multi-hour, hateful online rambles to blame Israel.

Local news outlets lapped it up. Local NPR affiliate KUOW ran a “just asking questions” piece with a leading title: “UW canceled speech by left-wing streamer Hasan Piker. Was it due to process or pressure?” The Seattle Times splash-landed with a piece titled, “Hasan Piker says UW canceled speaking event because of views on Israel.”

KUOW reporter Stephen Howie draws a line between the cancellation and the fact that the UW has been under pressure from the Trump Administration to crack down on anti-Semitism. He invokes a quote from Piker’s livestream in which he claims that “UW officials folded to public pressure after they were ‘inundated with a barrage of botted emails’ and urged to reconsider by state lawmakers and pro-Jewish groups.”

It’s unclear how Piker, who expresses no fealty to truth, would know this.

Seattle Times reporter Joseph O’Sullivan’s only point of reference is a comment on X in which Piker says:

“i wish the dems were smarter & didn’t let the (right-wing) groups be the only people who speak out against this clear violation of (the First Amendment) but unfortunately my position as a prominent critic of israel stops them from using this moment to show gop as arch cancel culture warriors.”

The convoluted comment is more of an attack on Democrats for failing to call out the cancellation due to allegiance to Israel than a claim that the university canceled the talk because of his Israel stance. The Marxist-Leninist influencer is a rising star on the left, pulling along Democrats to embrace more radical positions and shaming those who try to hold the middle. Rep. Pramila Jayapal took the bait.

The views protected by the First Amendment that Japayal so desperately wants to defend spawn from Piker’s online rants to more than 3 million followers in which he has called for the murder of elected officials, praised Hezbollah and Hamas, compared a Houthi terrorist to Anne Frank, denied that rape occurred on October 7th, called for the end of “the American empire,” claimed America is worse than Iran, yelled at his dog and allegedly punished her on camera with a shock collar, and proclaimed he “wipes his ass” with the Constitution. On the topic of Jews and Israel, Piker has called Jews “inbred” on multiple occasions and referred to Zionism as a “mental illness” and said that “any kind of fucking Zionist tendency should be treated in the same way as being a fucking rabid neo-Nazi.”

If the UW simply wanted to avoid an institutional migraine, it is within its rights to politely rescind the offer. As Balta told KUOW, “While it is important to understand that an invitation to speak does not constitute an endorsement of any speaker’s views by the University, no individual has the right to be a featured speaker at a University-sponsored event.”

While local Jewish leaders and individuals concerned with Piker’s violent opinions undoubtedly expressed unhappiness over the invitation, to think they or their allies have the kind of control to pressure the university — or that they would encourage the suppression of free speech — is libelous. Yet Piker dropped some breadcrumbs and two trusted local media outlets hungrily picked them up.

In an attempt to get to the bottom of the conspiracy, KUOW reached out to the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, which wisely directed them back to the UW, the body that canceled the event.

KUOW also reached out to the Muslim community, asking local CAIR director and state representative candidate Imraan Siddiqi for his opinion.

“[Piker’s] unapologetic voice in calling out Israel’s war-crimes against Palestinians has clearly made him a target by anti free speech advocates, who seek to cover up and deflect away from the genocide,” Siddiqi said.

KUOW’s “balanced” reporting unwittingly exposes three disturbing truths: 1. the assumption by the media that Jewish interests are pulling strings behind the scenes and the local Jewish community had something to do with the cancellation; 2. that Jews are opposed to free speech and are controlling the narrative; 3. that local Muslims find nothing wrong with Piker’s horrifying views and may find hate speech acceptable.

If the UW canceled Piker’s appearance because it deemed his own statements beyond the pale or because of fear of attention from the Trump administration, that’s their decision. If Jews had that kind of power, the encampments might have been dismantled before the kids could unroll their sleeping bags. Yet for all the talk and assumption about Jewish power, we all know that Jews are always the first to support the right to protest.

One more thing. If our public universities are afraid of accusations of anti-Semitism and are trying to do the right thing by drawing a line at people like Hasan Piker, then good. Let them think twice before they sign a racist act. If Piker’s right-wing corollary Nick Fuentes becomes the face of MAGA, no one here will have a problem with a university thinking twice about putting his face on a poster.

In a statement to The Cholent, president of the UW Jewish Alumni Association Ann Sarna said, “Canceling Hasan Piker’s appearance in the public lecture series was the right call. We hope the university uses this as an opportunity to re-examine the processes that left the university in this embarrassing position.”

The real problem isn’t Piker’s free speech rights or the invitation; it’s that the assumption of Jewish control has been normalized. It’s that rabid hatred directed at “Zionists” has been coded as “free speech,” and when Jews call out hate speech, they are accused or suspected of controlling the narrative. Piker, an unhinged animal abuser who has traded in his wife-beaters for suits to campaign for the likes of Abdul El-Sayed, has become normal, even attractive.

The baseless and disingenuous, misleading claim that Piker’s “criticism” of Israel led to suppression of free speech is the kind of dog whistle we are going to need to respond to more and more as DSA-type leaders gain ground. At the bottom of their dank ideological pit is the anti-Semitic trope that Jews control the world.

You don’t need to listen to hours of Hasan Piker’s dumb word vomit to understand that this is a very basic, very old libel. Shame on the Seattle Times and KUOW for not only falling for it, but for selling it.

The Piker Libel

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