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Truthlytics - Beyond The Headlines

Antony Blinken’s Last Press Conference: Orders Journalists Removed

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s last press briefing as part of the Biden administration was on Thursday. He used the time to defend his handling of the 15-month-long genocide in Gaza. A genocide according to United Nations Genocide Convention of 1948. He was then interrupted by two seasoned journalists looking for answers they have been trying to ask for months.

Husseini

Independent reporter, Sam Husseini, posted on his X account that he had “tried to ask a series of questions” before being asked to leave by a State Department aide. Persisting, Husseini said “Blinken has made plenty of speeches, it is now time to let him answer some questions. I’m a journalist, not a potted plant.” Inferring that he wasn’t there for decoration or to be part of the background but to engage and ask the uncomfortable questions that Blinken has evaded since last year.

“I am asking questions after being told by [spokesman] Matt Miller that he will not answer my questions. I am justified in what I’m doing.” Before completing that sentence, armed security guards surrounded Husseini attempting to remove him from the briefing room.

“Get your hands off me!” Husseini told the armed guards. Turning his attention back to Blinken as he was being forcibly removed, “Answer a damn question. Do you know about the Hannibal Directive? Do you know about Israel’s nuclear weapons? You pontificate about a free press! Wasn’t the point of the May 31 statement to block the ICJ orders?

Blinken’s response to the journalist was to “respect the process.”

“Everybody from Amnesty International to the ICJ [International Court of Justice] is saying that Israel is doing genocide and extermination and you’re telling me to respect the process?

Criminal! You belong in The Hague” referencing the city where the International Criminal Court (ICC) is located.

As he was forcefully carried out and handcuffed, his journalist colleagues sat and watched.

Blumenthal

Max Blumenthal, editor of the blog “Grayzone,” didn’t allow his colleague Husseini to be the only one asking the uncomfortable, necessary questions of a Secretary of State.

Blumenthal questioned Blinken asking, “Why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May? We all knew we had a deal. Everyone in this room knows we had a deal, Tony, and you kept the bombs flowing,” Why did you sacrifice a rules-based order on the mantle of your commitment to Zionism. Why did you allow my friends to be massacred? Why did you allow my friends homes in Gaza to be destroyed when we had a deal in May?

There was a noticeable difference with Blumenthal’s departure than Husseini’s. State Department aides escorted Blumethal from the briefing room rather than 3 armed security guards dragging him out by his hands and feet. As he left, he continued saying “You wave the white flag before Netanyahu. You wave the white flag before Israel’s fascism.

“Your father-in-law was an Israel lobbyist. Your grandfather was an Israel lobbyist. Are you compromised by Israel?” 

A legitimate question considering Blinken is a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen. Going even further, Blumenthal asked, “Why did you allow the Holocaust of our time to happen? How does it feel to have your legacy be genocide? You too, Matt [Miller]! You smirked through the whole thing, everyday. You smirked through a genocide.

Blinken

In some of his last words as Secretary of State, Blinken said the U.S. has raised concerns with Israeli leaders but has “mostly done it privately, precisely because we didn’t want to feed into Hamas’s clearly held views that if that pressure was mounting and if there was daylight, they could do nothing.”

Israel’s unrelenting military assault on Gaza has killed over 46,000 Palestinians according to the local health ministry. Drawing accusations not of a “conflict” but of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in a case brought to the International Criminal Courts (ICC) by South Africa. The genocide has displaced 2.3 million people, nearly the entire population Gaza.

In January 2024, the ICC declared Israel was not doing enough to prevent genocide against Palestinians but did not demand an immediate cease-fire.

News Outlets

The response of various mainstream media outlets has been revealing. At a time when Israel has killed over 200 journalists in Gaza, it is critical to the profession around the world to ask the western powers why that is allowed to continue on their watch and on their dime.

CNN, ABC and the Associated Press (AP) showed their commitment not to journalistic integrity and the truth but to the Biden administration. Showing themselves as state friendly propaganda instead of truth-seeking news.

CNN’s coverage labeled their journalist colleagues as “protesters” with the AP following suit. Meanwhile, ABC News referred to them as “hecklers” instead of the professionals that they are and have proven themselves to be. Imagine calling Anderson Cooper or Wolf Blitzer a heckler for asking questions of our government officials.

Showing backbone and presenting the truth are New York Post, The Hill, Reuters and Truthlytics. Naming their colleagues what they are; journalists. Allowing their voices to be heard at a critical time in our nation’s history. Currently, our leaders in government are seen as power hungry, out of touch with the average American while being funded by a foreign entity, AIPAC.

We can’t allow our journalists to be silenced. Our freedom of speech itself is being challenged right now.

We at Truthlytics consider all journalists to be our colleagues. We are committed to calling out and calling in expectations for the industry standard both in professionalism and journalistic integrity. Not presenting the American public with the facts and allowing them to decide for themselves what to believe is egregious, unprofessional and frankly, propaganda.

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