In a blunt and rare intervention, Palestinian Arab content creator Nuseir Yassin — known globally as Nas Daily — openly rejects the Western framing of Hamas as “freedom fighters.”
Speaking from personal experience, Yassin says the argument that Islamist terrorists are merely “resisting occupation” is designed to appeal to Western audiences, but collapses when confronted with reality on the ground.
Yassin explains that Western activists often infantilize Palestinians, projecting their own ideological fantasies onto a society they do not understand. According to him, this mindset allows Islamist terror groups to be romanticized as liberation movements, while their brutality, authoritarianism, and destruction of Palestinian society are ignored. “It works on Western audiences,” he says — “but it’s a bullshit argument.”
As a Palestinian Arab, Yassin stresses that those who actually live with the consequences of Hamas rule understand the difference between genuine aspirations for dignity and governance, and violent Islamist extremism. His remarks directly challenge the moral certainty of Western protest movements that speak about Palestinians while dismissing Palestinians who contradict their narrative.