Reporters castigating Israel and US support ejected from Blinken’s final press briefing
“Why aren’t you in the Hague?” one of the journalists yelled repeatedly at the outgoing secretary of state
Journalist Sam Husseini is dragged out of a State Department press briefing on Jan. 16, 2025. (Screenshot)
(JTA) — Two journalists accusing Israel of genocide and other atrocities were expelled from Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s final press conference, in one case getting dragged out while repeatedly screaming, “Why aren’t you in the Hague?”
In addition, Blinken said he was “confident” that an impending ceasefire in Gaza and Israel would be implemented on Sunday despite last-minute squabbles among Israeli lawmakers.
Blinken spoke extensively about Israel and the war in Gaza during the hourlong press conference, as well as about wars in Ukraine and Sudan and the Biden administration’s approach to world affairs. At a few points during the first half of the press conference, however, he was heckled by two attendees who accused the United States, and Blinken himself, of being complicit in genocide.
First, Max Blumenthal — who regularly criticizes Israel and the United States while defending dictators such as Syria’s Bashar Assad and appearing on Russian state television — 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, who is Jewish and the editor of the publication The Grayzone, 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.”
About 10 minutes later, independent journalist Sam Husseini, who had previously interrupted Blinken with a question, called out a series of questions regarding Israel’s widely assumed 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?”
(The International Court of Justice, which is located in the Hague, Netherlands, has received a complaint against Israel from South Africa but has not determined that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. Pro-Palestinian activists have regularly accused Israel of genocide; Israel vehemently denies the charge and says it takes measures to limit civilian casualties.)
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.
He also 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.”
“On the ceasefire, yes, I am confident, and I fully expect that implementation will begin, as we said, on Sunday,” he said. “Look, it’s not exactly surprising that in a process and a negotiation that has been this challenging, this fraught, you may get a loose end. We’re tying up that loose end as we speak.”
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