Welcome to a curated collection of quotes by Mehdi Hasan, a renowned journalist, political commentator, and presenter known for his incisive analysis and sharp wit. Mehdi Hasan has made significant contributions to the world of journalism through his thought-provoking commentary on international affairs, politics, and social issues. With his articulate arguments and insightful observations, Hasan has captured the attention of audiences worldwide, challenging conventional narratives and shedding light on pressing global issues.
As a columnist, presenter, and host, Mehdi Hasan has demonstrated a unique ability to navigate complex topics with clarity and depth, offering perspectives that stimulate critical thinking and inspire meaningful dialogue. Whether dissecting geopolitical developments or examining socioeconomic disparities, Hasan’s words resonate with authenticity and intellectual rigor, earning him widespread respect and admiration.
Below, you’ll find a selection of quotes by Mehdi Hasan that encapsulate his astute observations, poignant reflections, and unwavering commitment to truth and justice. Feel free to utilize these quotes for inspiration, reflection, or sharing with others, whether by placing them on images, enhancing them with stylish fonts, or simply contemplating their profound meaning.
In theory, the filibuster helps whichever party is in the minority in the Senate. In practice, it is the Republicans who have disproportionately used it to engage in cynical and anti-democratic obstructionism whenever they find themselves in the minority. Mehdi Hasan
Like Obama before him, Trump will escalate in Afghanistan. Like Obama before him, Trump will lose in Afghanistan. And the rest of us, shamefully, will continue to look the other way. Mehdi Hasan
Most Asians I know still don’t trust the Tories on race – and they have good reason not to. Mehdi Hasan
There’s a general ignorance about how Muslims live and what Muslims believe. Mehdi Hasan
I will call out someone if he’s Islamophobic, and I will also call out anti-Semitism. It’s immoral to call out one and not the other. Mehdi Hasan
To be clear, no one is saying there weren’t any legitimate economic grievances in Trumpland, nor is anyone claiming that the economy played no role whatsoever. The point, however, is that it wasn’t the major motivating factor for most Trump voters – or, at least, that’s what we learn when we bother to study those voters. Race trumped economics. Mehdi Hasan
Anti-Semitism isn’t just tolerated in some sections of the British Muslim community; it’s routine and commonplace. Mehdi Hasan
Let’s start with the euro. What on earth were we thinking? How could anyone with the faintest grasp of economics have believed it was anything other than sheer insanity to yoke together diverse national economies such as Greece, Ireland, Germany and Finland under a single exchange rate and a single interest rate? Mehdi Hasan
Stop treating Muslims as if they’re some kind of foreign, alien entity rather than part of the fabric of Canadian society or American society or British society. Mehdi Hasan
Orthodox Islam, like orthodox interpretations of the other Abrahamic faiths, views homosexuality as sinful and usually defines marriage as only ever a heterosexual union. This isn’t to say that there is no debate on the subject. Mehdi Hasan
The terrorists may want to try and legitimize their violence by cynically appealing to Islamic motifs or doctrines, but there is no reason the rest of us should help them do it. Mehdi Hasan
There is very little chance of the modern Republican Party putting the national interest above their own partisan interests. Mehdi Hasan
As a supporter of secularism, I am willing to accept same-sex weddings in a state-sanctioned register office, on grounds of equity. As a believer in Islam, however, I insist that no mosque be forced to hold one against its wishes. Mehdi Hasan
The reality is that religion, across the board, and in and of itself, neither provokes war nor promotes peace – and it is childish and naive, not to mention utopian, to believe otherwise. Mehdi Hasan
I think that the anti-Semitic problem in the British Muslim community is worse than among the community at large. Mehdi Hasan
If you’re gay, that doesn’t mean I want to discriminate against you, belittle or bully you, abuse or offend you. Not at all. I don’t want to go back to the dark days of criminalisation and the imprisonment of gay men and women; of Section 28 and legalised discrimination. Mehdi Hasan
Religion is simply one of a multitude of factors – economic political, cultural, social, tribal, racial – which shape and drive human action and reaction and often is the least important of those factors. Mehdi Hasan
What we want is responsible journalism. We want to avoid bigotry. Mehdi Hasan
My fundamental concern about the role of faith groups in providing social provision is democratic: how do we hold them to account? To whom are they responsible? How do we, the public, the recipients of welfare, punish them if they make mistakes or become corrupt? Mehdi Hasan
To claim that ISIS is Islamic is egregiously inaccurate and empirically unsustainable, not to mention insulting to the 1.6 billion non-violent adherents of Islam across the planet. Mehdi Hasan
It is worth noting that Steve King of Iowa is far from the only Republican member of Congress to offer cover to white nationalists. Mehdi Hasan
To speak of the Muslim world is not to endorse a totalitarian project, nor to bolster an Islamist narrative, nor to suggest that variety, plurality, and diversity are lacking in what Muslims think, believe, speak, and do as Muslims. Mehdi Hasan
Millions of ordinary Americans may suffer from a toxic combination of ignorance and amnesia, but the victims of U.S. coups, invasions, and bombing campaigns across the globe tend not to. Ask the Iraqis or the Iranians, ask the Cubans or the Chileans. And, yes, ask the North Koreans. Mehdi Hasan
Bigotry and demonisation of difference are usually the hallmark of immature and childish minds. Mehdi Hasan
How is it that labels like ‘centrist’ and ‘moderate,’ which common sense tells us should reflect the views of a majority of Americans, have come to be applied to those who represent minority interests and opinions? Mehdi Hasan
Why shouldn’t 16-year-olds who pay taxes and drive not be allowed to vote? Mehdi Hasan
Every morning, I take a deep breath and then go online to discover what new insult or smear has been thrown in my direction. Whether it’s tweets, blogposts or comment threads, the abuse is as relentless as it is vicious. Mehdi Hasan
When you demonize Muslims as a community, as an entire group of people based on the crimes or actions of a tiny minority within that community, you have very worrying, real world effects. Mehdi Hasan
The common stereotype of the Middle Eastern, Muslim-born terrorist is not just lazy and inaccurate but easy fodder for the anti-immigrant, anti-Islam far right. Mehdi Hasan
Reagan was no neocon. Mehdi Hasan
I have always regretted the dumb and offensive comments I made in my 20s on atheism and homosexuality. Mehdi Hasan
I love my job… but I find myself awkwardly straddling the divide between British Islam and the British media. I get pretty exhausted of having to constantly endure a barrage of lazy stereotypes, inflammatory headlines, disparaging generalisations, and often inaccurate and baseless stories. Mehdi Hasan
Social media has emboldened an army of online Islamophobes; in the real world, mosques have been firebombed and politicians line up to condemn Muslim terrorism/clothing/meat/seating arrangements. Mehdi Hasan
The inconvenient truth that our lazy media elites do so much to ignore is that Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders, and Warren are much closer in their views to the vast majority of ordinary Americans than the Bloombergs or the Bidens. They are the true centrists, the real moderates; they represent the actual political middle. Mehdi Hasan
The state exists to serve and protect every citizen, regardless of colour, creed, race or religion – and the welfare state should exist to and protect the populace in the same non-discriminatory and universal manner. Mehdi Hasan
From a moral point of view, it is wrong… to smear or stereotype minority communities, to pretend or give credence to the idea that the actions of a minority within a community are somehow representative or the fault of the majority of members of that community. That is the very definition of bigotry. Mehdi Hasan
The public is to the left not simply of New Labour, but the political and media classes as a whole. Mehdi Hasan
There is no longer a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Mehdi Hasan
You cannot appease fascism by meeting it in the middle; you cannot beat racism by indulging or excusing it. Mehdi Hasan
Scepticism may be evidence of a healthy and independent mindset; but conspiracism is a virus that feeds off insecurity and bitterness. Mehdi Hasan
Are we willing and able to stand up to Islamophobia on days when there are not brutal terrorist attacks on Muslims in mosques? Mehdi Hasan
Homophobia is not the monopoly of any one country, culture, or religion. Mehdi Hasan
Lampooning racism by reproducing brazenly racist imagery is a pretty dubious satirical tactic. Mehdi Hasan
Perhaps the biggest boost to the LePenization of French politics came from Nicolas Sarkozy. As president of France between 2007 and 2012, he actively courted FN voters and helped dismantle the ‘Republican pact,’ under which the two main parties had pledged to work together to defeat the FN at a national and local level. Mehdi Hasan
How many Americans, for example, are aware of the fact that U.S. planes dropped on the Korean peninsula more bombs – 635,000 tons – and napalm – 32,557 tons – than during the entire Pacific campaign against the Japanese during World War II? Mehdi Hasan
The truth is that the dream of ‘two states for two peoples,’ born in the ’90s, died in the noughties. The two-state solution, the popular and principled option for so long now, is neither practical nor possible. Mehdi Hasan
I’ve lost count of the number of websites that try to ‘out’ every Muslim in public life as an extremist or Islamist of some shape or form. Mehdi Hasan
You underestimate John Bolton at your peril. Mehdi Hasan
To pretend that there is no such thing as the Muslim world is specious, self-deluding, and – frankly – plain silly. Mehdi Hasan
There are two Tory parties: the trendy, socially liberal Notting Hill set which dominates at the national level, and the unreconstructed, reactionary, and often bigoted members of Conservative associations at the local level. The latter have yet to reconcile themselves to the reality of modern, multiracial Britain. Mehdi Hasan
The French elites’ strategy of trying to defeat the Le Pens by aping their rhetoric, stealing their policies, and pandering to their voters has been a political and moral failure. Mehdi Hasan
The moment has come, as we enter the teenies, to forget the idea of a Palestinian state existing side by side with a Jewish state, and to argue and agitate instead for the only remaining, viable and democratic option: a single, secular and binational state for Israelis and Palestinians. Mehdi Hasan
Some have argued that the United States was designed to block majority rule; to be a ‘republic, not a democracy.’ This is ahistorical nonsense. Mehdi Hasan
I was 13 years old when I first heard of the Sultan of Brunei. The absolute ruler of a tiny, oil-rich kingdom in Southeast Asia, Hassanal Bolkiah was the subject of a much-discussed TV documentary by the British filmmaker Alan Whicker in 1992. As a young teenager, sitting in front of the television, I was in awe of this Muslim king. Mehdi Hasan
I have a long history of defending, and promoting, free speech and open debate – especially (especially!) within Muslim communities. Mehdi Hasan
Even as evidence mounts that immigration is bolstering the British economy, the political consensus seems to be that bashing immigration boosts electoral fortunes. Mehdi Hasan
Deficit, deficit, deficit. The political and media elites are obsessed with the D-word. Mehdi Hasan
Shortly after he became the first Muslim to attend cabinet, I urged Sadiq Khan to be prepared. The Islamophobes, the new McCarthyites, would at some stage come after him. He laughed it off. Yet it was only a matter of time. Mehdi Hasan
I am a believing and practising Muslim – but I am also a social democrat. Mehdi Hasan
Billionaires and corporations buy and sell politicians, while citizens struggle to exercise their right to vote or hold their elected representatives to account. Mehdi Hasan
The rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria has been a disaster for the public image of Islam – and a boon for the Islamophobia industry. Mehdi Hasan
Islam, for example, like so many other faiths, stresses the importance of mutual solidarity with our fellow man. Mehdi Hasan
Let’s be clear: There is no doubt that the citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea both fear and loathe the United States. Paranoia, resentment, and a crude anti-Americanism have been nurtured inside the Hermit Kingdom for decades. Mehdi Hasan
None of us believes in an untrammelled right to free speech. We all agree there are always going to be lines that, for the purposes of law and order, cannot be crossed; or for the purposes of taste and decency, should not be crossed. We differ only on where those lines should be drawn. Mehdi Hasan
We have to find a way to try and reconcile our beliefs – and Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, has traditionally seen homosexuality as a sin – with the reality of life in modern, pluralistic, secular societies in which gay people cannot be wished away or banished from sight. Mehdi Hasan
I’m the first person to say don’t equate between terrorism and Islam. But at the same time, I’m not going to pretend that there isn’t a threat from some British Muslim homegrown extremists. Mehdi Hasan
There are no authentic reports in any of the Muslim books of history of the Prophet Muhammad punishing anyone for same-sex acts. Mehdi Hasan
I’m a fan of robust debate, and I’m not averse to engaging in the odd ad hominem attack myself. Mehdi Hasan
Republicans don’t give a damn about anti-Semitism. They just don’t care. Mehdi Hasan
One of the hardiest myths in British public life is that there is a conspiracy of silence on immigration. Liberals and leftists, it is alleged, have bandied together to prevent debate or discussion of ‘mass immigration’ into the U.K., caused by Labour’s ‘open door’ policies. Mehdi Hasan
It isn’t only Republicans, it seems, who traffic in alternative facts. Since Donald Trump’s shock election victory, leading Democrats have worked hard to convince themselves, and the rest of us, that his triumph had less to do with racism and much more to do with economic anxiety – despite almost all of the available evidence suggesting otherwise. Mehdi Hasan
Always remember: You have to identify the disease before you can begin work on a cure. In the case of support for Donald Trump, the results are in: It isn’t the economy. It’s the racism, stupid. Mehdi Hasan
It is man – whether believer or non-believer – who is responsible for global unrest. And it is human beings who have to learn to co-exist in the 21st century, outside of divisive social constructs, religious or otherwise. Mehdi Hasan
The reality is that far-right extremism is no longer dominated by loners. Mehdi Hasan
Proportional representation is as British as first-past-the-post. Mehdi Hasan
Have you ever been called an Islamist? How about a jihadist or a terrorist? Extremist, maybe? Welcome to my world. It’s pretty depressing. Mehdi Hasan
