We received the first news of the terror attacks in Belgium at 10 a.m.. An hour and a half later we became aware of the scale of the tragedy. Telephones "exploded".
There were dozens of questions. I must have given ten interviews: Russia-24, Channel One, Dozhd, Ren-TV, Life-news, RSN, agencies, newspapers, online media... I don't remember them all."Are there any Russians involved in the Brussels tragedy?"
"How does Foreign Ministry evaluate what is happening in Brussels?"
"Is there any plan to counteract the terrorist threat in Europe?"
"What's next?"
Of course, it's my job to answer questions from the media. But that's not the point. It was hard for me to accept that people were beginning to sidestep the issue, but also, tired of the world ignoring our Russian tragedies and catastrophes. Waiting for my turn on air, I read various comments, some desperate: "They never sympathize with 'US', so why should we sympathize with 'THEM".Someone asked: "Why did you work so hard? It wasn't us who suffered from the explosions!"
"What do you mean?" I asked startled.
"I mean how long are you going to sympathize with 'them' since they don't care about 'us' when we have terror attacks in our country. Usually they just make fun of us...Aren't you fed up with that?"
I was shocked, and started to say publicly and with increasing emphasis: "We extend our sincere condolences... Words of encouragement to those...It's our common tragedy... We need to join forces... It's important to understand the root causes..."
Although I'll never forget how Western publications treated Beslan (a terrorist attack on a school in North Ossetia on September 1, 2004 in which 333 people were killed, 186 of them children - ed), blaming Moscow, I said again:
By prime-time, tempers had flared beyond the joking point, and we were hearing ugly statements from 'we all are going to die' to 'send the Air Force to Belgium', spread all over TV and the Internet. People brought flowers to the Belgian Embassy... Others said: "It serves them right""It's our common tragedy... We call upon everyone to join forces... We mustn't justify terror attacks in one region and criticize them in other... There are no good or bad terrorists... We need to restart the cooperation that was blocked by our partners."
"Russian officials unequivocally condemned the attacks and sent condolences. They could not have done otherwise."
And then on air at Russia-24, I said:
At 7:00 p.m., I was shown an article published on Radio Liberty. The title almost knocked me down: "State Choral Gloating". The author (not a journalist), said Russian officials were gloating over the terror attacks in Belgium."Please, don't gloat over the misfortunes of others! We shouldn't gloat, using words like 'us' and "them". We must not let this happen. Today there is a high terrorist threat level and no region, city or country are fully protected from these attacks - no matter what economy, policies or standard of living they have. What happened today proves this, finally. If there is not just a lone attack but a whole chain of them happening in the center of Europe, in a wealthy city that hosts the EU and NATO headquarters, it's time for all of us to wake up and understand that it can't go on this way. We need to do everything to stop the spread of this catastrophe".
Whose photograph do you think went with the 'article'? You are correct: it was mine. In the best traditions of agitprop they put a photo with me wearing a diplomatic uniform and added a link to someone's tweet that had nothing to do with me, to squelch any argument.
It wasn't that damn lie that knocked the wind out of me - at least not the first time, but because it was Radio Liberty'. The media that had been a mouthpiece for the terrorists from the North Caucasus, presenting them as political migrants, refugees and fighters for justice. You can read all about the financing of this news source on their site: the money comes from the same people who denounce the 'Russian propaganda machine' every day.
After negotiating with the directors of the Russian-language service over the facts, they edited both the text and title. But I still feel sullied.
Reader Comments
The MSM is a servant of the PTB. They follow blindly, oblivious and clueless as to the winds of change that are approaching. They are quite similar to the army of stuffed positions that routinely deny service to their clientele. Corporations are stuffed with these types who get off making life hell for the customer.
And so, when the day comes that the fascists or socialists take over the Corporate Monstrosities and expect results, they will scratch their heads as they are marched off to work camps, where few have the skills to survive, having never had to actually accomplish goals other than stonewalling and sandbagging.
lying shills. Only the most mind controlled, delusional, or mentally defective would bother to even care what the broadcast liars are saying. I think if these fools even begin to think that a war with Russia is possible, then the people will turn on them with open claws.