Journalists ejected from Blinken's final press briefing for questioning US support for Gaza genocide

Washington DC - Two journalists were removed from Antony Blinken's final press conference Thursday after confronting the outgoing secretary of state over his role in the Gaza genocide.

Outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken's final press conference saw two journalists ejected for questioning his role in the Gaza genocide.
Outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken's final press conference saw two journalists ejected for questioning his role in the Gaza genocide.  © Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP

Blinken was thanking the press for "asking tough questions," when Max Blumenthal, editor in chief of The Grayzone, interrupted to say, "300 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 was referring to a ceasefire agreement Biden proposed last year, one which the president says strongly reflects a new deal announced this week.

"You helped destroy our religion, Judaism, by associating it with fascism," Blumenthal charged Blinken. "Are you compromised by Israel? Why did you allow the holocaust of our time to happen? How does it feel to have your legacy be genocide?"

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Independent journalist Sam Husseini was dragged from the room by security when he tried to ask similar questions about the Biden administration's policy toward Palestine.

"Get your hands off me! Answer a damn question!" Husseini says in a video footage of the incident. "I was sitting here quietly, and now I'm being manhandled by two or three people."

"You pontificate about a free press. You are hurting me!" he continues.

"Everybody from Amnesty International to the [International Court of Justice] is saying that Israel is doing genocide and extermination, and you're telling me to respect the process," Husseini scoffed.

"Criminal! Why aren't you in The Hague?" he asked, referring to the Dutch city where the International Criminal Court is located.

Both Husseini and Blumenthal have been outspoken critics of the Biden administration's continued military and diplomatic support for Israel, including the transfer of billions of dollars' worth of deadly weapons to the genocidal regime.

Cover photo: Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP

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