Halper and Kern Face Backlash Over Hamas Leader Sinwar Comments

Katie Halper, a Jewish-American podcaster and comedian, hosts The Katie Halper Show and Useful Idiots, where she peddles anti-Israel rhetoric, often calling its policies “apartheid” or “genocide.” Fired from The Hill in 2022 for defending similar views (which in and of itself is a massive 'achievement because the Hill doesn't exactly like Jews these days), she claims antisemitism accusations are just tools to silence her. Sim Kern, a nonbinary Jewish author and Jewish Voice for Peace activist, wrote the 2025 bestseller *Genocide Bad*, pushing anti-Zionist narratives while raising funds for Gaza. Both position themselves as progressive Jews challenging Israel’s actions, but their latest podcast takes it to a grotesque extreme.

What They Said

In a recent Katie Halper Show episode on “redefining antisemitism,” Halper and Kern spewed vile praise for Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader behind the October 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 Israelis. Here’s the transcript:

- Kern: “Yahya Sinwar- After he was killed, I gave a bio of his life, I'm no expert. i relied on the media reports and it looks like they tried to smear him. I was like, "This looks like a sympathetic guy.”

- Halper: “You couldn't have scripted a more David - Goliath [type of situation where] Sinwar is the good underdog fighting with inferior weapons to the last minute.”

- Kern: “When you are talking to zionists and someone asks you to condemn Hamas, recognize this is a distraction tactic, they are trying to move your focus off of the imperial power putting it onto the so called crimes of a a band of resistance fighters.”

Tearing Apart Their Lies

This is beyond misguided, it’s a disgusting distortion of reality. Halper and Kern’s fawning over Sinwar, who orchestrated rape, murder, and hostage-taking, isn’t just naive; it’s a bald-faced lie that whitewashes terrorism. Calling him a “sympathetic” underdog is like lionizing Osama bin Laden as a scrappy rebel. Their “David” was a monster who targeted kids and grandparents, not a hero with a slingshot. Kern’s claim that Hamas’s crimes are a “distraction” is a cowardly dodge, Hamas’s rockets, suicide bombings, and use of Gaza civilians as shields are well-documented, not Zionist propaganda. Their refusal to condemn this terrorist group, designated as such by the U.S. and EU, exposes their moral bankruptcy.

Worse, their “redefining antisemitism” shtick is a shameless ploy to deflect accountability.

You would think that Kern knows better, after all, she is a Jew and teh Holocaust wasn't all that long ago - but no, she's right up there with Halpern, singing the same old same boring song. But it's not just boring, indeed, it's downright dangeous.

Glorifying a butcher like Sinwar while dismissing Jewish suffering isn’t anti-Zionism, it’s antisemitism dressed in progressive drag. Kern’s admission of not being an expert while peddling this drivel only underscores their intellectual laziness. They’re not challenging “imperial power”; they’re cheering for a genocidal maniac and his death cult, betraying both truth and decency. This isn’t discourse, it’s a vile, lie-soaked betrayal of humanity that deserves nothing but contempt.