Key Takeaways:
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Pro-Palestinian activists and influencers reacted to Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s arrest by blaming Israel and the U.S.–Israel alliance, while downplaying Maduro’s human rights abuses and his regime’s close ties with Iran and Hezbollah.
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Figures ranging from online commentators to UN officials and activist groups used the arrest to push anti-Israel narratives — even equating Israel’s elected leadership with a narcoterror-linked dictatorship and calling for Netanyahu’s arrest.
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This convergence of pro-Palestinian activism and defense of authoritarian regimes reinforces a broader myth that Israel controls global politics, enabling the justification of dictators, terrorism, and extremist ideology.
Following the U.S. military operation in Venezuela on Saturday, January 3, international attention quickly turned to the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro. While the development was widely viewed as a major geopolitical moment, reactions were far from uniform.
There was cautious optimism from many, and even those who expressed doubts as to the way in which Maduro was apprehended at least acknowledged the Venezuelan leader’s myriad shortcomings. As always, one group of people was in no mood to celebrate. Quite the opposite. The pro-Palestinian left online could not help but feel in absolute disarray after the news of the arrest broke, not out of humility, but because they vehemently disagreed with Maduro’s arrest — and sought to place the blame upon Israel.
No surprise. Far-left lunatics like Cenk Uygur and right-wing nutjobs like Candace Owens are blaming the “hidden hand of Zionism” for the removal of Venezuela’s Maduro.
No coincidence. So many of these conspiracy theorists have a fetish for both terrorists and authoritarians. pic.twitter.com/ZwDh0BgBqI
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 4, 2026
Maduro was a known dictator responsible for many human rights abuses. Beyond its domestic repression, Maduro’s Venezuela played a consequential role on the international stage. Under his leadership, the country forged close ties with the Iranian regime and its proxies, offering military, financial, and political cooperation that extended far beyond symbolic diplomacy. It allowed Hezbollah to expand its global footprint in South America, directly posing a threat to both U.S. and Israeli interests and security.
Related Reading: Maduro, the IRGC, and the Globalization of the Terror Threat to Israel
Still, these facts were either blatantly ignored or outright dismissed as Israeli propaganda by the pro-Palestinian online activist community. This is not surprising, considering the same accounts that are against Maduro’s arrest have also been outspoken supporters of the Islamic Republic and Hamas.
Israel as the Default Culprit
Podcast host Jake Shields claimed that the American military operation was launched “on behalf of Israel,” echoing a familiar trope that frames nearly every American foreign policy decision as Israeli-driven. He has previously gone further, asserting that “Iran is making the world a safer place,” effectively minimizing the Iranian regime’s documented role in sponsoring terrorism, destabilizing regional governments, and advancing nuclear ambitions.
Last week, Trump was the first non jew to win the Israeli award
This week, Trump launched another war on behalf of Israel
— Jake Shields (@jakeshieldsajj) January 4, 2026
In that same regard, Bushra Shaikh, a social and political commentator, has, in the past, effectively shilled for Hamas, saying the atrocities committed on October 7, 2023, “were exaggerated by the Israeli government to garner public support for their incoming mass slaughter of Palestinians.” In the aftermath of the American military operation, she ecstatically called for Iran to “build that nuke,” endorsing the proliferation of a regime that openly calls for Israel’s destruction.
Fuck it.
Build that nuke Iran.— Bushra Shaikh (@Bushra1Shaikh) January 3, 2026
Naturally, Israel being blamed for the U.S. Venezuelan operation was bound to occur. Podcaster Candace Owens adhered to this unspoken anti-Israel rule online, claiming that the “Zionists cheer every regime change,” including in Venezuela, “because it means they get to steal land, oil and other resources.”
Venezuela has been “liberated” like Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq were “liberated”.
The CIA has staged another hostile takeover of a country at the behest of a globalist psychopaths.
That’s it. That’s what is happening, always, everywhere. Zionists cheer every regime change.… https://t.co/F60ouK7qAr
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) January 3, 2026
Calls to Arrest Netanyahu
Yet, the reactions did not remain confined only to the influencer sphere. It quickly migrated into institutional and political spaces, where comparisons to Israel and calls for action against its political leadership were advanced.
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese referred to Maduro’s arrest as a “lethal blow” to international law in the same sentence as calling for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Such equivalence blurs critical legal and moral distinctions, undermining the credibility of international legal norms by applying them selectively. Moreover, the comparison between diplomatically elected Netanyahu and a dictator who has been involved in narcoterrorism is a profound distortion of reality.
LET’S NOT LOSE SIGHT OF JUSTICE AS OUR COMPASS.
Attacking a sovereign country and
abducting its leader is a lethal blow to intl law, no matter how deserving s/he may be to face justice.
That applies also to Netanyahu: I look forward to his lawful arrest and trial in The Hague. https://t.co/UMFUo5VPfv— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) January 4, 2026
Likewise, CODEPINK, a radical left-wing organization that has previously visited Iran to meet with members of the Iranian regime on a so-called “peace delegation,” referred to Maduro as a “democratically elected leader of a sovereign nation,” and Netanyahu as none other than a “wanted war criminal committing genocide.”
— CODEPINK (@codepink) January 4, 2026
Newly inaugurated New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani remarked that Maduro’s arrest was an “act of war” and the “blatant pursuit of regime change” also impacts New Yorkers. Ironically, Mamdani has vowed to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he sets foot in New York.
I was briefed this morning on the U.S. military capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, as well as their planned imprisonment in federal custody here in New York City.
Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and…
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) January 3, 2026
The Pro-Palestinian–Pro-Maduro Convergence
Maduro’s arrest has also been framed through the same ideological lens used to oppose Israel. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement exemplified this convergence, calling for “collective solidarity against the genocidal US-Israel axis.” By grouping Venezuela into a familiar anti-Israel narrative, BDS effectively recast a dictatorship that partook in narcoterrorism as part of a broader struggle of resisting “colonial violence.”
From Palestine to Venezuela: We call for unity in the struggle for self-determination and for collective solidarity against the genocidal US-Israel axis.
Read our full statement: https://t.co/5PbaDmD9GD pic.twitter.com/UlxS0RxWhS
— BDS movement (@BDSmovement) January 3, 2026
That Maduro has been featured by Al Jazeera is telling, considering the network’s history of anti-Israel coverage and its employees’ links to terrorist groups, including Hamas, which likewise condemned his arrest. Qatar, which funds the outlet, also condemned Maduro’s arrest.
Al Jazeera was a powerful platform for the Venezuelan president to promote his statements. In this photo, he appears with Al Jazeera anchor Khadija Ben Qenna on Al Jazeera. pic.twitter.com/5awbQE2zXU
— ME24 – Middle East 24 (@MiddleEast_24) January 3, 2026
This crossover between pro-Palestinian activism and pro-Maduro apologism demonstrates how ideological allegiance, rather than genuine concern for human rights or democratic values, increasingly dictates which leaders are condemned and which are defended.
Taken together, these reactions feed into a broader and deeply entrenched myth that Israel controls global politics, and by extension, the U.S. In casting Israel as the ultimate villain, the anti-Israel community has enabled the defense of dictators, the rationalization of terrorism, and outright ignorance of authoritarian alliances.
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