Medhi is a tough interviewer, but he could have actually had the courtesy to allow Slavoj time to get his points across, but Medhi’s constant interruptions turned this interview into a bit of a farce to be honest.
Dude Mehdi is saying like one to two words at a time, the only actual interjections are to get Zizek on track. If he can't get his point across maybe its cause he doesn't have one cause he's a joke of a philosopher
not really, he screamed over him repeatedly, of course not letting him illustrate his points. Objectively speaking, it was a bad interview. Owning someone in conversation or debate isn't about being loud or aggressive, it's proving points, not pouring accusations onto a communist that he's a rightist
His point is that there is no one 'western culture', beliefs and practises differ from person to person, town to town. Likewise for non 'western' cultures.
He has a very obvious point that Jen mentioned, I have a hard time thinking you would not pick up on that. Zizek handles this interview terribly, he should have just prepared something concrete instead of, like always, rambling on in tangents. It would have been easy to define two things - The European enlightenment project and the minimum standards that refugees don't accept. Had he prepared those answers then the interviewer would not have any basis for his attacks. I think the interviewer oversteps his boundaries, he interrupts too much and gets highly emotional, often not allowing Zizek to make his point.
I have the impression that Does Mehdi's point is that he's the boss on his show and anyone who he doesn't agree with him has to explain themselves in terms he decides.
@TheLaualamp He’s brilliant. Zizek was a little off. He’s normally quite brilliant and very mindful of stereotypes and bit over arching comments. He got unravelled in this one and was like a deer in the spotlights. He’s trying to sell books.
@@muhammadkhan7051 It's a contradictory world, for starters. But I'm interested: can you summarize one or two of the contradicitons Zizek himself is full of? Thanks.
it is the same with every mehdi hassan interview but when it is about a topic such as israel then the comments go wowwwww what a great interviewer hassan is...
I always value an interviewer that stands his ground and puts his opinion on the table. But if you are going to invite someone to defend their point of view, LET THEM DO IT!
I respect Mehdi Hasan's ability to consistently quote and yet completely ignore what the people he interviews are saying, and his ability to say "not all muslims" in what seems like an infinite variety of ways.
Mehdi is a Muslim first and a journalist second. He will defend Islam (in all its forms) regardless of the actions done; overlooks the issues in Islam, in favour of attacking Islam's critics. Hasan's point about Turkey is misplaced. Turkey is fuelling radicalized Islam in Syria (ISIS / other terrorists) allowing passage of people and arms to facilitate its proxy war against Assad, while pursuing a nationalism based around a chauvinistic Islam. Saudi Arabia is intimately involved the spread of terror and destabilization of the region, yet isn't giving any money or refuge. Where is Hasan's outrage over these actions? Where is his criticism of Islam, as such a vocal proponent of it? This is Zizek's point about an open conversation, which has been going on in the West and by extension its dominant religion, for decades. Hasan focuses on calling Zizek racist and sympathetic to the far right, while ignoring the very real issues within Islam, its relationship with the West/Western values, etc. Hasan isn't prepared to have a conversation on issues that are very real at the local level for Europeans or for the majority of Muslims (primarily Shia) for that matter; he wants to shut down debate and discredit his interlocutor. Hasan is a polemicist and someone who I don't mind listening to (head-to-head, upfront, etc.), but I don't put much stock in his value as a journalist. From Zizek's book on pg 3-4: "The obscure background makes it evident that the 'total war' against ISIS should not be taken seriously - the big warriors don't really mean it. We are definitely in the midst of the clash of civilizations (the Christian West versus radicalized Islam), but in fact there are clashes within each civilization: in the Christian space, it is the US and Western Europe against Russia; in the Muslim space it is Sunnis against Shias. The monstrosity of ISIS serves as a fetish covering all these struggles, in which every side pretends to fight ISIS in order to hit its true enemy."
Turkey is not an Islamic country nor is it radicalizing. ISIS is an invention of Israel and the West, major Salafi scholars have referred to them as Khawarij (terrorists), Europeans label anyone who opposes Liberalism essentially a radical, which actually plays to the interest of real terrorists. Shia's are not Muslim, the Iranian government funded Hezbollah, The Houthis and attacked Syria and Iraq, Iran is not Muslim.
Erdoğan's mistake of favouring ISIS over peshmerge does not discredit Turkey's incredibly generous migrant policy. As a Turkish I disagree with the both actions by Erdoğan regime, I mentioned above.
Terrible interview.... It is fairly obvious that you are trying to replicate BBC's Hardtalk on Al Jazeera, however you have gotten more and more aggressive over the years, and you are going to lose alot of viewers because of it. You need to stop with the "gotcha" style journalism and allow the person to formulate their thoughts and speak. I know it does not work well in a 10 minute format but this type of interview style only hurts your credibility in the long run rather than help it. I do appreciate the fact that you are sharp and good at what you do, but take it down a notch dude... Peace!
It is disgusting to see someone being sharp and good but at the same so blind to what they are doing.. We dont appreciate that kind of sharpness, we think it is stupid..
What Hasan doesn't seem to understand is that Zizek saying refugees aren't compatible with Western European values is actually a critique of the West instead of a critique of refugees.
He's saying it doesn't matter which set of values is better, there's an incompatibility and this in of itself is a hazard. They need time, support, and most importantly, boundaries about how they may behave, both amongst natives and amongst themselves. If we were going to their countries and their civilisations, we should ideally expect the same.
@@EpicMRPancake Islam set of values is obviously worse. Said that, within Christian-based set of values, Protestant ones are probably the worst by far.
Poor Žižek, can't the interviewer chill a bit and let his guest finish a sentence? Sounds more like a GDR Stasi interrogation than a journalistic interview.
See it this way, the journalist asks about Zizeks books. But Zizek tries generalizing the response, sidesteps his book quotes, Mehdi pulls him back to his book. His question is specifically about the book, why is he saying this or that
@@NafeesMosharrof this video is him just explaining the quotes Mehdi throws at him. It's just he doesn't have the time to develop. Mehdi is actually being very unfair and strawmaning tbh.
@@adamelamrani8430 probably right. Brief interview is not proper to explore the philosophical aspects. But bottom line, Zuzek didn't have immediate answer to the specifics of queries to his own book. That excuse would have worked if they were talking about third party stuffs. And Mehdi is all about the grilling any way.
The worst interview I ever saw. What is the point of inviting guests to the show if it is only a platform for this mediocre journalist to shout his " one and only right" opinions.
As much as I appreciate not letting Slavoj get away with his often vague statements, this is ridiculous. I think Mehdi Hasan maybe sees this as a platform for his views rather than trying to interview.
What a terrible host. I thought this was going to be an interview, but it really is a confrontation. While I might not necessarily agree with Zizek, I would at least hear what he has to say on the matter. Which I didn't, because the host has never let the man finish a sentence.
AlJazeera sometimes does decent reporting, and I was at first impressed they even allowed Zizek on here, though I suppose the invitation was made primarily for political purposes to attempt to humiliate and discredit him. It is very obvious the interviewer is only interested in reinforcing his or his network's own propaganda platform here rather than having an intelligent discussion. He is interested only in smearing Zizek as a bigot in order to disqualify his ideas without even examining them. He cherrypicks colorful quotations, divorced from all context, and tries to pigeonhole his guest. And for this awful "interviewer" to say that Saudi Arabia, for instance, is irrelevant to the migrant crisis, for him to deflect attention away from a valid criticism of Saudi Arabia in order to demonize Europe, is clear proof of the power of these rich countries to use media pundits as propaganda tools to influence popular opinion, reinforce potential viewer's vague beliefs of "some old leftist racist European philosopher," when that is missing the big picture. We see this kind if propaganda misleading people all over the world, in the West as well, but that does not excuse it, and it is appallingly blatant here. We ought to talk about Europe's problems with the refugee crisis, but it is unfair, unethical, and shameful to downplay and willfully ignore Saudi Arabia's role, or in this specific case, lack thereof, in the global migrant crisis. We ought to criticize Western values, racism, intolerance, etc., but it would be wrong, hypocritical and unfair not to criticize the values, prejudices, intolerance, etc. from non-Western sources (And I believe this is Zizek's basic point - that Muslims and Christians, for instance, should discuss their differences in order to understand one another and justly set limits, rather than talk about multiculturalism but ignore the more controversial problems of coexistence, which can affect people on a daily basis).
yes, but on the other hand, it is not a bad thing, when some one hits Slavoj in his weak spot, namely the looking for paradox and the inconsistencies stemming from that
Even though Mehdi's making a point, he demonstrates a serious issue we face today in the far radical left of people not wanting to listen to the other side which is truly the core of the problem.
A point Al jazeera forgot: If a middle eastern refugee wishes to find peace when his home country is in a war, logically, he should move to the closest country at peace and temporarily stay there until the conflict ends and he returns back to his homeland. Why should a Syrian flee to Germany for peace, when right next to his country peaceful countries such as Saudi, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Iran, Turkey, Jordan, Oman, Egypt, Kuwait, Israel and Lebanon exist to temporarily host them, and receive aid from the EU. Why bother traveling to Austria and then refuse to return when the conflict ends? As of today, Saudi, kuwait, Qatar and UAE have ZERO syrian refugees. Turkey has around 2 million of them, while Lebanon has 1.2 million. But lets not forget that Syrian refugees in Turkey make around 2% of the population, while its 0.2% in Egypt. Germany has around 900 000 Syrian refugees, while Europe totals around 6 million refugees in total. Why should countries by obliged to have 20% of refugees since when only one country has? Iran and Pakistan have the highest number of afghan refugees which doesnt exceed 2% of the population. But hey, since Lebanon is home to 30% of Syrians, everyone else should follow ...
10:16 'Slavoj Zizek thank you for coming on UpFront and [letting me talk about your book and stupidly misrepresent and shallowly analyse your ideas]. Well that's our show: UpFront will be back next week [where I will be completely failing to understand another argument].'
This interviewer is horrible. He is desperate to make Slavoj seem racist. It is true, some common rules should be made. Arabs and Europeans don't have same cultures and traditions, and some agreemet should be made. If I came to live in some middle east country I would obey their rules.
It's not necessarily about obeying rules, it's about different cultural values clashing, today's air of political correctness doesn't allow these differences to be acknowledged, so it's exploited to shape public perception on both sides of the isle. This is what Zizek doesn't get a chance to explain in the interview.
I like Mehdi pushing him on these topics, because I think it's important, BUT, he wasn't fair to Zizek in having enough time to answer before being cut off.
I’m from a Muslim country and I think that Mehdi hasan is misrepresenting Slavoj zizkek’s ideas.
8 лет назад+45
Well, the logic behind this 'debate' is rather complicated. Because he is a Muslim, Mehdi needs to show that not all Muslims are radicals and will not blow themselves in front of infidels or kill cartoonists for depicting the prophet inappropriately. Which we all must concede is the correct point. But on the other and, Žižek is attacking multiculturalism as a failed ideology together with liberal capitalism with which it goes hand in hand. Although I see many points Žižek is making, invoking "the clash of civilizations" is a bit weird for a leftist, I must submit.
Yeah, he's kind of ambiguous sometimes. I think it's because deep down he admires the far right, specifically their capability to change people's minds with provocative and sometimes overly dramatic sentences, and I think he's trying to emulate that kind of rhetoric.
@@mateosanfitz9625 every ethnic group in The West has failed, the Europeans never fully accepted those groups and are always treating them as subordinates, in one way or another, and the other groups fail to integrate themselves in our society because they see that its refusing them to a degree, and they get the feeling they might be better if they stick to their own, with all the subsequent damage. In many places they do not have the same opportunities we have. Why do you think all the attacks in France were done by sons of immigrants? Because this is what happens when you cast people in the banlieue, you send them to school to take insults over and over, you make them see the "wealth" of the capitalist world without ever taking part in it. When don't have anything, you turn to ideology. Religion gives purpose to your meaningless life, devoid of beauty and pleasure, and tells you instead that those things are not desirable, it takes you up from the dirt and makes you a holy warrior ready to redeem his life. I think there's a deep sense of revenge in terrorists towards that society who casted them out like lepers. Multiculturalism failed because it separates people. If you give equal opportunities to everyone, no matter where they come from and give them the means to achieve their goals and aspirations, there's a high probability that muslim terrorism, at least the spontaneous one, would disappear.
@@edvard8449I totally agree with that, I was asking because you make it sound as if multiculturalism is a process that has somehow ended and we're off to a new era of social order or sumn. Migrants won't stop coming to Europe no matter how many barriers right-wing nationalist governments try to impose. so "multiculturalism" hasn't died yet? ionknow lol
I wouldn't say "so far from". I actually think they are one of the closest to real journalism, but I will concede that it was not professional for Mehdi Hasan to push Zizek so hard here without giving him adequate time to speak and answer.
Zizek was so afraid of being called a "racist/culturalist" that he was unable to express himself. The interviewer knew that before the interview began.
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something if his salary depends on not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair --- Mehdi Hasan, it seems, tries very hard to not understand Slavoj Zizek’s argument.
Hasan is very aggressive here. The man comes from a debate background and became a reporter. That said, and it being a little skewed, this is great television. Surprised so many people thumbsed down. I love the passion and aggression on both sides wholeheartedly.
Here's what Zizek should have said - Yes there is no one "Western culture" and it is largely a propaganda. However theres presently a dominant ideology common to western countries (and some Asian like Japan, Korea etc) that embraces liberalism and tolerance i.e. accepting of gay rights, equality of women, freedom of press etc. that is mostly abscent in most muslim majority countries (Saudi Arabia, iran, North Africa, etc) Therefore its reasonable to expect that there will be a "clash" of cultures when people who grew up under these massively different societies come to the west. Saying otherwise is simply disingenuous. Hasan whether due to his bias or smth else is completely blinded and unable to admit that point. The answer however is not to block this people from coming but to help them integrate. The problem is not refugees but the policies of countries where they arrive. For examples Muslim immigrants tend to integrate really well I'm countries like US and Canada but struggle more in Europe, so instead of these pointless debates both sides should look into improving their integration programs
Hasan would have likely interrupted him after the first sentence. It is probable that Zizek would have eventually made a point like this had he been allowed to speak longer than 10-15 seconds at a time.
"he's called the most dangerous philosopher in the west" You already failed at journalism in the first 2 seconds of this video how do you even do that ?
I've never seen a worse interview in my lift tbh. Slavoj didn't get any room explaining his points. If a person has written a book on over 100 pages and you take out small quotes, which you introduce as provocative, it would be good journalism to let the author explain his thoughts. The role of the journalist in this interview is not to affirm the guest, it's purpose is to have an own agenda. That can be good in some cases, but here th at takes over the interview. This is not decent.
This has nothing to do with his religion. I appreciate the fact that he wants to provoke but he is terrible at it and he is super aggressive. I would like to listen to the opinions of these valuable guests, not his endless attacks every 20 seconds. The guests need time to express their opinions!
He's argues for muslim and gulf state interests. And he's fairly good at what he's been hired to do. These aren't suppose to be unbiased neutral interviews or anything like that.
To all those saying rude interviewer , they never watched BBC or FOX etc?! This is an excellent work on the side of host, he clearly won the debate and exposed the shallow book and thoughts of guest.
I like Zizek But here he falls into the trap of a well-researched, knowledgeable, and eloquent interviewer. Zizek is a bright philosopher but he is becoming more constrained by his monolithic notion of the West and the rest. A Swede and an Italian do eat pizzza and pasta, but they do it in different way! They are both Europeans, but practice and experience Europe in different ways.
@m. ab I absolutely agree with your last point, but Saudi Arabia is a very close western ally. You may notice that the crown prince, despite his obvious guilt, was not charged with any crime after the death if Kashoggi, which no western state has since made any comment on. In the UK, we actually host him regularly, providing young girls a la Epstein (though we hate to mention it). They're incredibly frequent in our arms trades, and despite voting democratically to end these sales, we still make them. While countries like Lebanon shouldn't have to take on these refugees, you may realise that the situation is hopeless. Millions of Palestinians are living in inhospitable refugee camps with no method to leave. Refugees also provoke economic growth and class divide, so you may notice that after Brexit we'll be taking in more refugees, despite our rhetoric, to stabilise the feudal construct of our capitalist economy.
I have never seen Zizek flustered and inarticulate as in this interview. I haven't read the book but from the quotes it does seem he's pandering to the far right rhetoric and using the same language and making the same generalisations as them.
I'd encourage you to read his books. He makes statements that sound right winged but in his analysis and reasoning for what he means by them or what their implications are he is always very left and emancipatory in his rhetoric. You will notice this common trend with his writing. He always looks to argue using the tools of the right but to reach very left conclusions. Its amazing.
I think we need to acknowledge that zizek has gone off the rails ... he's been a mess since day one on issues of race and culture but like ... he's jumped the shark now
What a terrible interview. The reporter has zero idea how to do his job. He treated a renowned and worldwide-respected professor as if he made any offensive points in his works against anybody. Zizek is actually very mild and kind in his assessment of Arabic culture. Most European intellectuals represent a much harsher stance.
When a "so called philosopher" can't sustain a debate with a JOURNALIST you know he is nothing but joke 😂 Sorry Zizek, Stick to the Jordan Peterson's of the world🤦
If this was the first video I saw of Žižek i would think he's far right, but only because his ideas were put out of context. In general, I agree much more in this video with the reporter but for the wrong reasons obviously. However, it's clear that his statements from the book were being extremely simplified and altered
Man I do like the journalist, but I really hated this one. He didn't even interview the guy, he just simply attacked him continuously without any consideration to civility. If he actually did his homework on Slavoj Zizek he would have realized how wrong he is.
Medhi is a tough interviewer, but he could have actually had the courtesy to allow Slavoj time to get his points across, but Medhi’s constant interruptions turned this interview into a bit of a farce to be honest.
A “tough interviewer” is he? Looks like a boy doing a poor Jeremy Paxman impression to me. This is pure posturing. Waste of an interview.
LOL. Mehdi brutally owned Slavoj there. 🤣
Dude Mehdi is saying like one to two words at a time, the only actual interjections are to get Zizek on track. If he can't get his point across maybe its cause he doesn't have one cause he's a joke of a philosopher
its easier to find a needle in a haystack than finding an unbiased journalist
not really, he screamed over him repeatedly, of course not letting him illustrate his points. Objectively speaking, it was a bad interview. Owning someone in conversation or debate isn't about being loud or aggressive, it's proving points, not pouring accusations onto a communist that he's a rightist
Does Mehdi Hasan even have a point? Other than misrepresenting Zizeks ideas and confusing the whole discussion?
His point is that there is no one 'western culture', beliefs and practises differ from person to person, town to town. Likewise for non 'western' cultures.
He has a very obvious point that Jen mentioned, I have a hard time thinking you would not pick up on that. Zizek handles this interview terribly, he should have just prepared something concrete instead of, like always, rambling on in tangents.
It would have been easy to define two things - The European enlightenment project and the minimum standards that refugees don't accept. Had he prepared those answers then the interviewer would not have any basis for his attacks.
I think the interviewer oversteps his boundaries, he interrupts too much and gets highly emotional, often not allowing Zizek to make his point.
I have the impression that Does Mehdi's point is that he's the boss on his show and anyone who he doesn't agree with him has to explain themselves in terms he decides.
His point is that he wants western countries to have open borders. That's always been his point on this subject.
he tried to explain those things but was interrupted every single time...
Mehdi Hasan speaks with such fervour and conviction that it manages to mask the banality and stupidity of his opinions.
he is full of"faith"
He has no faith, you don't know about Mehdi Hassan if you think that
Thank you for saying this, his Islamic conviction is terrifying
Jesus christ that reporter is too aggressive, I couldn't even understand what zizek was trying to say because the reporter didn't even let him talk.
@TheLaualamp
He’s brilliant. Zizek was a little off. He’s normally quite brilliant and very mindful of stereotypes and bit over arching comments. He got unravelled in this one and was like a deer in the spotlights. He’s trying to sell books.
Maybe the reason is because there is nothing more to hear. Zizek is full of contradictions and he can't explain them. As simple as that.
Channel 4 reporters are the worst.
@@MrReynsupreme his not a channel 4 reporter.
@@muhammadkhan7051 It's a contradictory world, for starters. But I'm interested: can you summarize one or two of the contradicitons Zizek himself is full of? Thanks.
More like: "Slavoj Zizek gets interrogated by angry policeman"
More like "Slavoj Zizek gets asked tough questions about his provocative statements by a journalist doing his job"
Ha ha so true
@@davedd7803 finaly, someone with some sense!
it is the same with every mehdi hassan interview but when it is about a topic such as israel then the comments go wowwwww what a great interviewer hassan is...
I always value an interviewer that stands his ground and puts his opinion on the table. But if you are going to invite someone to defend their point of view, LET THEM DO IT!
Medhi does not care about the answers. He does a great job with his propaganda.
I respect Mehdi Hasan's ability to consistently quote and yet completely ignore what the people he interviews are saying, and his ability to say "not all muslims" in what seems like an infinite variety of ways.
Mehdi is a Muslim first and a journalist second. He will defend Islam (in all its forms) regardless of the actions done; overlooks the issues in Islam, in favour of attacking Islam's critics.
Hasan's point about Turkey is misplaced. Turkey is fuelling radicalized Islam in Syria (ISIS / other terrorists) allowing passage of people and arms to facilitate its proxy war against Assad, while pursuing a nationalism based around a chauvinistic Islam. Saudi Arabia is intimately involved the spread of terror and destabilization of the region, yet isn't giving any money or refuge. Where is Hasan's outrage over these actions? Where is his criticism of Islam, as such a vocal proponent of it? This is Zizek's point about an open conversation, which has been going on in the West and by extension its dominant religion, for decades. Hasan focuses on calling Zizek racist and sympathetic to the far right, while ignoring the very real issues within Islam, its relationship with the West/Western values, etc. Hasan isn't prepared to have a conversation on issues that are very real at the local level for Europeans or for the majority of Muslims (primarily Shia) for that matter; he wants to shut down debate and discredit his interlocutor. Hasan is a polemicist and someone who I don't mind listening to (head-to-head, upfront, etc.), but I don't put much stock in his value as a journalist.
From Zizek's book on pg 3-4:
"The obscure background makes it evident that the 'total war' against ISIS should not be taken seriously - the big warriors don't really mean it. We are definitely in the midst of the clash of civilizations (the Christian West versus radicalized Islam), but in fact there are clashes within each civilization: in the Christian space, it is the US and Western Europe against Russia; in the Muslim space it is Sunnis against Shias. The monstrosity of ISIS serves as a fetish covering all these struggles, in which every side pretends to fight ISIS in order to hit its true enemy."
Turkey is not an Islamic country nor is it radicalizing. ISIS is an invention of Israel and the West, major Salafi scholars have referred to them as Khawarij (terrorists), Europeans label anyone who opposes Liberalism essentially a radical, which actually plays to the interest of real terrorists. Shia's are not Muslim, the Iranian government funded Hezbollah, The Houthis and attacked Syria and Iraq, Iran is not Muslim.
Spot on on all points; well said.
Erdoğan's mistake of favouring ISIS over peshmerge does not discredit Turkey's incredibly generous migrant policy. As a Turkish I disagree with the both actions by Erdoğan regime, I mentioned above.
Terrible interview.... It is fairly obvious that you are trying to replicate BBC's Hardtalk on Al Jazeera, however you have gotten more and more aggressive over the years, and you are going to lose alot of viewers because of it. You need to stop with the "gotcha" style journalism and allow the person to formulate their thoughts and speak. I know it does not work well in a 10 minute format but this type of interview style only hurts your credibility in the long run rather than help it.
I do appreciate the fact that you are sharp and good at what you do, but take it down a notch dude...
Peace!
It is disgusting to see someone being sharp and good but at the same so blind to what they are doing.. We dont appreciate that kind of sharpness, we think it is stupid..
this is perfectly true, it is also good to keep in mind who exactly he is interviewing ...
This interview was excellent example what the fundamentalism is really about - literal description without real questions expecting no answers :)
It would be quite nice to hear Slavoj Žižek get a whole sentence in.
that is not part of the agenda )) Propaganda has no time to waiste ))
What Hasan doesn't seem to understand is that Zizek saying refugees aren't compatible with Western European values is actually a critique of the West instead of a critique of refugees.
He's saying it doesn't matter which set of values is better, there's an incompatibility and this in of itself is a hazard. They need time, support, and most importantly, boundaries about how they may behave, both amongst natives and amongst themselves. If we were going to their countries and their civilisations, we should ideally expect the same.
@@EpicMRPancake Islam set of values is obviously worse. Said that, within Christian-based set of values, Protestant ones are probably the worst by far.
@@m.x. Based, although I can't agree with you on Protestantism. What is it that you think makes it worst?
wow the producer really hates zizek
Poor Žižek, can't the interviewer chill a bit and let his guest finish a sentence?
Sounds more like a GDR Stasi interrogation than a journalistic interview.
See it this way, the journalist asks about Zizeks books. But Zizek tries generalizing the response, sidesteps his book quotes, Mehdi pulls him back to his book. His question is specifically about the book, why is he saying this or that
@@NafeesMosharrof this video is him just explaining the quotes Mehdi throws at him. It's just he doesn't have the time to develop. Mehdi is actually being very unfair and
strawmaning tbh.
@@adamelamrani8430 probably right. Brief interview is not proper to explore the philosophical aspects. But bottom line, Zuzek didn't have immediate answer to the specifics of queries to his own book. That excuse would have worked if they were talking about third party stuffs. And Mehdi is all about the grilling any way.
The worst interview I ever saw. What is the point of inviting guests to the show if it is only a platform for this mediocre journalist to shout his " one and only right" opinions.
Hasan had some good points actually. But I do agree that he didn't give Zizke adequate time to respond and it came across as overly belligerent.
It's called fascism.
The anchor wont shut up, and wants to explain Zizek's ideas for him. Even if he's quoting the book, he's strawmaning everything.
It sort of turned into a clash. Slavoj is a nuanced philosopher. He should be given enough time to be understood correctly.
man came for a discussion and was not allowed to discuss.
Mr. Mahdi is fighting not interviewing, very bad interview.
@Adim Chan ... what a dumb response
@@konyadake1602 it is. Just like zakir naik
@@konyadake1602 like Mohammad
As much as I appreciate not letting Slavoj get away with his often vague statements, this is ridiculous. I think Mehdi Hasan maybe sees this as a platform for his views rather than trying to interview.
What a terrible host. I thought this was going to be an interview, but it really is a confrontation. While I might not necessarily agree with Zizek, I would at least hear what he has to say on the matter. Which I didn't, because the host has never let the man finish a sentence.
On the other hand, Žižek is rather famous for not finishing his sentences, and veering wildly off-topic.
AlJazeera sometimes does decent reporting, and I was at first impressed they even allowed Zizek on here, though I suppose the invitation was made primarily for political purposes to attempt to humiliate and discredit him. It is very obvious the interviewer is only interested in reinforcing his or his network's own propaganda platform here rather than having an intelligent discussion. He is interested only in smearing Zizek as a bigot in order to disqualify his ideas without even examining them. He cherrypicks colorful quotations, divorced from all context, and tries to pigeonhole his guest. And for this awful "interviewer" to say that Saudi Arabia, for instance, is irrelevant to the migrant crisis, for him to deflect attention away from a valid criticism of Saudi Arabia in order to demonize Europe, is clear proof of the power of these rich countries to use media pundits as propaganda tools to influence popular opinion, reinforce potential viewer's vague beliefs of "some old leftist racist European philosopher," when that is missing the big picture. We see this kind if propaganda misleading people all over the world, in the West as well, but that does not excuse it, and it is appallingly blatant here. We ought to talk about Europe's problems with the refugee crisis, but it is unfair, unethical, and shameful to downplay and willfully ignore Saudi Arabia's role, or in this specific case, lack thereof, in the global migrant crisis. We ought to criticize Western values, racism, intolerance, etc., but it would be wrong, hypocritical and unfair not to criticize the values, prejudices, intolerance, etc. from non-Western sources (And I believe this is Zizek's basic point - that Muslims and Christians, for instance, should discuss their differences in order to understand one another and justly set limits, rather than talk about multiculturalism but ignore the more controversial problems of coexistence, which can affect people on a daily basis).
What is this interviewer fail... Maybe let the guest speak next time?
yes, but on the other hand, it is not a bad thing, when some one hits Slavoj in his weak spot, namely the looking for paradox and the inconsistencies stemming from that
he ain't worth letting go a rant
Even though Mehdi's making a point, he demonstrates a serious issue we face today in the far radical left of people not wanting to listen to the other side which is truly the core of the problem.
Unbelievably rude interviewer
Let the great man speak!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Poor Slavoj
A point Al jazeera forgot:
If a middle eastern refugee wishes to find peace when his home country is in a war, logically, he should move to the closest country at peace and temporarily stay there until the conflict ends and he returns back to his homeland. Why should a Syrian flee to Germany for peace, when right next to his country peaceful countries such as Saudi, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Iran, Turkey, Jordan, Oman, Egypt, Kuwait, Israel and Lebanon exist to temporarily host them, and receive aid from the EU. Why bother traveling to Austria and then refuse to return when the conflict ends?
As of today, Saudi, kuwait, Qatar and UAE have ZERO syrian refugees. Turkey has around 2 million of them, while Lebanon has 1.2 million. But lets not forget that Syrian refugees in Turkey make around 2% of the population, while its 0.2% in Egypt. Germany has around 900 000 Syrian refugees, while Europe totals around 6 million refugees in total. Why should countries by obliged to have 20% of refugees since when only one country has? Iran and Pakistan have the highest number of afghan refugees which doesnt exceed 2% of the population.
But hey, since Lebanon is home to 30% of Syrians, everyone else should follow ...
Mehdi Hasan should be sent to Gulag
this guy gets it
Žežik gets the wall
These sort of aggressive and thereby uninformative interviews seem to be more and more common today
You know, you're getting played, if the moderator talks more than the guest.
it seems that this host could just as well been talking to a mirror.
Mahdi is in no way qualified to have a discussion with a philosopher like Zizek.
"and so on and so on" *sniff*
LOL
Mehdi Hasan is the worst interviewer in the world
Not really debate if he did almost all the talking
He's the Muslim Arnav Goswami
It's interesting how he has barely any tics when he's getting screamed at by some guy on TV.
Can't even believe I was so naive to keep this vid for "good night sleep" inspiration lol
10:16 'Slavoj Zizek thank you for coming on UpFront and [letting me talk about your book and stupidly misrepresent and shallowly analyse your ideas]. Well that's our show: UpFront will be back next week [where I will be completely failing to understand another argument].'
This interviewer is horrible. He is desperate to make Slavoj seem racist. It is true, some common rules should be made. Arabs and Europeans don't have same cultures and traditions, and some agreemet should be made. If I came to live in some middle east country I would obey their rules.
It's not necessarily about obeying rules, it's about different cultural values clashing, today's air of political correctness doesn't allow these differences to be acknowledged, so it's exploited to shape public perception on both sides of the isle. This is what Zizek doesn't get a chance to explain in the interview.
There is a clear Clash of Civilization with ISLAM AND THE REST.
He shrinks from the word "Katar" as a vampire from holy water. The hard life of a propagandist.
I like Mehdi pushing him on these topics, because I think it's important, BUT, he wasn't fair to Zizek in having enough time to answer before being cut off.
I’m from a Muslim country and I think that Mehdi hasan is misrepresenting Slavoj zizkek’s ideas.
Well, the logic behind this 'debate' is rather complicated. Because he is a Muslim, Mehdi needs to show that not all Muslims are radicals and will not blow themselves in front of infidels or kill cartoonists for depicting the prophet inappropriately. Which we all must concede is the correct point. But on the other and, Žižek is attacking multiculturalism as a failed ideology together with liberal capitalism with which it goes hand in hand. Although I see many points Žižek is making, invoking "the clash of civilizations" is a bit weird for a leftist, I must submit.
Yeah, he's kind of ambiguous sometimes. I think it's because deep down he admires the far right, specifically their capability to change people's minds with provocative and sometimes overly dramatic sentences, and I think he's trying to emulate that kind of rhetoric.
The problem is Slavoj's arguments are more subtle than that and they doesn't fit in his time allocated on this show or the "interview" structure
How is multiculturalism a failed ideology though?
@@mateosanfitz9625 every ethnic group in The West has failed, the Europeans never fully accepted those groups and are always treating them as subordinates, in one way or another, and the other groups fail to integrate themselves in our society because they see that its refusing them to a degree, and they get the feeling they might be better if they stick to their own, with all the subsequent damage. In many places they do not have the same opportunities we have. Why do you think all the attacks in France were done by sons of immigrants? Because this is what happens when you cast people in the banlieue, you send them to school to take insults over and over, you make them see the "wealth" of the capitalist world without ever taking part in it. When don't have anything, you turn to ideology.
Religion gives purpose to your meaningless life, devoid of beauty and pleasure, and tells you instead that those things are not desirable, it takes you up from the dirt and makes you a holy warrior ready to redeem his life.
I think there's a deep sense of revenge in terrorists towards that society who casted them out like lepers. Multiculturalism failed because it separates people. If you give equal opportunities to everyone, no matter where they come from and give them the means to achieve their goals and aspirations, there's a high probability that muslim terrorism, at least the spontaneous one, would disappear.
@@edvard8449I totally agree with that, I was asking because you make it sound as if multiculturalism is a process that has somehow ended and we're off to a new era of social order or sumn. Migrants won't stop coming to Europe no matter how many barriers right-wing nationalist governments try to impose. so "multiculturalism" hasn't died yet? ionknow lol
Let's remember that Al Jazeera is owned by the monarchy government of Qatar... which takes less than 200 refugees a year.
So sad that Al Jazeera is so far from professional journalism.
I wouldn't say "so far from". I actually think they are one of the closest to real journalism, but I will concede that it was not professional for Mehdi Hasan to push Zizek so hard here without giving him adequate time to speak and answer.
Not a debate or interview. This is a Mr. Mehdi speech. Should let Mr. Žižek explain at least one of the questions asked.
agree , I couldn't carry on watching,
You don't deserve to be even debating with Zizek. You don't even let him talk. Are you the philosopher or him?
Zizek was so afraid of being called a "racist/culturalist" that he was unable to express himself. The interviewer knew that before the interview began.
Zizek has never been afraid of being called anything from what I have seen. I think he was just baffled by Hasan's intellectual inability/dishonesty.
he should be afraid he supported trump
Don't argue with a fool...
Mehdi Hasan defends Islam more than Allah does.
This interviewer has literally never done any interview where he doesn't whine like a pansy about his guest having views he doesn't like.
Why isn't Zizek standing by his points? Why submit?
This guy was gas lighting Zizek, clearly. But Zizek was going way easy on him. Must be harsh, Zizek.
I had such a wish for the bit of the old ultra violence whenever the interviewer would cut slavojs point.
Mehdi Hasan here is like Cathy Newman agains Jordan Peterson ... very low and disappointing....
O my god ! It got even worst ...
So, you're saying Mehdi Hasan should interview Cathy Newman's lobster?
Isn't that a bit divisive?
Exactly
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something if his salary depends on not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair --- Mehdi Hasan, it seems, tries very hard to not understand Slavoj Zizek’s argument.
Hasan is very aggressive here. The man comes from a debate background and became a reporter. That said, and it being a little skewed, this is great television. Surprised so many people thumbsed down. I love the passion and aggression on both sides wholeheartedly.
Here's what Zizek should have said - Yes there is no one "Western culture" and it is largely a propaganda. However theres presently a dominant ideology common to western countries (and some Asian like Japan, Korea etc) that embraces liberalism and tolerance i.e. accepting of gay rights, equality of women, freedom of press etc. that is mostly abscent in most muslim majority countries (Saudi Arabia, iran, North Africa, etc) Therefore its reasonable to expect that there will be a "clash" of cultures when people who grew up under these massively different societies come to the west. Saying otherwise is simply disingenuous. Hasan whether due to his bias or smth else is completely blinded and unable to admit that point. The answer however is not to block this people from coming but to help them integrate. The problem is not refugees but the policies of countries where they arrive. For examples Muslim immigrants tend to integrate really well I'm countries like US and Canada but struggle more in Europe, so instead of these pointless debates both sides should look into improving their integration programs
Hasan would have likely interrupted him after the first sentence. It is probable that Zizek would have eventually made a point like this had he been allowed to speak longer than 10-15 seconds at a time.
"he's called the most dangerous philosopher in the west"
You already failed at journalism in the first 2 seconds of this video how do you even do that ?
Easily, because Hasan isn't a journalist.
JewTube so he's a fraud then
I've never seen a worse interview in my lift tbh. Slavoj didn't get any room explaining his points. If a person has written a book on over 100 pages and you take out small quotes, which you introduce as provocative, it would be good journalism to let the author explain his thoughts. The role of the journalist in this interview is not to affirm the guest, it's purpose is to have an own agenda. That can be good in some cases, but here th at takes over the interview. This is not decent.
slavoj was right in everything
when are they going to fire Mehdi? He is terrible.
His employers must appreciate what he does.
guder88 Stop trying to get people fired from their job.
This has nothing to do with his religion. I appreciate the fact that he wants to provoke but he is terrible at it and he is super aggressive. I would like to listen to the opinions of these valuable guests, not his endless attacks every 20 seconds. The guests need time to express their opinions!
He's argues for muslim and gulf state interests. And he's fairly good at what he's been hired to do. These aren't suppose to be unbiased neutral interviews or anything like that.
This interviewer... the worst I saw in my 50 years.
His interview with the CEO of blackwater is great tho
He is very good and effective against corrupt politicians but he doesn't realize that Zizek is something else.
To all those saying rude interviewer , they never watched BBC or FOX etc?! This is an excellent work on the side of host, he clearly won the debate and exposed the shallow book and thoughts of guest.
Zizek has a lot of fanboys.
Zizek should've thrown some lacan on him and confused him
.. He'll take years to understand Zizek
I like Zizek But here he falls into the trap of a well-researched, knowledgeable, and eloquent interviewer. Zizek is a bright philosopher but he is becoming more constrained by his monolithic notion of the West and the rest. A Swede and an Italian do eat pizzza and pasta, but they do it in different way! They are both Europeans, but practice and experience Europe in different ways.
Mehdi is just a cover for Islamic fundamentalism.
This interview was a disgraceful example of corrupt mainstream journalism and stands as a perfect example of why public opinion and trust is so low.
That was a pointless interview.
What a terrible interview. So annoying.
it is a superb interview. Slavoj Žižek gets destroyed for his racism and that is much fun watching.
I am done watching Al Jazeera.
How many refugees did Hasan's beloved Saudi Arabia take?
@m. ab I absolutely agree with your last point, but Saudi Arabia is a very close western ally. You may notice that the crown prince, despite his obvious guilt, was not charged with any crime after the death if Kashoggi, which no western state has since made any comment on. In the UK, we actually host him regularly, providing young girls a la Epstein (though we hate to mention it). They're incredibly frequent in our arms trades, and despite voting democratically to end these sales, we still make them. While countries like Lebanon shouldn't have to take on these refugees, you may realise that the situation is hopeless. Millions of Palestinians are living in inhospitable refugee camps with no method to leave. Refugees also provoke economic growth and class divide, so you may notice that after Brexit we'll be taking in more refugees, despite our rhetoric, to stabilise the feudal construct of our capitalist economy.
The reporter is a perfect example of humans of late capitalism: just woofing for money.
I have never seen Zizek look at someone the way he did this host. From 4:01 it looked like he knew this was going to be a painful experience. Lol
zizek must have known that this was a brilliant show of the hypocrisy of the same middle eastern states he condemns in his book
I have never seen Zizek flustered and inarticulate as in this interview. I haven't read the book but from the quotes it does seem he's pandering to the far right rhetoric and using the same language and making the same generalisations as them.
The interviewer talked over him. The only thing that flustered Zizek was how obtuse the interviewer was.
I'd encourage you to read his books. He makes statements that sound right winged but in his analysis and reasoning for what he means by them or what their implications are he is always very left and emancipatory in his rhetoric. You will notice this common trend with his writing. He always looks to argue using the tools of the right but to reach very left conclusions. Its amazing.
His point is completely taken out of context. Zizek is not anti-refugee in the slightest.
Medhi needs to read Hannah Arendt’s Origins of Totalitarianism, maybe then he’ll understand how Zizek is critiquing the West and not refugees
I think we need to acknowledge that zizek has gone off the rails ... he's been a mess since day one on issues of race and culture but like ... he's jumped the shark now
That journalist irritates me. Interrupting like that is just childish.
the interviewer is trying to protect his fellow stone age logic fellas.
is this an interview or an interrogation?
Terrible interview. Mehdi Hasan was combative and either didnt read the book or didnt understand it.
What a terrible interview. The reporter has zero idea how to do his job. He treated a renowned and worldwide-respected professor as if he made any offensive points in his works against anybody. Zizek is actually very mild and kind in his assessment of Arabic culture. Most European intellectuals represent a much harsher stance.
When a "so called philosopher" can't sustain a debate with a JOURNALIST you know he is nothing but joke 😂
Sorry Zizek, Stick to the Jordan Peterson's of the world🤦
Go bend over for allah
Zizek, you were too based for this man.
If this was the first video I saw of Žižek i would think he's far right, but only because his ideas were put out of context. In general, I agree much more in this video with the reporter but for the wrong reasons obviously. However, it's clear that his statements from the book were being extremely simplified and altered
This was a really bad interview, I think Zizek hated it.
Man I do like the journalist, but I really hated this one. He didn't even interview the guy, he just simply attacked him continuously without any consideration to civility. If he actually did his homework on Slavoj Zizek he would have realized how wrong he is.
As a Syrian woman, I agree totally with Zizek.
That might just have been the most biased journalist I have seen in quite a while... What a joke!
Arguments of Mehdi are far better than the flimsy arguments of Zizek.
Mehdi destroyed the philosopher entire book in 10 minutes 😅
are you dumb kid?
As much as I dislike Mehdi, he is perfectly right to call out people like Zizek for speaking out of both sides of his mouth over and over
Slavoj is right
Mehedi ruled again like a Boss... Loved it..
This is a debate not an interview..
finally some good journalism showing what kind of a racist zizek really is.
Superb work by Medhi...
In Quatar are zero refugees - in a superrich islamic country!!
Zizek is beyond anchor's comprehension.