UNITED NATIONS, Jan 17 (APP): Chaos erupted at US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s final press conference Thursday after an announced Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal, with State Department security guards forcibly removing reporters who accused him of allowing a “genocide” in Gaza.
The guards removed Grayzone News journalist Max Blumenthal, who is Jewish, from the briefing room, while also dragging independent journalist Sam Husseini away, as Blinken was hailing the cease-fire agreement first pitched in May and set to take effect Sunday.
Both Blumenthal and Husseini were enraged that Israel’s war in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, which has lasted 15 months and killed over 46,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, hadn’t ended sooner.
“Criminal! You belong in The Hague,” shouted Husseini, a longtime critic of Washington’s approach to the world. The Hague is where the International Criminal Court (ICC) is located.
Israel’s asault on Gaza drew accusations of genocide in a World Court case brought by South Africa and of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the ICC. Israel denied the allegations. The Israeli war has displaced nearly Gaza’s entire 2.3 million population and drawn the concern of the world’s main hunger monitor.
On his part, journalist Blumenthal accused the United States of allowing Israel to kill hundreds of Palestinian journalists. He then accused Blinken of “sacrific[ing] the rules-based order on the mantle of your commitment to Zionism.”
Blumenthal added, “You helped destroy our religion, Judaism, by associating it with fascism.” He also accused Israel, and Blinken, of “genocide” and said Israel was perpetrating “the Holocaust of our time.”
“Why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May?” Blumenthal asked.
About 10 minutes later, journalist Husseini, who had previously interrupted Blinken with a question, called out a series of questions regarding Israel’s nuclear capabilities, its military conduct in Gaza and charges in the International Court of Justice that it committed genocide. He asked the questions while being forcibly removed from the room by multiple security guards, who he said had “manhandled” him.
Blinken told him to “respect the process” and save questions for later.
“Everybody from Amnesty International to the ICJ say Israel’s doing genocide and extermination, and you’re telling me to respect the process? Criminal,” Husseini responded while being dragged out of the room. Then, he repeated three times, “Why aren’t you in the Hague?”
Following the interruptions, Blinken answered a series of questions about Israel, expressing confidence that an announced ceasefire would move forward on Sunday despite ongoing spats over its content.
He also advocated normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel — a key goal of the Biden administration prior to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. And he called for the establishment of a Palestinian state, a goal of the Biden administration that the Israeli government opposes.
Anwsering a question, he said the Biden administration had had differences with Israel over its conduct in Gaza and said Israel had achieved its military goals there “some months ago.
Blinken, who leaves office on Monday when the administration of President-elect Donald Trump takes over, asked for quiet while he delivered his remarks, and later took questions from reporters.
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.
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, Blinken 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.”
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