Reporters Sam Husseini and Max Blumenthal were dragged out of Antony Blinken‘s final press conference as Secretary of State over the journalist’s accusations of US support for ‘genocide’ in Gaza.
Blinken faced reporters as Israel and militant group Hamas were on the verge of a ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages which has been credited to both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Israel’s assault on Gaza is likely to define the foreign policy legacy of the outgoing Biden administration, with many leftists furious about what they see as Biden’s enabling of Israel following the Hamas terror attack on October 7, 2023.
Sam Husseini, an independent journalist and longtime critic of Washington’s approach to the world, bluntly shouted: ‘Criminal! Why aren’t you in The Hague?’
The Hague is where the International Criminal Court is located.
‘You pontificate about a free press! I am asking questions after being told by [spokesman] Matt Miller that he will not answer my questions,’ he continued as security guards Husseini said were ‘hurting’ him tried to get him out.
Blinken demanded that Husseni ‘respect the process’ but the reporter was undeterred.
‘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?’
A reporter was dragged out of Antony Blinken’s final press conference as Secretary of State over the journalist’s accusations of US support for ‘genocide’ in Gaza
Blinken faced reporters as Israel and militant group Hamas were on the verge of a ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages which has been credited to both Donald Trump and Joe Biden
The confrontational scene in the State Department briefing room only ended when security personnel forcibly picked up Husseini and carried him out of the room as he continued to heckle Blinken.
Afterward, Husseini said on social media that he had been ‘seriously manhandled’ but had gotten home safely before writing out all of the questions he’d wanted to ask Blinken.
They included questions about the ICJ and ICC, condemning Israeli actions in the reason and at one point, connecting Blinken’s step-father to Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.
As Blinken waxed poetic about how much he ‘appreciated’ journalists ‘asking the tough questions,’ Max Blumenthal of the left-wing outlet The Grayzone launched into a line of questioning that also got him removed from the premises.
‘Three hundred reporters in Gaza were on the receiving end of your bombs, why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May?’
Blumenthal, too, was escorted from the room.
Blinken, who leaves office on Monday when the administration of President-elect Donald Trump takes over, calmly asked for quiet while he delivered his remarks, and later took questions from reporters.
The Secretary of State has faced criticism for providing Israel with weapons and diplomatic support since the latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Sam Husseini, an independent journalist and longtime critic of Washington’s approach to the world, bluntly shouted: ‘Criminal! Why aren’t you in The Hague?’
As Blinken waxed poetic about how much he ‘appreciated’ journalists ‘asking the tough questions,’ Max Blumenthal of the left-wing outlet The Grayzone launched into a line of questioning that also got him removed from the premises
He has been frequently heckled at appearances in Washington since the Gaza conflict began.
Demonstrators camped outside his Virginia home for months and repeatedly threw red paint – resembling blood – on cars carrying Blinken and his family.
Asked during the press conference if he would change anything about his dealings with Israel, Blinken said the Israeli government had carried out policies that ‘were basically supported by an overwhelming majority of Israelis after the trauma of October 7’ and said that had to be factored in to the U.S. response.
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while also drawing accusations of genocide in a World Court case brought by South Africa and of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the allegations.
The Biden administration had been unable to reach final determinations on individual incidents that could constitute violations of international law because Hamas embedded itself within the civilian population, he said.
‘I’d also point out that in Israel itself, there are hundreds of cases that are being investigated,’ Blinken said. ‘They have a process, they have procedures, they have rule of law… That’s the hallmark of any democracy.’
The assault has displaced nearly Gaza’s entire 2.3 million population and drawn the concern of the world´s main hunger monitor.
Both Biden and Trump dispatched negotiators tried to work jointly on a deal to free American hostages and get a cease fire in Gaza.
Biden was desperate to get a deal done before leaving office, and Trump was demanding one before he retook it.
Outgoing national security advisor Jake Sullivan and Biden negotiator Brett McGurk met with Trump’s incoming national security advisor Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), as well as Trump’s incoming hostage negotiator Steve Witkoff, a wealthy real estate investor.
The talks were underway for many months, and sometimes involved intermediaries going back and forth between Israeli and Hamas delegations who took part in Doha – with each side staying on different floors.
The other keys to apparent success were changes on the ground, in part due to Isreal’s withering attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon and an attack that wiped out Iran‘s air defenses.
Israel was able to take out Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was an obstacle to a deal. Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria fell.
The comments about collaboration came as Biden and Trump each claimed credit for a ceasefire deal designed to end the war between Israel and Hamas.
Biden on Wednesday stressed that the deal tracked with an offer he put out in May. Trump was the first to blast out a post claiming a deal had been reached.
And Biden was quick shut down any notion president-elect Trump might deserve any kudos on the matter.
‘Is that a joke,’ he said to a reporter who asked him if he or Trump deserved credit for the deal.
When told no, Biden said ‘oh’ and walked out of the briefing.
While Biden announced the ceasefire at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, Trump had already announced the deal two hours earlier on social media.
The deal includes a 42-day ceasefire and the return of American hostages. It is scheduled to take affect on Sunday, the day before Trump takes the oath of office as president.
