Successful Arab-Israeli blogger Nuseir Yassin, better known to millions of his followers worldwide as viral blogger Nas Daily, expressed his support for Israel following Hamas’ surprise offensive against the country.
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“For the longest time, I struggled with my identity,” Nuseir wrote in a post on his X account (formerly Twitter). “A Palestinian kid born inside Israel. Like…wtf. Many of my friends refuse to this day to say the word ‘Israel’ and call themselves ‘Palestinian’ only. But since I was 12, that did not make sense to me. So I decided to mix the two and become a ‘Palestinian-Israeli.' I thought this term reflected who I was. Palestinian first. Israeli second.”
The blogger wrote that the recent events, in which over 900 Israelis were murdered, made him think. “And then my thoughts turned to anger. I realized that if Israel were to be ‘invaded’ like that again, we would not be safe. To a terrorist invading Israel, all citizens are targets. Some 900 Israelis died so far. More than 40 of them are Arabs. Killed by other Arabs.”
Yassin added: “I do not want to live under a Palestinian government. Which means I only have one home, even if I’m not Jewish: Israel. That’s where all my family lives. That’s where I grew up. That’s the country I want to see continue to exist so I can exist.”
“Palestine should exist too as an independent state,” he emphasized. “And I hope to see the country thrive and become less extreme and more prosperous. I love Palestine and have invested in Palestine. But it’s not my home. So from today forward, I view myself as an 'Israeli-Palestinian'. Israeli first. Palestinian second. Sometimes it takes a shock like this to see so clearly.”
Nas Daily, who was born and raised in the Lower Galilee Arab town of Ar’ara, established his video blog in 2016, documenting his adventures, and has since become one of the most influential figures to emerge on social media from Israel. His videos have garnered Nas tens of millions of followers on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, and today he heads a digital empire with tens of millions of subscribers.