His comments came after a days-long public furor over the planned visit to Israel and Palestine by Muslim Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (Minn.), who are vocal BDS supporters. Their visit was foiled after the Israeli government backtracked on its initial approval a month ago and decided to block the pair from entering after President Donald Trump publicly encouraged the country to do so. (Israel later flip-flopped once more, to allow the Congresswomen in, but both Tlaib and Omar ultimately chose not to go.)

Maher, not holding back, slammed the boycott efforts as mere virtue signaling.

“BDS is a bullshit purity test by people who want to appear woke but actually slept through history class,” he said, to both cheers and jeer. “It’s predicated on this notion, I think, it’s very shallow thinking that the Jews in Israel, mostly white, and the Palestinians are browner, so they must be innocent and correct, and the Jews must be wrong. As if the occupation came right out of the blue, that this completely peaceful people found themselves occupied.”