Al Jazeera pundits brawl over Iraq crisis
Al Jazeera pundits brawl over Iraq crisisMEMRI TV

Another day, another fistfight on Arab TV.

This time, two Iraqi commentators clash over the capture of Iraq's second city of Mosul by Sunni rebels including the jihadi Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). The fall of Mosul saw the Iraqi armed forces collapse and flee as ISIS tears through the country in a lightening campaign which now threatens the capital Baghdad.

In the red corner: Journalist Firas Al-Hamadani; in the blue corner: Sunni political activist Najeh Al-Mizan.

After a heated exchange a physical brawl broke out after Al-Mizan hurled a pen at his opponent, causing him to bleed. The show's host, however - veteran talk-show host Faisel al-Qassem - later blamed Al-Hamadani for "starting it". 

The violent exchange was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

Live TV debates and panels degenerating into violence are nothing new in the Middle East. In March, a debate on Jordanian TV over the Syrian civil war turned violent when one of the guests insulted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Other incidents include a televised debate on the political situation in Egypt which turned ugly as the participants got angry and threw water at one another; a Sunni Egyptian activist who attacked a Shiite activist after the latter insulted his wife; and two commentators who got into a fight while discussing the Syrian civil war on Hezbollah television