June 21, 2024 • 32 mins
In this episode titled "Grace Under Fire," we sit down with Belal Nassar, aka Bfendyy, a Palestinian American content creator and actor dedicated to amplifying the voices of the voiceless in Gaza. Belal shares his journey from his upbringing in America to his rise as a digital storyteller, highlighting the profound psychological toll of facing daily aggression and hostility online. We explore the intersection of activism and art, the power of social media as a battleground for truth and justice, and the resilience and courage of those standing against the ongoing genocide and occupation in Palestine. Belal’s story underscores the importance of staying firm in the face of adversity and using digital platforms to inspire global action and awareness.
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(00:00):
From Ubian Studios. You're listening toUnsugarcoated with Alia, bringing you interviews with
public figures and inspirational people speaking onself improvement with empowered themes, and I'm
your host, Ali Alaneus. Hello, Hello, Hello, and welcome back
to another episode, another powerful episodeof Unsugarcoated with Alia. Today we confront
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the harsh realities again of conflict andthe role of individuals in standing up against
injustice and everything that comes along withit. In light of the ongoing genocide
and occupation in Palestine, we arereminded of Paul Robison's poignant words from nineteen
thirty seven. Now, I've sharedthem before as part of this podcast,
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but I feel like it's so relevant. As always again, every artist,
every scientist, every writer must decidenow where he stands. He has no
alternative. There is no standing abovethe conflict on Olympian Heights, there are
no impartial observers. The battlefront iseverywhere. Our discussion today will dive into
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the intersection of activism and art,exploring how social media platforms have become the
new battlegrounds for truth and justice.Will examine the profound psychological toll of facing
daily aggression and hatred, especially forthose who are part of the diaspora and
yet feel an unbreakable bond to theirhomeland. We'll discuss the power of digital
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connections where borders blur and where individuals, including those from occupied territories, find
themselves in intense, often hostile interactionswith those on the other side. These
real time confrontations bring a unique perspective, highlighting both the potential for understanding and
the depths of an entrenched animosity.Moreover, we will explore how young activists
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are using their platforms to amplify theirvoices and bring global attention to their cause.
In an era where misinformation is rampant, these digital warriors play a crucial
role in documenting and sharing the truth, challenging narratives, and inspiring action worldwide.
This episode is a testament to theresilience and encourage of those who refuse
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to be silent. It's a callto recognize that, as Robison said,
the battlefront is everywhere. Our goalis to humanize the struggle, underscore the
importanance of standing firm in the faceof adversity, and illustrate that in this
interconnected world, everyone has a roleto play. Join us as we delve
into these critical conversations and honor theunwavering spirit of resistance with our today's guest,
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bilaal Nasser is a Palestinian American contentcreator and actor dedicated to amplifying the
voices of the voiceless in Gaza.With years of experience in digital storytelling,
Billah leverages his platform to bring globalattention to the resilience and struggles of Palestinians.
His work not only entertains, butalso informs and inspires action, making
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him a pivotal figure in the landscapeof social advocacy through media. Ladies and
gentlemen, Please welcome Bila Nasar.Hey are you doing today? Thank you
for having me. I appreciate it. Oh, We're so glad. Okay,
So, first of all, I'veseen you and several other you know,
incredible individuals for many. I thinkactually you were before eight months ago,
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but definitely over the late last eightmonths. Because that's one thing I
can go back. I have thereceipts, like I didn't just start on
this in October, that this issomething that's been going on for us for
a long time, and obviously it'sbeen brought to a head. Thank you
for joining us, Thanks for cominginto the studio today. It's such a
pleasure to know you and to beable to collaborate with you. Tell us
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a little bit about your early life. You know, your upbringing in America
and your connection to Palestine. Growingup here as a Palestinian Muslim, I
definitely faced hostility. Even though Iwasn't able to go to Palestine until twenty
twenty, it was still something verystrong with me as an artist, as
an actor, as an entertainer,I used to I always kept Palestine,
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whether it was through my poetry,whether it was through my acting. I
always made sure to keep Palestine inthe picture and be a voice for the
voiceless, because that's very important outhere. Al hamdulag. Growing up,
I was always raised to be proudof where I was from, whether or
not I was able to go backthere or not, whether I've been there
or not, I was always raisedto be a proud zowie Palestinian. Growing
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up in the early two thousands,I didn't really know what was going on,
especially after September eleventh. I hadno idea, so I did face
a lot of that, a lotof racism. It was very It was
a very hostile time in the earlytwo thousands. But even though I wasn't
too educated on it, I stillknew to be proud of where I was
from, and I still voiced thatyou have a we'll get into it.
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You have a very unique way inhandling this, and we'll get there.
But you know, I love that. That's kind of where you say you've
just really started to see because I'venoticed that initially after October seventh, I
have to say this, like alot of people are like, well,
if I speak up, I'm goingto lose. And first of all,
I don't care about followers. I'venever you know, I mean, it's
not even about that. But ifpeople are not going to be part of
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my network or my community because ofmy stance on humanity, I'm not losing
anything. And anything I've lost,I know will be replenished by somebody who
does have exact an ideology that theline's line right. So is that why
you feel like you feel like thathas happened for you? Oh, definitely,
definitely. You know, you getto see how many people actually truly
support Palestine once they see you inthat spotlight, and you start to see
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those people fade away, right,But like you said, if anything,
I didn't lose it. I didn'tlose anything. You know, it'll be
replaced or replenished by somebody else whodoes absolutely. And yeah, as a
form of philosophy, I never worryabout what falls out of the back of
the Truck's a good way to lookat it. You also have acting aspirations,
so I do want to touch onthat because, look, let's just
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be real, A lot of timeswe are not you know, we're not
getting cast for the good roles.We're getting cast for the bad roles.
So tell me how that acting andbeing Palestinian American has that gone for you.
I've only gotten background acting roles,you know, and obviously, like
you said, it is very hard. So in the past three months,
I've lost three big roles and which, like you said, don't worry about
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what falls outside on the back ofthe truck. I feel like this is
definitely opening many doors for me inthe acting world, and nowadays with social
media. Social media's in you Hollywood, right, So I don't worry about
it. Whatever comes comes as aperson who works in film. Outside of
what we do with the podcast here, obviously, I just got back from
can Film Festival. I was glad, not surprised to see Kate Blanchett do
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what she did. I saw itwas incredible for how much they were prohibiting
people. I mean, I thinkthey were really afraid of anybody trying to
make a statement, and it breaksmy heart that they really want to stifle
that. But I think it's incrediblyimportant for actors and people in the Hollywood
world, whether they're Jewish or not, to stand up for humanity being the
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right place on this because this isnot Judaism. This is an issue with
Zionism. I forgot where I gotthis from, but it's always stuck with
me. Zionists and Jews are differenttype of people. The Jews aren't bad,
but the Zionists are evil. Soyou're definitely correct. That has nothing
to do with Judaism or any religionat all. Yeah, because that's all.
It's so very easy to peg it, like they want to say you're
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being anti Semitic, which on itsface is ridiculous because we're also Semites.
We are Semites, do you know, And people want to and somebody actually
said, they said, well thatwas about Europeans in during the Holocaust.
Okay, they wanted to differentiate,right, The German Nazis wanted to say
they're different, they're different from us, So they isolated them, They destroyed
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their workplaces, they arrested them,they killed them, They did everything that
you see the Zionist entity doing tothe Semites. So I don't understand how
just because it happened in Europe thatyou can't act apply the same thing.
I don't. I refuse to.I'm like, no, anti Semitism to
me includes if you're really going tobe and I am going to take somebody
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on semantics on this, if you'rereally going to say that, then actually
anti Semitic is being against people whoare of Jewish faith or also people in
the Arab world. You're absolutely correct, and we need to flip that on
its backside so that they can't keepdoing this to us and try to pigeonhole
us in and lie when it's veryclear what we're fighting for. I think
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people that is the goal. Withsocial media, you know you can you
can't hide it, you can't lieanymore. It's right in front of your
face. So that's one thing thatwe're trying to change. Absolutely, So
experiences on the video chat platforms.Before we start, we'll we'll talk about
the social media thing. But whatyou've been able to do and show the
world is really incredible. I knowthat you and a couple others are very
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well known for these video chat platforms. These are very notable interactions because some
are positive, some are negative.Correct. Well, first of actually,
how did you end up on thevideo platforms? First, so we've grown
up. You know, we've alwaysmessed around on these platforms, but after
October seventh, it became something thatit became something that we wanted to hear
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their side, to see what they'rereally gonna say. We already know their
side, but to expose them asan actor. I thought, this is
the best, This is the bestway. I didn't expect much to come
out of it, of course,but after my first interaction and just seeing
how bold and blatant they were tellingme their crimes and the gen and speaking
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on their genocide, the things thatthey do to the children, I knew
I had something. And I wasable to put my acting skills with being
a Palestinian and the passion together,and that's how it came. Yeah,
that's how it came. The hostilityis definitely there. I've heard some stuff,
seen some stuff that nobody ever wantsto hear a see. But as
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a Palestinian, it's very important forme to go ahead and do this.
It is emotionally draining, it ismentally exhausting, But when you look at
it, who am I to saythat when my family, my own family
is dealing with it physically right there. So we're going to play this short
video and then we'll come back toget your thoughts on it. I'd like
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the audience to hear it. Hello, are you from me? United States?
Yes, sir, Kentucky, Wisconsin. Do you love as well?
Do you love Bastin? I don'tknow what's going on. I see the
videos. Are you're the idef?Salute? Hut Jahana listen man, I
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see the video the idea fighting theCamus or the Kamas. No, we
don't. We kill everybody, knowhow much? Everybody? Even the children.
I'm done, the woman tread done, and babies and baby one day
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we get we get him on thefirst day it's born. Yes, you
have you how many do you have? How many kills do you have?
One minute? Because I don't English, very good m hmm. That is
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a powerful interaction. Can you walkus through what it's like when when he's
talking to you like that, youknow it is. Of course it's very
hard, first of all, butmy goal is to expose them as hard
as it is to hear those things. That's exactly what I'm looking for.
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So in a way my heart isbroken, but in a way I'm achieving
what I need to do. SoI keep grasping it, I keep pulling
at it, and it's definitely somethingthat I didn't expect I would be able
to handle. But here we areabout eight months later, and it's just
unfortunately it's become a norm. Humanityhas a very ugly history. This is
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for the first time where we're reallygetting to talk to the guys in the
tanks, you know, sitting there, I mean, watching them make their
videos while they blow up universities andyou know, you know, my family
in Lebanon, I've talked about thiswhere my cousins would have to walk to
school in zigzag lines because the snipersin the eighties would be sitting in the
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Israeli snipers would shoot them and sothey would you know, walk in zigzag
lines to avoid it. And tojust know that they're going through this but
for now, I mean, forme to say that to somebody, it's
like, Okay, they kind ofcan vision, but they kind of can't.
But now we're seeing it all.We're seeing it all in real time,
and it's you talk about emotional toll. I mean, it's just overwhelming.
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How is your family? How isyour family reacted to what you're doing
to my family? My family here, my family and because I mean both
my family and guys are cheering meon. They're happy, you know,
especially for them having to deal withthese people face to face. Seeing this
gives them something to smile about andlaugh and also gives them a little They
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can't do anything to them physically,but when they see me aggravating them,
you know, it gives them somegives them some relief. Yeah, you've
built a platform of over two hundredthousand you know people. Yes, and
one can look at your pagency thatthose are very those are genuine organic.
This is not you know, beingfluffed up or anything. When we talk
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about maintaining the composure, is thereanything that you do specifically to manage your
ability to stay composed and be constructivein your responses. I mean, I've
watched a lot of your videos andI know Dalton. And that's the other
question. Where did Dalton come from? You know? Okay, so to
Kentucky, Wisconsin. Kentucky, Wisconsin. That part is going back to being
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an actor aspiring actor. I didn'treally you know, as an actor,
especially someone who can do improv Idon't really choose it. Just whatever comes
out comes out. One day theyasked me what my name was. I
told him Dalton. He repeated it, you know, questioning it. It
gave me a couple seconds to ajam Marry the fourth Junior and the world
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ate it up. And going backto your question on how I keep my
composure and what I do, Iconstantly remind myself that I have the world
watching me and hearing me, soas a Palestinian, I have to represent
my people and I have to keepthat. That's honestly the only thing that
holds me together. Yes, Ihave eyes on me and I have ears
(15:03):
listening to me. I can't sayanything I shouldn't be saying, and I
wouldn't say, you know, andjust have to represent my people in the
best way possible. People are people. I'm not going to put a Palestinian
on such a pedestal to say,oh, you're never allowed to get angry,
You're not allowed to have emotions,you're not allowed to be angry.
That people want to eliminate you.Actually, because though the mantra in Israel
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is that you know Hamas and Palestiniansjust want to obliterate them, I've never
met a Palestinian who said I hateall Jews or I want to kill all
Jews. Exactly. What they wantis to be left alone. If I'm
your neighbor, right, find yourneighbor and we're just chilling, is good.
But the minute I'm like, ohwell that's nice, let me take
that, let me take that,Oh get out on the street, I
don't care what happens to you.We're no longer friends if we're no longer
neighbors. So there is the moderncolonization aspect of this that people do deny,
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and so it paints Palestinians and like, oh, if they get upset,
see, that's why they're bad people. No all shit exactly, which
is exactly why I have to bitemy tongue. And people also don't realize
that there are parts that I dohave to cut out, sure, but
besides that, the only parts Ido have to cut out, which maybe
my face will turn red or I'llactually sometimes have to bite my tongue.
(16:15):
So there are parts where I dohave to cut out. But other than
that, you know, just gotto represent my people, because, like
you said, we're painted as amonster's which is so absurd, the most
beautiful, beautiful people. I wasin abudw in November and I happened to
see my ex mother and father inlaw, who I love, their Palestinian
like his family had to walk out. You know. For thirty years of
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my life, I've heard like thekey, the whole, the prey of
one day being able to go backto Palestine. Right. I remember I
had wanted money ish, I hadn'thad proper money ish. And it was
nine o'clock at night. And thisis my former father in law to show
you, like he's welcoming my newhusband, my new child, like and
my mother in law, my formersister in law, and he's like,
I'm going to go get you moneyeach I'm like, it's nine thirty at
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night. He's like, no,you want money eachh A, I will
go get your money. The kindestsoul in the world. So it's absurd
to me when people do this.You know, I went, like I
said before, I went to Palestinein twenty twenty, there was my father
had arranged for somebody to come pickme and my sister up and you know,
show us around Palestine. The firstman happened to be He wasn't Palestinian.
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I don't exactly remember what he was. I remember he charged us two
hundred US dollars, which is alot over there, and he only drove
around small spot, nothing too crazy, dropped us off after an hour.
The next day, my father calledsomebody else, a Palestinian man. He
had to cross two checkpoints take abus to come pick us up. This
man, without even knowing us,went inside our hotel, told the man
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to give us a refund, putus in his home, and took us
around all the parts that we wereable to go to. Wow, kindest
souls that I've ever met, andI'll never forget those people. I'll never
forget that family and left something,you know, I left the mark on
me. No, I love that, and I appreciate it because that's yes,
that's just it. You know,I've told all the time online,
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go to Gaza and see how yoube treated. And I'm like, man,
miss me with that, because Ialready know I'm gonna get some good
food and I'm gonna guess I lovesome hugs. You know, I already
know. These are people who havenothing though. That's the most humbling and
beautiful part about it. These aren'tpeople who are rich. Who are These
are people who have nothing. Andthey know we come from the United States
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where we have privileges. But there'stheir hearts are so open, their doors
are open, and sometimes they don'teven have a door, they have a
tent, but they're still willing toallow you in, bring you into their
home, feed you. So likeyou said, you know you're going to
be taken care of if you dogo. Of course, of course,
I understand how your family, Razafeels about this. How do your parents
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feel about it? Just to bequite honest, do they worry about you?
My mother worries a lot. Momworries a lot. Mom worries a
lot. She's definitely proud. Thatis happy. You know, they're they're
proud of me. They're definitely proudof me. You know, they keep
every day like alahak, which meansbe careful in Arabic. You know.
Now you go on and sometimes youcan't even play that your Dalton, they
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know you, they recognize you knowyou, I know you. No,
that's another guy. My name isMichuel Anderson. Man. That guy's name
is like Dalton, Jamry or something. Tell me how that's been, because
you know, being recognized on theplatform is one thing. You know,
then that can also transfer off youknow which you have been threatened and people
(19:32):
have threatened you, So tell mehow the public recognition part has affected your
life. So on that app itis definitely very hard. Now ninety nine
percent of them know who I am, soldiers or not, and they've gotten
to know my lines, so theypretty much do it for me. But
it is hard. I've got somedisguises, you know, got the afro.
I'm actually actually ordered to Mario suit. We're gonna try that next.
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It's definitely hard, you know,but it makes it fun. It makes
it fun, you know, Iactually have to look for them now in
public. It's definitely you know,as far as a Zionists, I don't
worry too much, but they arethere. I've gotten threats in person.
Face to face. As you've seenthe comments, I'm sure. But the
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beautiful part about it is when Iget to travel and go to different states
and see all the Palestinians, allthe autops, all the pro Palestinians who
know me, that just shows,if anything, it's a humbling feeling.
It shows me how powerful my wordscould be. And it's just a very
humble, humbling feeling, you know, having ears all around the world.
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Yeah, so it's good and bad. I had an experience I'll tell you
when I was leaving Ken Film Festival. Funny enough. So whenever I travel,
I have a hoodie that I wearand it says Palestinian. It's got,
you know, unbreakable, and I'mnot afraid to represent ever, like
got my love, but got mybracelet on, I've got my you know.
It just I whether my purse isa watermelon you see my Somebody once
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said you're gonna turn into a watermelonAlia. I was like, yeah,
okay. But I was getting onthe plane in this United attendant came up
to me. She says, Isee your sweater and I'm like okay,
and she goes, You're the firstperson i've seen where and uh, and
this is just a couple of weeksago. By the way, She's like,
uh, if you were that inFrance, you'd be in jail.
I couldn't tell if she was tryingto be nice, if anyone was like,
oh, well, that's so sad, you know. And she just
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says, but I'm glad to seeyou wearing it, and she walked away,
and so I was like, well, thank you, God, bless
you know, and I walked onmy plane. And it was an interesting
interaction because yes, as we goaround in the world, there's whether they
recognize us or that they recognize thatwe're standing up for something. So there's
both positive and negatives to that.Do you worry this will impact your travel
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to any place where you know wherethey might be a little bit more Well,
I mean, I feel like allgovernments right now, many of them,
most of them unfortunately, are beingextremely suppressive and oppressive to people who
are simply standing up for humanity.If I can't even travel to my own
homeland, why would I worry ifyou don't let me in here, let
me in there. As far asextra questioning, you know, as Palestinians,
(22:07):
as Muslims were already used to that. So to answer your question,
no, yeah, with regards tobeing Palestinian American again, you know,
I know you said you've never reallystruggled with your identity, but definitely,
you know, for a moment,take a moment to hit on the dual
identity of being Palestinian and American.A lot of people don't even know where
(22:30):
Palestine is to begin with. Sothat's what makes it, you know,
when you try to explain to someoneI'm from Palestine. Wait, but you're
from America. Wait where is Palestine? Isn't that Jerusalem? Isn't that Israel?
But as a Palestinian American, youknow, I do take pride in
it, you know, but beforean American, I am a Palestinian.
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That's the problem. People forget Americais not an identity. It's not like
when you you know, I meanreally know where is to be honest,
Like even with my own kids,like they're tied to America. They are
American, they were born and raisedhere. However, that doesn't change the
cultural identities are you know, becauseI get that question a lot. I
mean, you're you have a certainlook, right, I know my look.
(23:15):
People are like, where are youfrom? I'm like, you know,
I heard somebody's like, what's yournationality and I'm like, American,
Like you want to know my passportthere it's American way and they're like,
oh huh. And I'm like,Okay, I know what you're trying to
get to, but let's see ifyou ask it the right way. But
so nationality wise, you can,you can be wherever your passport's passport is,
(23:37):
but culturally what you identify with andwho you are, because at the
end of the day, you don'tidentify as your passport. You identify as
your heritage, where you come from, what you eat, what you do,
how you live. And so definitely, yes, advocacy and activism,
you know, I definitely want peopleto understand that. For you getting on
these social platforms and having these interactions, whether people will think, oh he's
(24:02):
being a smart ass or oh he'stricking them, you're actually advocating for Palestinian
rights. Yes, you know alot of people do expect me to debate
with these people, but as wespoke before, there's no debating genocide.
It's definitely shown people right like ifwe and I know people don't like it
(24:22):
when we talk about the Nazis,right, I don't. I know that
they don't. And it is differentbecause, and I say this for my
audience, like Germany was an allianceof people that formed Germany legally, you
know, righteously, in whatever way, like a group of you know,
tribes said Okay, we're going toband together and create Germany. This is
not what happened in Palestine. TheZionist colonial project itself decided, hey,
(24:47):
there's a piece of land, We'regoing to take it off for ourselves.
And and and in the process,these Arabs, these Palestinians, these subhuman
people are no longer worthy. Andthat's why as they enact a genocide,
as you say right now, it'sso critical that we have what you're doing
right now, which is an eyeinto their mentality, because like if we
(25:12):
watch Star Wars, we can tellwho's the empire, we can tell who's
the resistance. It's the people running, it's the people hiding, it's the
people running for cover. It's notthe people coming in the tents with the
full armor and the bad attitude andthis negative, hateful spirit which we observe
people doing. So, you know, how do you keep your humanity in
(25:33):
this process? You know, Ithink that goes back to my family and
the natives of Palestine, seeing themsmiling, still seeing them strong. That's
what keeps me strong, keeps myhumanity to answer your question, you know,
because over there there is no humanity, but they still have it,
if that makes sense. So forme, I we have no excuse,
(25:56):
not just me, we have noexcuse to keep our humanity and whatnot.
And what a lot of people don'trealize. I want to touch back on
this is the IDF. I wantto say, over sixty I might be
wrong, but over sixty percent aren'teven from Israel. You know. That's
one thing I've noticed going on thisapp. I've seen people from South Africa.
(26:18):
I've seen a lot of people fromFlorida, Germany. I've seen people
from everywhere. But when you seethese people and the flip flops and the
capris, they're all from Palestine.Well, I think people forget that.
Regimes like what the Israeli forces haveavailable, there's what they do to their
(26:40):
community. Right Like, if I'man Israeli citizen, I grew up,
I graduated high school, I've gotto immediately go into the military serve.
That's one way that I see thatthey indoctrinate people and make them complicit.
But more importantly, anybody who hasan axe to grind, right like,
there's people who get into them tothese go over to Israel simply because they
want to be part of this.They want to be because they're not good
(27:02):
souls. They think that they are, but they're not. You know,
that's another thing a lot of peoplesay in the comments, these people are
forced, These people are forced,they're brainwashed. But I'm sure you've heard
the stories. There's a few.I'm sure there's more than just a few.
The Western media doesn't want to showyou. But they are being in
prison for not joining the idea exact, So I don't it's not brainwashed,
it's not forced. I mean,right, the resistors, they they definitely
(27:26):
and they get in that. Andthat again is even though people get upset
about it. You we do haveNazi Germany and the Third Reich, as
and the SS and the Gestapo,because what did they do. They didn't
just criminalize the Jews. They criminalizedGermans who stood up for the Jews,
right Like, So if I stoodup and I was a protector, then
(27:47):
I was likely to be shot bythe Gestapo, which is exactly now that's
why now the whole antie, ohyou're a self hating Jew if you stand
up for these people, it's justpropaganda. It's just bullshit, and it's
very frustrated when people can fancy throughthat. But no, I Western media
for you. I mean, thatis definitely Western media for you, for
sure, and that's why we're verypassionate about changing that. And I know
(28:07):
we've spoken about that. So we'rethe new media. We are. That's
a beautiful part about these platforms.We became the new media, we became
the new news outlets, we becamethe new faces of Hollywood. Right,
these faces of Hollywood are run byZionists. So for us to be able
to be the entertainment but also thevoice for the voiceless is such a beautiful
and empowering experience. Absolutely, whilewe are still I mean, we just
(28:33):
had the incidents at Rafa, youknow last weekend. I know on Monday,
I was down protesting in City Hallin la I couldn't be anywhere else
but with people to do something right. But still I feel like it's not
enough. Even with everything I'm tryingto do, I still feel like it's
not enough. So what is yourmessage? What is your call to action
(28:53):
to the world in this moment?Everybody needs to stand up. Of course,
everybody needs to speak up, youknow, going on speaking on,
I'm so shocked that people are shocked. If you are shocked, you're not
you're not awake. Well, youhaven't been paying attention to the last month
and there's still people who don't knowwhat's going on. And that's what shocks
(29:14):
me. Everybody, really, everybodyneeds to come together. People need to
educate themselves themselves. Stop listening toCNN, stop watching Fox News, and
go to the actual source. That'swhat everybody needs to start doing, because
it's it's it's on us. Theycould only do so much over there.
They can physically fight. We needto be their voice. They can't speak
up their silence. We are thevoice. They are the resistance, right.
(29:38):
Oh man, I want to thankyou so much for being here today
with me, making the trip outhere to the pleasure. Thank you for
having me. You know, Iknow what you're doing means so much to
people, and like you said,it does bring a bit of amusement and
sometimes hard, but we have tohave it. We have to see it,
we have to do it. SoI thank you for all that you're
doing for our audio listens. Listeners, tell us your IG handle or your
(30:03):
social media handle so that they canfollow you. It is Bfend Instagram and
TikTok b f e n d yy. That's not the clothing brand,
that's Fend Bilaalfend. I love thatDefend. All right, well, I
so appreciate you. We'll have tohave you back. Hopefully we'll have a
good times and things we can celebratelater. For now, I know we're
(30:23):
in this together. Thank you somuch. Yes, we are looking forward
to it. Free Palestine, Yes, free Palestine. And with that,
ladies and gentlemen, thank you fortaking the time to hear Bilao's story.
And I hope that you'll check outwhat he's doing online, support him,
follow, comment all these things,share it because it is critical that we
(30:45):
do everything that we can right now. My closing thoughts are just to understand
this. This is not complicated,ladies and gentlemen, it's really not.
If you care about people in yourown life, then you should find it
easy to understand why we care aboutthe lives of all of these individuals suffering
(31:08):
immense cruelty. It's not even hardship. Hardship is like playing foot seat see
with it. It is an unimaginablecruel experience for Palestinians. And by the
way, I need to reiterate this, not just in Raza is definitely at
the forefront right now. But what'shappening in West Bank, what's happening in
Hebron, what's happening in Vermola whereI have family still, where it's happening
(31:30):
in Lebanon, in southern Lebanon whereI have family there as well? Like
this is something, This is acon I mean when I say that word
conflict, I don't like it.It is an entire crisis. It is
a crisis that needs to be intervened. And I remember yesterday hearing a one
of our senators said, well,we dropped bombs in Iraq too. You
(31:52):
know what, no shit, Sherlock, we did, and it wasn't right
then and it's not right now.And I most of all thank you for
letting yes be unsugarcoated. We willsee you next time. Take care,
From Ubian Studios. You're listening toUnsugarcoated with Alia, bringing you interviews with
public figures and inspirational people speaking onself improvement with empowered themes, and I'm
your host, Ali Alaneus. Hello, Hello, Hello, and welcome back
to another episode, another powerful episodeof Unsugarcoated with Alia. Today we confront
(00:23):
the harsh realities again of conflict andthe role of individuals in standing up against
injustice and everything that comes along withit. In light of the ongoing genocide
and occupation in Palestine, we arereminded of Paul Robison's poignant words from nineteen
thirty seven. Now, I've sharedthem before as part of this podcast,
(00:44):
but I feel like it's so relevant. As always again, every artist,
every scientist, every writer must decidenow where he stands. He has no
alternative. There is no standing abovethe conflict on Olympian Heights, there are
no impartial observers. The battlefront iseverywhere. Our discussion today will dive into
(01:07):
the intersection of activism and art,exploring how social media platforms have become the
new battlegrounds for truth and justice.Will examine the profound psychological toll of facing
daily aggression and hatred, especially forthose who are part of the diaspora and
yet feel an unbreakable bond to theirhomeland. We'll discuss the power of digital
(01:30):
connections where borders blur and where individuals, including those from occupied territories, find
themselves in intense, often hostile interactionswith those on the other side. These
real time confrontations bring a unique perspective, highlighting both the potential for understanding and
the depths of an entrenched animosity.Moreover, we will explore how young activists
(01:53):
are using their platforms to amplify theirvoices and bring global attention to their cause.
In an era where misinformation is rampant, these digital warriors play a crucial
role in documenting and sharing the truth, challenging narratives, and inspiring action worldwide.
This episode is a testament to theresilience and encourage of those who refuse
(02:13):
to be silent. It's a callto recognize that, as Robison said,
the battlefront is everywhere. Our goalis to humanize the struggle, underscore the
importanance of standing firm in the faceof adversity, and illustrate that in this
interconnected world, everyone has a roleto play. Join us as we delve
into these critical conversations and honor theunwavering spirit of resistance with our today's guest,
(02:36):
bilaal Nasser is a Palestinian American contentcreator and actor dedicated to amplifying the
voices of the voiceless in Gaza.With years of experience in digital storytelling,
Billah leverages his platform to bring globalattention to the resilience and struggles of Palestinians.
His work not only entertains, butalso informs and inspires action, making
(02:58):
him a pivotal figure in the landscapeof social advocacy through media. Ladies and
gentlemen, Please welcome Bila Nasar.Hey are you doing today? Thank you
for having me. I appreciate it. Oh, We're so glad. Okay,
So, first of all, I'veseen you and several other you know,
incredible individuals for many. I thinkactually you were before eight months ago,
(03:23):
but definitely over the late last eightmonths. Because that's one thing I
can go back. I have thereceipts, like I didn't just start on
this in October, that this issomething that's been going on for us for
a long time, and obviously it'sbeen brought to a head. Thank you
for joining us, Thanks for cominginto the studio today. It's such a
pleasure to know you and to beable to collaborate with you. Tell us
(03:47):
a little bit about your early life. You know, your upbringing in America
and your connection to Palestine. Growingup here as a Palestinian Muslim, I
definitely faced hostility. Even though Iwasn't able to go to Palestine until twenty
twenty, it was still something verystrong with me as an artist, as
an actor, as an entertainer,I used to I always kept Palestine,
(04:10):
whether it was through my poetry,whether it was through my acting. I
always made sure to keep Palestine inthe picture and be a voice for the
voiceless, because that's very important outhere. Al hamdulag. Growing up,
I was always raised to be proudof where I was from, whether or
not I was able to go backthere or not, whether I've been there
or not, I was always raisedto be a proud zowie Palestinian. Growing
(04:30):
up in the early two thousands,I didn't really know what was going on,
especially after September eleventh. I hadno idea, so I did face
a lot of that, a lotof racism. It was very It was
a very hostile time in the earlytwo thousands. But even though I wasn't
too educated on it, I stillknew to be proud of where I was
from, and I still voiced thatyou have a we'll get into it.
(04:54):
You have a very unique way inhandling this, and we'll get there.
But you know, I love that. That's kind of where you say you've
just really started to see because I'venoticed that initially after October seventh, I
have to say this, like alot of people are like, well,
if I speak up, I'm goingto lose. And first of all,
I don't care about followers. I'venever you know, I mean, it's
not even about that. But ifpeople are not going to be part of
(05:14):
my network or my community because ofmy stance on humanity, I'm not losing
anything. And anything I've lost,I know will be replenished by somebody who
does have exact an ideology that theline's line right. So is that why
you feel like you feel like thathas happened for you? Oh, definitely,
definitely. You know, you getto see how many people actually truly
support Palestine once they see you inthat spotlight, and you start to see
(05:39):
those people fade away, right,But like you said, if anything,
I didn't lose it. I didn'tlose anything. You know, it'll be
replaced or replenished by somebody else whodoes absolutely. And yeah, as a
form of philosophy, I never worryabout what falls out of the back of
the Truck's a good way to lookat it. You also have acting aspirations,
so I do want to touch onthat because, look, let's just
(06:00):
be real, A lot of timeswe are not you know, we're not
getting cast for the good roles.We're getting cast for the bad roles.
So tell me how that acting andbeing Palestinian American has that gone for you.
I've only gotten background acting roles,you know, and obviously, like
you said, it is very hard. So in the past three months,
I've lost three big roles and which, like you said, don't worry about
(06:20):
what falls outside on the back ofthe truck. I feel like this is
definitely opening many doors for me inthe acting world, and nowadays with social
media. Social media's in you Hollywood, right, So I don't worry about
it. Whatever comes comes as aperson who works in film. Outside of
what we do with the podcast here, obviously, I just got back from
can Film Festival. I was glad, not surprised to see Kate Blanchett do
(06:43):
what she did. I saw itwas incredible for how much they were prohibiting
people. I mean, I thinkthey were really afraid of anybody trying to
make a statement, and it breaksmy heart that they really want to stifle
that. But I think it's incrediblyimportant for actors and people in the Hollywood
world, whether they're Jewish or not, to stand up for humanity being the
(07:03):
right place on this because this isnot Judaism. This is an issue with
Zionism. I forgot where I gotthis from, but it's always stuck with
me. Zionists and Jews are differenttype of people. The Jews aren't bad,
but the Zionists are evil. Soyou're definitely correct. That has nothing
to do with Judaism or any religionat all. Yeah, because that's all.
It's so very easy to peg it, like they want to say you're
(07:25):
being anti Semitic, which on itsface is ridiculous because we're also Semites.
We are Semites, do you know, And people want to and somebody actually
said, they said, well thatwas about Europeans in during the Holocaust.
Okay, they wanted to differentiate,right, The German Nazis wanted to say
they're different, they're different from us, So they isolated them, They destroyed
(07:46):
their workplaces, they arrested them,they killed them, They did everything that
you see the Zionist entity doing tothe Semites. So I don't understand how
just because it happened in Europe thatyou can't act apply the same thing.
I don't. I refuse to.I'm like, no, anti Semitism to
me includes if you're really going tobe and I am going to take somebody
(08:07):
on semantics on this, if you'rereally going to say that, then actually
anti Semitic is being against people whoare of Jewish faith or also people in
the Arab world. You're absolutely correct, and we need to flip that on
its backside so that they can't keepdoing this to us and try to pigeonhole
us in and lie when it's veryclear what we're fighting for. I think
(08:28):
people that is the goal. Withsocial media, you know you can you
can't hide it, you can't lieanymore. It's right in front of your
face. So that's one thing thatwe're trying to change. Absolutely, So
experiences on the video chat platforms.Before we start, we'll we'll talk about
the social media thing. But whatyou've been able to do and show the
world is really incredible. I knowthat you and a couple others are very
(08:52):
well known for these video chat platforms. These are very notable interactions because some
are positive, some are negative.Correct. Well, first of actually,
how did you end up on thevideo platforms? First, so we've grown
up. You know, we've alwaysmessed around on these platforms, but after
October seventh, it became something thatit became something that we wanted to hear
(09:20):
their side, to see what they'rereally gonna say. We already know their
side, but to expose them asan actor. I thought, this is
the best, This is the bestway. I didn't expect much to come
out of it, of course,but after my first interaction and just seeing
how bold and blatant they were tellingme their crimes and the gen and speaking
(09:43):
on their genocide, the things thatthey do to the children, I knew
I had something. And I wasable to put my acting skills with being
a Palestinian and the passion together,and that's how it came. Yeah,
that's how it came. The hostilityis definitely there. I've heard some stuff,
seen some stuff that nobody ever wantsto hear a see. But as
(10:05):
a Palestinian, it's very important forme to go ahead and do this.
It is emotionally draining, it ismentally exhausting, But when you look at
it, who am I to saythat when my family, my own family
is dealing with it physically right there. So we're going to play this short
video and then we'll come back toget your thoughts on it. I'd like
(10:28):
the audience to hear it. Hello, are you from me? United States?
Yes, sir, Kentucky, Wisconsin. Do you love as well?
Do you love Bastin? I don'tknow what's going on. I see the
videos. Are you're the idef?Salute? Hut Jahana listen man, I
(10:52):
see the video the idea fighting theCamus or the Kamas. No, we
don't. We kill everybody, knowhow much? Everybody? Even the children.
I'm done, the woman tread done, and babies and baby one day
(11:13):
we get we get him on thefirst day it's born. Yes, you
have you how many do you have? How many kills do you have?
One minute? Because I don't English, very good m hmm. That is
(11:35):
a powerful interaction. Can you walkus through what it's like when when he's
talking to you like that, youknow it is. Of course it's very
hard, first of all, butmy goal is to expose them as hard
as it is to hear those things. That's exactly what I'm looking for.
(12:00):
So in a way my heart isbroken, but in a way I'm achieving
what I need to do. SoI keep grasping it, I keep pulling
at it, and it's definitely somethingthat I didn't expect I would be able
to handle. But here we areabout eight months later, and it's just
unfortunately it's become a norm. Humanityhas a very ugly history. This is
(12:26):
for the first time where we're reallygetting to talk to the guys in the
tanks, you know, sitting there, I mean, watching them make their
videos while they blow up universities andyou know, you know, my family
in Lebanon, I've talked about thiswhere my cousins would have to walk to
school in zigzag lines because the snipersin the eighties would be sitting in the
(12:48):
Israeli snipers would shoot them and sothey would you know, walk in zigzag
lines to avoid it. And tojust know that they're going through this but
for now, I mean, forme to say that to somebody, it's
like, Okay, they kind ofcan vision, but they kind of can't.
But now we're seeing it all.We're seeing it all in real time,
and it's you talk about emotional toll. I mean, it's just overwhelming.
(13:13):
How is your family? How isyour family reacted to what you're doing
to my family? My family here, my family and because I mean both
my family and guys are cheering meon. They're happy, you know,
especially for them having to deal withthese people face to face. Seeing this
gives them something to smile about andlaugh and also gives them a little They
(13:35):
can't do anything to them physically,but when they see me aggravating them,
you know, it gives them somegives them some relief. Yeah, you've
built a platform of over two hundredthousand you know people. Yes, and
one can look at your pagency thatthose are very those are genuine organic.
This is not you know, beingfluffed up or anything. When we talk
(13:56):
about maintaining the composure, is thereanything that you do specifically to manage your
ability to stay composed and be constructivein your responses. I mean, I've
watched a lot of your videos andI know Dalton. And that's the other
question. Where did Dalton come from? You know? Okay, so to
Kentucky, Wisconsin. Kentucky, Wisconsin. That part is going back to being
(14:20):
an actor aspiring actor. I didn'treally you know, as an actor,
especially someone who can do improv Idon't really choose it. Just whatever comes
out comes out. One day theyasked me what my name was. I
told him Dalton. He repeated it, you know, questioning it. It
gave me a couple seconds to ajam Marry the fourth Junior and the world
(14:41):
ate it up. And going backto your question on how I keep my
composure and what I do, Iconstantly remind myself that I have the world
watching me and hearing me, soas a Palestinian, I have to represent
my people and I have to keepthat. That's honestly the only thing that
holds me together. Yes, Ihave eyes on me and I have ears
(15:03):
listening to me. I can't sayanything I shouldn't be saying, and I
wouldn't say, you know, andjust have to represent my people in the
best way possible. People are people. I'm not going to put a Palestinian
on such a pedestal to say,oh, you're never allowed to get angry,
You're not allowed to have emotions,you're not allowed to be angry.
That people want to eliminate you.Actually, because though the mantra in Israel
(15:26):
is that you know Hamas and Palestiniansjust want to obliterate them, I've never
met a Palestinian who said I hateall Jews or I want to kill all
Jews. Exactly. What they wantis to be left alone. If I'm
your neighbor, right, find yourneighbor and we're just chilling, is good.
But the minute I'm like, ohwell that's nice, let me take
that, let me take that,Oh get out on the street, I
don't care what happens to you.We're no longer friends if we're no longer
neighbors. So there is the moderncolonization aspect of this that people do deny,
(15:52):
and so it paints Palestinians and like, oh, if they get upset,
see, that's why they're bad people. No all shit exactly, which
is exactly why I have to bitemy tongue. And people also don't realize
that there are parts that I dohave to cut out, sure, but
besides that, the only parts Ido have to cut out, which maybe
my face will turn red or I'llactually sometimes have to bite my tongue.
(16:15):
So there are parts where I dohave to cut out. But other than
that, you know, just gotto represent my people, because, like
you said, we're painted as amonster's which is so absurd, the most
beautiful, beautiful people. I wasin abudw in November and I happened to
see my ex mother and father inlaw, who I love, their Palestinian
like his family had to walk out. You know. For thirty years of
(16:36):
my life, I've heard like thekey, the whole, the prey of
one day being able to go backto Palestine. Right. I remember I
had wanted money ish, I hadn'thad proper money ish. And it was
nine o'clock at night. And thisis my former father in law to show
you, like he's welcoming my newhusband, my new child, like and
my mother in law, my formersister in law, and he's like,
I'm going to go get you moneyeach I'm like, it's nine thirty at
(16:56):
night. He's like, no,you want money eachh A, I will
go get your money. The kindestsoul in the world. So it's absurd
to me when people do this.You know, I went, like I
said before, I went to Palestinein twenty twenty, there was my father
had arranged for somebody to come pickme and my sister up and you know,
show us around Palestine. The firstman happened to be He wasn't Palestinian.
(17:22):
I don't exactly remember what he was. I remember he charged us two
hundred US dollars, which is alot over there, and he only drove
around small spot, nothing too crazy, dropped us off after an hour.
The next day, my father calledsomebody else, a Palestinian man. He
had to cross two checkpoints take abus to come pick us up. This
man, without even knowing us,went inside our hotel, told the man
(17:45):
to give us a refund, putus in his home, and took us
around all the parts that we wereable to go to. Wow, kindest
souls that I've ever met, andI'll never forget those people. I'll never
forget that family and left something,you know, I left the mark on
me. No, I love that, and I appreciate it because that's yes,
that's just it. You know,I've told all the time online,
(18:06):
go to Gaza and see how yoube treated. And I'm like, man,
miss me with that, because Ialready know I'm gonna get some good
food and I'm gonna guess I lovesome hugs. You know, I already
know. These are people who havenothing though. That's the most humbling and
beautiful part about it. These aren'tpeople who are rich. Who are These
are people who have nothing. Andthey know we come from the United States
(18:27):
where we have privileges. But there'stheir hearts are so open, their doors
are open, and sometimes they don'teven have a door, they have a
tent, but they're still willing toallow you in, bring you into their
home, feed you. So likeyou said, you know you're going to
be taken care of if you dogo. Of course, of course,
I understand how your family, Razafeels about this. How do your parents
(18:48):
feel about it? Just to bequite honest, do they worry about you?
My mother worries a lot. Momworries a lot. Mom worries a
lot. She's definitely proud. Thatis happy. You know, they're they're
proud of me. They're definitely proudof me. You know, they keep
every day like alahak, which meansbe careful in Arabic. You know.
Now you go on and sometimes youcan't even play that your Dalton, they
(19:11):
know you, they recognize you knowyou, I know you. No,
that's another guy. My name isMichuel Anderson. Man. That guy's name
is like Dalton, Jamry or something. Tell me how that's been, because
you know, being recognized on theplatform is one thing. You know,
then that can also transfer off youknow which you have been threatened and people
(19:32):
have threatened you, So tell mehow the public recognition part has affected your
life. So on that app itis definitely very hard. Now ninety nine
percent of them know who I am, soldiers or not, and they've gotten
to know my lines, so theypretty much do it for me. But
it is hard. I've got somedisguises, you know, got the afro.
I'm actually actually ordered to Mario suit. We're gonna try that next.
(19:56):
It's definitely hard, you know,but it makes it fun. It makes
it fun, you know, Iactually have to look for them now in
public. It's definitely you know,as far as a Zionists, I don't
worry too much, but they arethere. I've gotten threats in person.
Face to face. As you've seenthe comments, I'm sure. But the
(20:18):
beautiful part about it is when Iget to travel and go to different states
and see all the Palestinians, allthe autops, all the pro Palestinians who
know me, that just shows,if anything, it's a humbling feeling.
It shows me how powerful my wordscould be. And it's just a very
humble, humbling feeling, you know, having ears all around the world.
(20:41):
Yeah, so it's good and bad. I had an experience I'll tell you
when I was leaving Ken Film Festival. Funny enough. So whenever I travel,
I have a hoodie that I wearand it says Palestinian. It's got,
you know, unbreakable, and I'mnot afraid to represent ever, like
got my love, but got mybracelet on, I've got my you know.
It just I whether my purse isa watermelon you see my Somebody once
(21:02):
said you're gonna turn into a watermelonAlia. I was like, yeah,
okay. But I was getting onthe plane in this United attendant came up
to me. She says, Isee your sweater and I'm like okay,
and she goes, You're the firstperson i've seen where and uh, and
this is just a couple of weeksago. By the way, She's like,
uh, if you were that inFrance, you'd be in jail.
I couldn't tell if she was tryingto be nice, if anyone was like,
oh, well, that's so sad, you know. And she just
(21:23):
says, but I'm glad to seeyou wearing it, and she walked away,
and so I was like, well, thank you, God, bless
you know, and I walked onmy plane. And it was an interesting
interaction because yes, as we goaround in the world, there's whether they
recognize us or that they recognize thatwe're standing up for something. So there's
both positive and negatives to that.Do you worry this will impact your travel
(21:45):
to any place where you know wherethey might be a little bit more Well,
I mean, I feel like allgovernments right now, many of them,
most of them unfortunately, are beingextremely suppressive and oppressive to people who
are simply standing up for humanity.If I can't even travel to my own
homeland, why would I worry ifyou don't let me in here, let
me in there. As far asextra questioning, you know, as Palestinians,
(22:07):
as Muslims were already used to that. So to answer your question,
no, yeah, with regards tobeing Palestinian American again, you know,
I know you said you've never reallystruggled with your identity, but definitely,
you know, for a moment,take a moment to hit on the dual
identity of being Palestinian and American.A lot of people don't even know where
(22:30):
Palestine is to begin with. Sothat's what makes it, you know,
when you try to explain to someoneI'm from Palestine. Wait, but you're
from America. Wait where is Palestine? Isn't that Jerusalem? Isn't that Israel?
But as a Palestinian American, youknow, I do take pride in
it, you know, but beforean American, I am a Palestinian.
(22:52):
That's the problem. People forget Americais not an identity. It's not like
when you you know, I meanreally know where is to be honest,
Like even with my own kids,like they're tied to America. They are
American, they were born and raisedhere. However, that doesn't change the
cultural identities are you know, becauseI get that question a lot. I
mean, you're you have a certainlook, right, I know my look.
(23:15):
People are like, where are youfrom? I'm like, you know,
I heard somebody's like, what's yournationality and I'm like, American,
Like you want to know my passportthere it's American way and they're like,
oh huh. And I'm like,Okay, I know what you're trying to
get to, but let's see ifyou ask it the right way. But
so nationality wise, you can,you can be wherever your passport's passport is,
(23:37):
but culturally what you identify with andwho you are, because at the
end of the day, you don'tidentify as your passport. You identify as
your heritage, where you come from, what you eat, what you do,
how you live. And so definitely, yes, advocacy and activism,
you know, I definitely want peopleto understand that. For you getting on
these social platforms and having these interactions, whether people will think, oh he's
(24:02):
being a smart ass or oh he'stricking them, you're actually advocating for Palestinian
rights. Yes, you know alot of people do expect me to debate
with these people, but as wespoke before, there's no debating genocide.
It's definitely shown people right like ifwe and I know people don't like it
(24:22):
when we talk about the Nazis,right, I don't. I know that
they don't. And it is differentbecause, and I say this for my
audience, like Germany was an allianceof people that formed Germany legally, you
know, righteously, in whatever way, like a group of you know,
tribes said Okay, we're going toband together and create Germany. This is
not what happened in Palestine. TheZionist colonial project itself decided, hey,
(24:47):
there's a piece of land, We'regoing to take it off for ourselves.
And and and in the process,these Arabs, these Palestinians, these subhuman
people are no longer worthy. Andthat's why as they enact a genocide,
as you say right now, it'sso critical that we have what you're doing
right now, which is an eyeinto their mentality, because like if we
(25:12):
watch Star Wars, we can tellwho's the empire, we can tell who's
the resistance. It's the people running, it's the people hiding, it's the
people running for cover. It's notthe people coming in the tents with the
full armor and the bad attitude andthis negative, hateful spirit which we observe
people doing. So, you know, how do you keep your humanity in
(25:33):
this process? You know, Ithink that goes back to my family and
the natives of Palestine, seeing themsmiling, still seeing them strong. That's
what keeps me strong, keeps myhumanity to answer your question, you know,
because over there there is no humanity, but they still have it,
if that makes sense. So forme, I we have no excuse,
(25:56):
not just me, we have noexcuse to keep our humanity and whatnot.
And what a lot of people don'trealize. I want to touch back on
this is the IDF. I wantto say, over sixty I might be
wrong, but over sixty percent aren'teven from Israel. You know. That's
one thing I've noticed going on thisapp. I've seen people from South Africa.
(26:18):
I've seen a lot of people fromFlorida, Germany. I've seen people
from everywhere. But when you seethese people and the flip flops and the
capris, they're all from Palestine.Well, I think people forget that.
Regimes like what the Israeli forces haveavailable, there's what they do to their
(26:40):
community. Right Like, if I'man Israeli citizen, I grew up,
I graduated high school, I've gotto immediately go into the military serve.
That's one way that I see thatthey indoctrinate people and make them complicit.
But more importantly, anybody who hasan axe to grind, right like,
there's people who get into them tothese go over to Israel simply because they
want to be part of this.They want to be because they're not good
(27:02):
souls. They think that they are, but they're not. You know,
that's another thing a lot of peoplesay in the comments, these people are
forced, These people are forced,they're brainwashed. But I'm sure you've heard
the stories. There's a few.I'm sure there's more than just a few.
The Western media doesn't want to showyou. But they are being in
prison for not joining the idea exact, So I don't it's not brainwashed,
it's not forced. I mean,right, the resistors, they they definitely
(27:26):
and they get in that. Andthat again is even though people get upset
about it. You we do haveNazi Germany and the Third Reich, as
and the SS and the Gestapo,because what did they do. They didn't
just criminalize the Jews. They criminalizedGermans who stood up for the Jews,
right Like, So if I stoodup and I was a protector, then
(27:47):
I was likely to be shot bythe Gestapo, which is exactly now that's
why now the whole antie, ohyou're a self hating Jew if you stand
up for these people, it's justpropaganda. It's just bullshit, and it's
very frustrated when people can fancy throughthat. But no, I Western media
for you. I mean, thatis definitely Western media for you, for
sure, and that's why we're verypassionate about changing that. And I know
(28:07):
we've spoken about that. So we'rethe new media. We are. That's
a beautiful part about these platforms.We became the new media, we became
the new news outlets, we becamethe new faces of Hollywood. Right,
these faces of Hollywood are run byZionists. So for us to be able
to be the entertainment but also thevoice for the voiceless is such a beautiful
and empowering experience. Absolutely, whilewe are still I mean, we just
(28:33):
had the incidents at Rafa, youknow last weekend. I know on Monday,
I was down protesting in City Hallin la I couldn't be anywhere else
but with people to do something right. But still I feel like it's not
enough. Even with everything I'm tryingto do, I still feel like it's
not enough. So what is yourmessage? What is your call to action
(28:53):
to the world in this moment?Everybody needs to stand up. Of course,
everybody needs to speak up, youknow, going on speaking on,
I'm so shocked that people are shocked. If you are shocked, you're not
you're not awake. Well, youhaven't been paying attention to the last month
and there's still people who don't knowwhat's going on. And that's what shocks
(29:14):
me. Everybody, really, everybodyneeds to come together. People need to
educate themselves themselves. Stop listening toCNN, stop watching Fox News, and
go to the actual source. That'swhat everybody needs to start doing, because
it's it's it's on us. Theycould only do so much over there.
They can physically fight. We needto be their voice. They can't speak
up their silence. We are thevoice. They are the resistance, right.
(29:38):
Oh man, I want to thankyou so much for being here today
with me, making the trip outhere to the pleasure. Thank you for
having me. You know, Iknow what you're doing means so much to
people, and like you said,it does bring a bit of amusement and
sometimes hard, but we have tohave it. We have to see it,
we have to do it. SoI thank you for all that you're
doing for our audio listens. Listeners, tell us your IG handle or your
(30:03):
social media handle so that they canfollow you. It is Bfend Instagram and
TikTok b f e n d yy. That's not the clothing brand,
that's Fend Bilaalfend. I love thatDefend. All right, well, I
so appreciate you. We'll have tohave you back. Hopefully we'll have a
good times and things we can celebratelater. For now, I know we're
(30:23):
in this together. Thank you somuch. Yes, we are looking forward
to it. Free Palestine, Yes, free Palestine. And with that,
ladies and gentlemen, thank you fortaking the time to hear Bilao's story.
And I hope that you'll check outwhat he's doing online, support him,
follow, comment all these things,share it because it is critical that we
(30:45):
do everything that we can right now. My closing thoughts are just to understand
this. This is not complicated,ladies and gentlemen, it's really not.
If you care about people in yourown life, then you should find it
easy to understand why we care aboutthe lives of all of these individuals suffering
(31:08):
immense cruelty. It's not even hardship. Hardship is like playing foot seat see
with it. It is an unimaginablecruel experience for Palestinians. And by the
way, I need to reiterate this, not just in Raza is definitely at
the forefront right now. But what'shappening in West Bank, what's happening in
Hebron, what's happening in Vermola whereI have family still, where it's happening
(31:30):
in Lebanon, in southern Lebanon whereI have family there as well? Like
this is something, This is acon I mean when I say that word
conflict, I don't like it.It is an entire crisis. It is
a crisis that needs to be intervened. And I remember yesterday hearing a one
of our senators said, well,we dropped bombs in Iraq too. You
(31:52):
know what, no shit, Sherlock, we did, and it wasn't right
then and it's not right now.And I most of all thank you for
letting yes be unsugarcoated. We willsee you next time. Take care,
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