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Mon, 08 Nov 2021
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US Ambassador Friedman bullies and gaslights media to not report Gaza atrocities, 'keep mouths shut'

IDF and Reporters
© Mohamad Torokman/Reuters
Israeli soldier shoves Palestinian journalists , West Bank
The US ambassador to Israel is trying to "bully" media into not reporting on Gaza atrocities, and to control the spin on events, an Israeli journalist told RT after the infamous comment on reporters keeping their "mouths shut."

Journalist David Sheen was responding to a speech made by the American Ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman, in which he warned journalists to "keep their mouths shut" and stop criticizing Israel in their reporting of events on the Gaza border.

"Essentially it's gaslighting; trying to bully the media into stopping all reporting" of Israel's attacks on Gaza, Sheen told RT.
"We're living in an era when it is nearly impossible for anyone to criticize the Israeli government's actions no matter how deplorable they may be, because they will be instantly be accused of racism- instead of examining are the actions of the government based on racism," he added.

Comment: Not even the reporters were safe. Friedman just explained why they were targeted, injured, killed. See also:


Attention

Back off! 'Buying arms is a sovereign decision', says Qatar FM to Saudi threats

Al Thani
© Deccan Chronicle.medi
FM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani
Qatar's Foreign Minister has rejected Saudi Arabia's reported threats of military action over Doha's interest in buying Russian S-400 missile systems. He said the country can decide for itself what weapons to buy.

"The purchase of any military equipment is a sovereign decision that no country has anything to do with," Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told Qatari TV channel Al Jazeera on Tuesday. He stressed that any external pressure on the nation would violate international law.

Al Thani was responding to the letter the Saudi King had reportedly written to French President Emmanuel Macron. It was cited by French Le Monde and apparently claims that the purchase of Russian-made surface-to-air missile systems by Qatar will undermine "national security" of its Gulf neighbors, including Riyadh.

The letter allegedly asks Paris to apply diplomatic pressure on Doha and says that Saudis promise to take "all necessary measures" against Qatar "including military action", if the S-400 deal comes to fruition.

Comment: And another country convinced it requires defense mechanisms. What does that say?


Stop

Hezbollah and Iran will not leave Syria until it is liberated

Hezbollah guy
© AP/Bilal Hussein
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in an interview with Sputnik, has commented on the issues of settling the Syrian conflict, Lebanon-Iran cooperation and the US Embassy's relocation to Jerusalem.

If the Hezbollah movement was not present in Syria, Daesh militants would have reached Lebanon, Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri said. "As for Hezbollah, it is in its own country, because if it had not been for Hezbollah there [in Syria], Daesh would have been here [in Lebanon]."

The parliament speaker noted that Lebanon and Syria were "like twins," as nearly 1.5 million Syrians reside in Lebanon. "We do not consider them outsiders... Everything that happens in Syria affects Lebanon," Berri stressed.

The Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah movement and Iran will not leave Syria until the country is fully liberated from terrorists and restores its territorial integrity, Lebanese parliament speaker and Hezbollah's closest ally in the country Nabih Berri told Sputnik.

Briefcase

A sailor, pardoned by Trump, to sue Obama and Comey for letting Clinton go

Comeyclintonobama
© Flicker/AP/Reuters
The Three Defendants
A former US Navy submariner says he will sue Obama administration officials for jailing him over mishandling classified information while going easy on Hillary Clinton for the same type of offense.

Kristian Saucier served a year in federal prison for taking photographs of classified sections of the submarine he worked on. He argues that the same officials who threw the book at him went much easier on Hillary Clinton for using a private email server to handle classified State Department documents.

The US Department of Justice, former FBI Director James Comey and former President Barack Obama are named as some of the defendants in Saucier's complaint.

Comment: See also:
Trump pardons submariner who took photos of classified sub and used 'Clinton emails' defense


Propaganda

RT eviscerates Tory MP who claims 'Russian media should come with health warning'

Russia Today
© Sputnik/ Nina Zotina
Conservative MP Bob Seely says RT should come with a "health warning" as Moscow poses a "threat" to Western stability. Seely's comments came the same day the Tory MP published an anti-Russian 'study' for a right-wing think tank.

According to the Isle of Wight MP, the UK will see a "full spectrum" threat from Moscow for years to come, in yet another attempt to foster Russophobia by publishing anti-Kremlin propaganda masquerading as a peer-reviewed study for the Henry Jackson Society (HJS), a think tank repeatedly dogged by controversy.

RT's Bill Dod spoke to international affairs analyst Marko Gasic about Seely's attack on Russia - and whether or not the Conservative MP has a point.

Newspaper

Putin speaks German to ask Austrian journalist stop interrupting him

Putin
© Sputnik / Mikhael Klimentyev
During a televised interview, Austrian journalist Armin Wolf repeatedly interrupted Russian President Vladimir Putin while discussing the MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine.

As President Putin was trying to lay out his opinion on the MH17 tragedy in Ukraine that the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) blamed on Russia, Wolf couldn't help but constantly interrupt him in a bid to clarify his stance on the matter. At one point, the Russian president asked the interviewer to be patient and let him finish before asking any further questions, quickly switching to German to convey his message.

Megaphone

Italy's new PM for revision of Russia sanctions, acknowledges "its international role in various geopolitical critical situations"

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte
© Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte
In his first address to the parliament on Tuesday, Italy's newly sworn-in Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte emphasised his government's commitment to dialogue with Russia, with an intention to review the EU sanctions policies.

"We will promote openness towards Russia that has in the last years reaffirmed its international role in various geopolitical critical situations," Conte told the parliament in a plea for confidence for the newly formed Euroskeptic government.

The 53-year-old PM voiced his support for the new Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's pro-Russia stance, and he promised that Italy will take steps to lift the sanctions against Russia.

Comment: With the West's diminishing role around the world, Italy is not alone in its understanding that better relations with Russia are the most constructive course of action. It will also find support in its refusal the undemocratic migration policies from Brussels:


Black Magic

Death and Resurrection in Kiev: You couldn't make this sh*t up, but Ukraine did

babchenko

'Yuk-yuk, we haz fooled you!'
So, Arkady Babchenko is alive. And that's really good news. Especially for his wife and six children, who were also led to believe the Russian journalist had been brutally murdered in Kiev on Tuesday night.

However, this sordid little episode badly exposes Russia conspiracy nutters and chancer hacks, who have been taken seriously for too long. And it also shows casual observers just how dreadful standards are of western reportage from Kiev and Moscow.

Because it's long been clear that most hacks focused on these parts believe Russia only lies and its opponents always tell the truth. And, in this regard, Wednesday's 'Lazarus' moment in Kiev may have mortally wounded the hive mind which seems to govern their coverage.

Comment: Clear-out? Not a chance! These types never go away quietly. They can only be compelled by a strong hand, and as long as failed or failing states exist, there will always be safe spaces for them to act out their deviance.


Russian Flag

Bulgaria does a complete 180, begs Russia for new gas pipeline deal

borisov putin bulgaria
After a 4-year break, Russian-Bulgarian relations recently saw a drastic thaw. It's been only a week since the visit of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev to Russia, but now the country's Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, has also arrived in Moscow with assurances of the most friendly intentions and a proposal to resume projects frozen by Bulgaria itself: the construction of a gas pipeline to Bulgaria (but now via Turkey) and the nuclear power plant in Belene.


Yoda

Putin: 'Either Russia is a sovereign country, or there is no Russia'

Russian President Vladimir Putin
© Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik / Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin inspects warships during the Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg, Russia, July 30, 2017
Sanctions, however harsh they may be, will not force Russia to abandon its independent stance in the world, President Vladimir Putin said, adding that Russians will never accept trade-offs at the expense of sovereignty.

Speaking to Chinese TV, Putin said that he believes the rounds of sanctions imposed on Russia by the US, its allies and the EU have only one goal - to hamper its economic development. He went on to stress that no amount of sanctions and punitive measures will ever be enough to make Russia cave in and change its policy.

"I believe that either Russia will be sovereign, or there will be no Russia at all. And, of course, the Russian people will always opt for the first. I think the Chinese people will too. We have no other option," Putin said.

Comment: See also: