Journalist From the Frontlines Responds to Israel’s Attempt to Assassinate Him on Camera

Last month, about two weeks ago, a British journalist called Steve. Sweeney, who lives and works. in Beirut, Lebanon, was in southern Lebanon, attempting with a cameraman to. document what the Israeli military. is doing to the southern part of. that country, which is. leveling it, moving people. wholesale out, including Christian. villages across the area. And as he was preparing his report,

he was targeted. by an Israeli-owned American-made. aircraft that fired a missile at. him in an attempted assassination. Here's what it looked like. Further rocket attacks were reported. against Nahariya, and a minute... FUCKING OOF.

FUCK. That wasn't an accident, it was. intentional. The jet that fired it had flown. over his position, attempting. to assassinate him as the Israeli. government has assassinated on. purpose, not accidentally. assassinated, murdered so. many journalists, including Western. journalists trying to cover its. atrocities, atrocities that. are spreading even. now under the cover of the Iran War, a massive land grab across the. region, killing of.

Christians, desecration of Christian. holy sites. That's all happening. It's all real and one of the reasons. you may not know about it is because. the people trying to record it to. Chronicle it have been assassinated. But Steve Sweeney was not. assassinated by luck. or the grace of god By. a quirk of the landing of. that missile. He survived He. joins us now to explain what. happened Steve, thanks very. much for doing this. I'm grateful. You're alive Can. you we just played the tape of.

the moment where you were almost. killed. Can you? Add context to that and describe. what was happening. Well, yeah, you've seen the. footage and we were. incredibly lucky to come out of that. situation alive. It was only purely by luck that. the missile ended up, as. you've see on the footage, it. went... Through the hole and. the bridge had already been. destroyed. So just to give you some. context of why. we were there, Israel had. issued these evacuation orders.

It said that it was going to bomb. every single bridge in. south Lebanon. So the bridges across. the Latani River, this connects. the south of Lebanon to the rest of. the country. So this was a hugely. important news stories, this is essentially cutting off. You know, a whole swathe of. the country. And they'd started the bombing the. night before. It was a Thursday when. we went to the bridge. On the Wednesday evening and into. the early hours of the morning, they'd starting targeting the. bridges. So... As a journalist and as a war.

correspondent, we were. there to report on this. huge news story. So we drove down, this is in Soor. district or Tire district as. other people will probably better. know it, and as. we approached the Lebanese army have. a base there, just. ahead of the bridge. So we approached them and we said to. them, okay, is it safe. to film? And they assured us it was. perfectly safe for us to go on that. bridge and they would. know because if Israel is about.

to bomb a bridge, which they had. already bombed it the night before, then they would get a message to. the Lebanese army via UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeepers. They don't have direct. communication. So there was no pre-warning that. this bridge was about to be struck. again. There was no military. objective in striking the bridge. again. It was already destroyed. There was you could barely even walk. across it, let alone take a vehicle. across it. So this was the the. Kazmir bridge. This was the smaller bridge. So these kind of link villages. and settlements in south Lebanon.

together. So, OK, we we approached. the bridge. We set up our camera. We started filming. There were fighter jets roaring. overhead. And again this isn't uncommon in. the south of Lebanon but we. knew that the fighter jets were. flying away from us so they were. roaring overhead but they were. heading further south. and they were bombing what they. would describe as Hezbollah. positions around that. area so we weren't still unduly. concerned and we went onto the. bridge and we started.

filming so it wasn't live some. people have said it was live it was. what call it as live. So we were filming. that. We arrived on the bridge. I was doing my piece of camera. He went to film. some b-roll. He went to films in the hole. where the bridge had been struck. We talk about luck and we talk about. chance and we talk about. God's will, but as.

he was filming, there was a gust of. wind on the camera and the tripod. was shaking. So I called him over and I. I said Ali, please come, the camera is shaking, I need you. to steady it. As he came over, I guess. around 15 seconds later, then we heard this tremendous roar. and the Israelis struck. the bridge again. And I mean, the immediate. aftermath, I mean I remember just. thinking, God, we're dead. That was it. It was like.

this earth shattering sound. The explosion, it was an almighty. blast. And then there was just. dust and I couldn't really see. anything. From the footage you can hear the. soldiers maybe they started saying. to me yalla yalla and I couldn't see. anything so I was where. where. And they took me into. their barracks. They put tourniquets on my arms. I thought, again with the adrenaline. rush, I just thought I've got some. minor cuts.

I couldn't really feel too much pain. but then I looked where they put the. tournique. There was blood coming. down my arms, there was blood on. my clothes but I was alive. and it's. again completely by chance we were. alive. This was a very heavy. munition that they'd use a GBU-38. Um missile that we believe was used. it was fired from an f-16. fighter jet so after. the lebanese army were uh. you know they put these uh. tourniquets on and gave us some.

water uh then they called. an ambulance and the. ambulance came and they put. me on a stretcher and they uh off. off they took me and i should know. really that the. paramedics and the emergency workers. and the doctors and the nurses and. all of the medical team that. attended to us are the. real heroes of this story. As we were traveling from the bridge. to the hospital, I'm not sure the. distance, maybe about 10 minutes, probably less than that, but they.

had the blue lights on. Now in any normal country. anywhere in the world having the. blue light on and being transported. somewhere by ambulance, you would. safe, right? Not in Lebanon, because the. Israelis are now targeting. medical staff. More than 50 have been killed. Hospitals, including the one we. attended, the Jabal Amal hospital, part of that has. been destroyed in Israeli. airstrikes. And we've been working in the field. for many years now.

We're very experienced journalists. and we take safety very seriously. We've spoken to a lot of medical. workers and. they told us that the. logo on the top of the ambulances. which is supposed to give them. protection under international. law, under the Geneva conventions. and this kind of thing, instead of. giving them protection it. now places them at risk. So many of them have removed those. logos from their. emergency vehicles. Barely a day goes by now that when.

we don't hear of a medical worker. being struck, the IDF, the Israeli Defense. Force... Soon after they carried. out a massacre of 12 emergency. workers in the. south, targeting their. station, they put out a. statement saying that. Hezbollah is using. medical facilities and. ambulances for military purposes. Now, of course, they didn't back. that with any kind of evidence. This is a statement that they've.

reissued again quite recently, but ... Yeah, we've been on the. ground. We've been in the back of. the ambulances. We have been in the. hospitals. We met the civil defense. workers. We meet the paramedics and. we have been to these stations and. all that you can see there are. the kind of things that you would. find in any hospital, in any medical. station, in ambulance anywhere. in the world. These are. medical facilities there. and they should be protected under. international law. Of course, targeting these. deliberately is a war crime but.

it is just one of many that we are. seeing. Here on the ground in Lebanon. You're probably thinking about where. to shop for Mother's Day. Cozy Earth, obviously the answer. designed for moms who make houses. feel like homes. Cozy earth creates comfort for the. entire day between bedding, sleepwear, towels, lounge wear, and a lot more, you will find a. great Mother's day gift there. You could wear the Cozy-Earth bamboo. pajama set, which is. hilarious, but also great. It's literally made out of bamboo, and it's a huge upgrade over what. you're probably wearing.

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So you're a Westerner. It's by your accent, you sound. Irish. Um, you live and. work in Lebanon. How long have you. been there? I came to Lebanon in. October 2024. So this was during the period we. call the 66 Day War. So it was a. week or so after the. assassination of Saeed Hassan. Nasrallah. Former Secretary General of. Hezbollah. So I came then, we quite. often joke and say that if Steve.

Sweeney arrives in your country, then it's not good news. But I came during. that period. Now, Lebanon, as you know, and I. think I've heard you say Tucker, if. I'm correct, it's a beautiful country. Oh, the most. Wonderful place. You know, you look at the rich. culture, tradition and history of. this country even in. the south now which is the area. coming under heavy bombardment. This is the area of Jesus.

Kana is where Jesus. performed what I believe was his. first miracle, turning water into. wine. There's the tomb of Shemun. Ar-Saffah, this is Peter Simon, St. Peter, who I. think for many Catholics they. believe that he was the first pope. Now that's where some. Christians believe that that's his. burial site. Of course, this has been destroyed. by Israel, they bombed it. This is an important site actually, Shemu Ar-saffah for both Muslims. and Christians, so that's been.

bombed, but so I was... Wait a minute, let me have-. Wait, let me ask you to stop for a. second, and I'm ashamed by my. ignorance as usual. The Israeli military bombed St. Peter's burial site? When? I did. This was back in 2024. This wasn't an accidental bombing. I think. it's protected under world heritage. law as well.

And it's a very important site. Of course, the. burial place of Saint Peter is. also a holy site for. Muslims. And what they did during. that period was they brought an. Israeli, what they call a. researcher, the Israeli Defense. Force, brought him in. And the purpose of that really. was to, I. guess, reinvent history. And the aim of it was to say, well, this is a Jewish holy site. and this land belongs.

to Israel. This was the kind of. narrative that they were trying. to spin. That researcher, who was. actually a very well-known. settler activist, was killed during that time. We visited the. site in early. 2025 after the ceasefire. period and missiles. have gone through the domes, the whole area was destroyed, bullet. marks. across all of the buildings there,

including the area of the. shrine of Saint Peter himself. So this wasn't. accidentally targeted, it wasn't kind of collateral damage, This was a deliberately targeted. attack. On the tomb of Saint Peter. It's not the only church. or religious. building that has been attacked, of. course. We were in a place called. Derdegaia and this. is a Greek. Catholic church and again. that was destroyed during.

the 66 day war. They killed eight people that had. taken shelter inside there. A lot of those were emergency. workers, the civil defense team, and they'd taken shelter there and. they bombed it to oblivion. It was completely destroyed. And again in Yaroun, this is another border town. and there are two. buildings there. There's the Imam Ali Mosque, which is a very well-known mosque in. the south of Lebanon, but there was.

also the Church of St. George. And St George, of course, the patron. saint of England, and this was a Catholic Church and. they're very close by each other. And you may have seen the footage. circulating on social. media, but there's footage. of an Israeli soldier, I guess, with. a body cam or something, a helmet cam, destroying. the statue there to. St. George. But both of those were. completely destroyed. So what's interesting is that...

Hezbollah is, and I'm not defending. Hezballah, it's not my fight, but they're designated, I believe, by the US government as a terror. group. They've controlled big parts. of Lebanon for many, many years, more than 20 years. And has Hezbalah blown up. Christian holy sites? Has Hezbolah targeted. ambulances? I mean, maybe they have. You live there. You tell me. No, they haven't. In fact, the opposite. And again, there's plenty of footage. of this that people can. check for themselves online.

But Hezbollah was in fact protecting. the Christian churches and. protecting these. kind of symbolic. areas of religious importance. to Christians. There's footage of them going into. churches and cleaning up and tidying. up and standing around protecting. the Christian faith. If you listen to the speeches of. Hassan Nasrallah, again, he said the Hezbollah are the main. defenders of the Christian faith in. Lebanon. So no, they're not destroying.

ambulances, they are not destroying. churches, they are destroying. mosques, they aren't destroying. people's homes, but Israel is. and it's doing it with American. and Western supplied weapons as. well. And it's happening without. anybody, pretty much anybody. in the United States even noticing. I think people's attention is drawn. to what's happening in Iran and the. unfolding disaster there, and they. don't even know that this is. happening. So back to what happened. to you specifically, you. said that the missile that almost.

killed you and your cameraman was. launched from an American aircraft, an Israeli-owned American. aircraft. Do you believe, was. that one of the planes that had. flown over you? Do you think it was targeting you? Undoubtedly, we believe it was. targeting us. There could be no other explanation. for what happened now. Of course, because people have asked. this question, why. were you on the bridge and were. you deliberately targeted? And we're unequivocal about that.

This was an assassination attempt by. Israel to silence the. voices on the ground, to silence the. truth. Now, the reason we say that. is because, like I said, we've. been working in the for the. last two years. So our vehicle is very well known in. the south of Lebanon. We were in a clearly identified. press vehicle. We had, as you can see in the. footage, we had our press jackets. on. Israel has the most advanced. military technology anywhere in the.

world. It has the more advanced. surveillance technology anywhere in. the World. It knows everything that. happens in the South of Lebanon. It knows every vehicle. It knows every number plate. It reads our messages. It listens to our conversations. This is why we say it was. deliberate, because there's no doubt. that they knew we were there. And the other issue, as has been. raised by the Russian Foreign. Ministry, Maria Zaharova, said that. this can't have been accidental. There was no military objective in. targeting that bridge. It was already destroyed.

So we believe it was a deliberate. assassination attempt. Absolutely. And it's only by luck, really. That we survived. There was a lot going in our favor. that day. Let's say, had the missile not. entered the hole in the bridge, had. it exploded on the bridge... And we've spoken to military. experts, weapons experts who have. told us that if it had been. maybe a few inches or. a foot the other way, then there. wouldn't have even been bodies to. recover. We'd have just been. incinerated. These are incredibly.

powerful munitions that they were. using. And there was no military objective, as I've said, in targeting the. bridge. So we say that we were. deliberately targeted by. the Israelis without a doubt. You go into the grocery store and. there are endless snacks and. protein bars. Paleo Valley Superfood bars are, we. think, the best. Most nutrition bars seem healthy, but then you read the labels and it. turns out they're packed with all. kinds of bizarre stuff. Processed syrups, ingredients you. can't pronounce.

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assassination attempt by a. supposedly Western government, one. that's armed by Western governments. What's your recourse? What do you do after they try and. kill you, but they fail? Well, that's a very good question. Obviously, I am an. English-speaking white westerner, which gives me a certain advantage, a certain privilege. I mean, I have to say that just. over a week after. our very close shave, our dear colleagues and friends in. the field weren't so lucky. Fatima Fatuni, Ali Shuaib and.

Mohammed Fatuni were. killed in a. targeted strike by Israelis. just after they've been reporting. In the south so i. mean this is the kind of the. conditions that journalists are. working in on on. the ground in terms of the recourse. well um i work for russian. state television um which of course. means that the my my own government. the british government and. don't like me. In fact, they have already, instead of supporting me, they've.

been put, they've persecuted me. I was detained on a. family visit last July. at Heathrow airport. I was met by counter-terror police. off the airplane. They took me away for interrogation. They quizzed me over my relations to. Russia, the Russian state, working for Russian state. television, also about. my work here in Lebanon, my. associations or connections to. Hezbollah, my connections to. Ansarallah in Yemen because I've.

reported from Yemen, Hashdol. Shabi, and my. work in in Donbass. I spent two years in the field in. Donbas on the Russian side so they. were very interested in that. And they're still. now currently investigating me. for potential terrorist. activity based on my. journalism. So I don't expect anything from. them and some. friends of mine at Declassified UK, British media organization,

well they inquired, they asked the. British government for comment after. this assassination attempt, and they just simply said... Summarizing here, paraphrasing that. they said something along the lines. of the Foreign. Secretary has given. Britain's position on the. Middle East in a statement to. the Commons on Tuesday. That was all they said. They didn't address the specifics of. my case. They haven't commented on it. They haven't offered any kind of. support whatsoever. Even even the British Embassy here.

in Lebanon hasn't. contacted me. The only support that. I've had, I've had lots of you. know, love and well wishes from. individuals and organizations across. the world for which we're, you know. we're incredibly grateful and. thankful for. But the only people, the only. country that's actually given me. strong and solid support has been. Russia. Are you a British passport holder? Ambassador. I'm a British Passport holder, yes. So you're a-. subject, so this is even though. you don't live there most of the.

time, you have family there, you are. a citizen, but. the British government is taking the. side of the Israeli military over. its own citizens? Well, that's how it seems to me, yes, not only taking the side of the. Israelis, but they're helping. provide the weapons. and the ammunition and the political. and military support to carry out. such strikes. So, you know, somewhere along that. chain, I mean, we know it was an. F-16 and a GBU-38. made American supplied, but Britain is well involved in that.

supply chain. So some of the kind of. the add-on equipment that enabled. them to carry out that strike. against me is almost certainly. provided by the British government. without a doubt. How does that, I don't. understand since both. Britain and the United States fought. against the Nazis and lost. hundreds of thousands of their own. men doing it. I don't really see where the moral. culpability is here. Why would Britain and the. Unites States have some.

duty to become subjects of the. Israeli government? Where does that come from? Well, I mean, there's. a long history of, you know, the two. biggest supporters of Israel have. traditionally been the United States. and Britain. And, you can trace this back to the. formation of the state of Israel. Now, of course, they have their. own interests in the region. They use Israel as a. proxy force for its colonialist, imperialist expansion plans. for the region, if you look at.

what's happening on the ground now. The reason that we reported on the. Which is, is. What you're seeing now is the. fourth expulsion of. 1.2 million Lebanese. people that have been forced from. their land, forced from there homes. and they're now forcibly. displaced. We describe this in. Lebanon, we talk about it as an. ethnic cleansing operation on. a scale far larger than. the Nakba. That's the of course the.

hundreds of thousands of. Palestinians that were forced from. their homes on the creation. of the state of Israel. So the situation here is... It's simply astonishing, and you know, 370,000. of those forcibly displaced to. children. So, but behind that is this. attempt by Israel to grab that land. Now, not only are they. forcing people out of that area. south of the Letarni River, they've extended that now to south. of Zirani River, so we're talking. some 40 kilometers from the Israeli.

border that they've pushed people. out that area. Now, The Israelis have been very open. Israel Katz, the Defense Secretary, has said that we want the land. We're going to, you know, they've. said that they want to create a. security buffer zone or whatever. terminology they used to describe. it, but these plans have been long. in the making. You go back in. history and Israel has invaded. and tried to take that area, they. think it's their biblical right. We're talking about the Greater. Israel Project, which I know you.

know fall well about after your. conversation with Ambassador. Huckabee. And it kind of. reappears in different guises. over the years. The most latest was the Trump. economic zone. This was announced back in, I think, August last year. Around that time, Tom Barrack, the. US envoy, arrived here. in Lebanon. And you might remember this. Soundbite from him because he spoke.

at the presidential palace to a. group of journalists and there was a. bit of a melee and he described them. as animalistic. And he was condemned for, you know, this was seen as an. incredibly racist comment to make. towards Lebanese journalists who. were doing their job in the field, holding people to account, questioning him. But behind that, he laid out this. plan for the Trump economic zone, which meant that hundreds of. thousands of people would be forced. from their homes permanently. Now it is dressed up. This is going to be a.

regeneration project. We're going to create new homes. We are going create jobs, we're. going to create roads, we are going. to create infrastructure, we going. to make the area safe. But it meant that people that have. lived on this land for. generations, these are their homes. These are not just, you know, dots. on a map. These are homes where people have. lived on that land for generations. are going to be turfed out. And nobody really paid attention to. it at the time. Of course, we did as. journalists on the ground.

And you know people talk about. They say that the Gaza model is now. coming to Lebanon. They've spoken about it in terms, I think Smotrich said, we're going. to turn Dahir, the southern suburbs. of Beirut, into Khan Yunis. And then they've used Beit Hanun and. Raffa. Israel Kat said that they're going. to destroy all of these villages. that they call front line villages. And I can tell you now, we've. been here for two years. Those villages are largely already. destroyed. The south of Lebanon already looks. like Gaza, whole villages completely.

lie in ruins, no reconstruction. plan. And over the last 15 months, we've. seen Israel break that ceasefire. And we call about talk about a. ceasefire from November 2024, but. there was never a cease fire. You can't have a cease-fire when. only one side stops firing. And okay, 15,000, more than 15, 000 violations over the past 15. months. And this has included. the rigging and destroying of. homes, the drone strikes, targeted assassinations, the use of.

chemical spray to destroy. crops. We witnessed and filmed all this, the use of white phosphorus. There's a place called Bleda, a. village very close to the border, now during olive harvesting. season, we went to make a film. there. The Israelis refused to. allow the farmers to tend to their. land unless they gave them all. of the contact details and the names. of who was going into the fields. while we were there, and they. started bulldozing the olive groves. These are olive grove that are older. than the state of Israel.

So this isn't something. new. What we're seeing now, the. escalation on March the 2nd has been. going on for a very, very. long time. Now, you asked me why. Britain and the United States would. support that. Well, they use Israel. as their kind of... Proxy force in the. area they refer to as the Middle. East. We call it West Asia here and. they use it to. to grab the land. The Greater Israel Project suits. Israel but it suits Britain and the. United States because this is. a land of great wealth.

and resources and they want to. extract that wealth and. they will extract the resources and. use it for their own gain. And of course they want strategic. control across the whole of the. region. We've seen that with what. happened in Syria. We can see now with the bombing of. of Iran. We can see what happened in Gaza. All of these have taken place, not just with the connivance of. the United States and Britain, but. with that active involvement.

So this is the kind of, this is what we're happening now, you can see signs. Along the airport road here in. Beirut that they. say made it made in the United. States, made in USA and that's how. they see the bombs that are. falling on them here. They're made in the united states, they're made in Britain and they're. the root cause of the death. and destruction that's taking place. across this region. Israel fires the bullets but the. guns well and truly loaded by. Britain and the United States.

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Off. Vanman, real ingredients, zero exceptions. Well, since you mentioned, and I. have to ask you about a small point. that has bothered me for many years, and that's the Israeli policy of. cutting down olive trees, some of. which are hundreds and hundreds, up. to a thousand years old, and of course, they're, right, they're central to the ancient. economy of the Levant, but they're. also beautiful. Yeah. And they're revered almost. by the people who are actually from. there, not the ones from Poland who. pretend they're from there but the.

people actually are there. Why would the Israeli. government chainsaw. or bulldoze olive trees. That seems evil to me. I don't understand the explanation. for it. Well, that's the only way to. look at it. Of course, it's evil, but I think. these, like you said, these olive. groves, some of them are thousands. of years old. I think the oldest in. Lebanon is something like 6,000. years old, but it's the lifeblood. of Lebanon. It's a symbol of...

Lebanese cultural heritage, identity, and the people here are. very, very connected to their land. They're deeply connected to to their. land. And you know, this is. the lifeblood, not just for the the. south of Lebanon, where. you know the farmers will. will harvest their olive groves. Tobacco is a big, a huge crop here, but this is a. lifebloody for all of Lebanon. Now if you can disconnect people. from their land and their culture, then of course you can.

you can take it over and that's. what they've been doing not just by. bulldozing it, bombing it, but by spraying these chemicals that. will make sure that these crops will. never be able to grow on the land. again and they can just brush them. aside, they can build houses, they Can build settlements there. just like they did when on. the formation of the state of. Israel. They're building these. illegal settlements everywhere and. that is. in in lebanon they're building. They want to.

That's their aim. Yeah. I mean, you look at the. Greater Israel Project itself. Now, I mentioned Yahrun. earlier. This is the place. where the mosque and the church were. destroyed. Now, earlier this year, a few months. before. the escalation on March the 2nd, this group of settlers came in. across the border into or very. close to Yahroun and they planted. trees. And the message was, this, I. can't remember the exact terminology.

that they used, but this was them. planting their roots in. Lebanese territory, and. they believe that Lebanese territory. biblically belongs to them. Now, you know, you look back a few. years ago, and this could have been. seen as a conspiracy theory or. a fringe kind. of movement, but this is now right. at the heart of the Israeli. government. Smotrich and Ben-Gavir are advocates. of the Greater Israel Project. Benjamin Netanyahu himself is. a supporter of the Greater Israel. Project. This isn't kind of like a.

fantasy. This is happening now. It's unfolding in. real time in front of our very. eyes. So they. have some. rabbis in Israel that justify. this religiously as well. They will say that this is the land. that belongs to them according to. Holy Scripture. And this is why we're seeing this, this whole scale destruction. That's what it was around over the. last 15 months. They say it was about destroying. Hezbollah, but it's not,

it's not the, you're seeing whole. kind of settlements lying. under rubble. My beloved is from a. village in, in the South and. her entire. village has pretty much been. reduced to rubble, her family home. rebuilt, destroyed, rebuilt, destroyed so many times. And this is. You know, very common for the people. in that part. of the world. And again, Israel has occupied Lebanon and.

after the ceasefire in November. 2024, it built five. military bases inside Lebanese. sovereign territory. We filmed them and rather. than scaling them. back, Israel was expanding the. construction of those military. posts illegally. In breach of UN resolution. 1701, in breach of. international law, the Lebanese. government asked them to leave. Lebanese sovereign territory, and of. course they just simply refused and. they pushed further and further.

into Lebanese Sovereign Territory. Now the interesting thing, and I. don't know whether your viewers will. be aware of this, Um. And many people don't know, but there isn't really an official. border between Israel and. Lebanon. There's no officially. agreed border. We have the Blue Line, which was. established by the United Nations. This was after Israel. was forced out in 2000, and this line is supposed to be the. demarcation point that Israel. is not supposed to encroach further. across.

this line. So Israel sees a lot of this land. as belonging, there was the 1923 mandate. line when it was the British. mandate of Palestine. There was a kind of border drawn. up then which Israel inhabited in. 1948 but has never really agreed to. The armistice in 1949. Didn't again agree those. borders. So Israel sees fit to push. forward at.

will and it's done so with total. impunity of course. There's no kind of international. outcry about the destruction of. these villages and settlements or. the use of chemical weapons, the use. of white phosphorus or the. assassination of. individuals in drone strikes or the. killing of paramedics, the murder. of journalists, all of these things. have been happening. For many, many years. The world is maybe paying more. attention to it now. We've had the western journalists. arriving in the country since.

March the 2nd, of course. The major news networks have arrived. and they're kind of surprised at. what they're seeing. They're seeing. this for the first time. But this has been going on for a. very, very long time. And I say this is a bit of a. failing, I would say, of the... Major media organizations, because. had they been on the ground in. Lebanon for the past 15 months, they. would have seen this unfolding. And you know, maybe the situation. would be very different from what. it is now, as it is, they weren't there. And the Lebanese journalists were.

reporting the people that live. on that land were crying. for help and nobody was listening. I have to ask, so you are covering. this on the ground in. Lebanon, living and working at the. center of all this and as noted, almost got killed for it, but you're. working for a Russian news agency. You've clearly been a journalist a. long time. You look over 40, so probably. a long-time. How did you wind up working. for Russian news agencies? Like, why aren't you a BBC reporter?

What was your path? The MI5 would never claim to work. with me. No, they weren't! There's no chance, no chance. I mean, I wouldn't work for. the BBC on a personal level. We've met some BBC journalists here. and they've been very pleasant, very. nice and I've had all the. journalists from the major. networks, there's individual. journalists, I have no problem. with them. How I ended up working for. RT, for Russia today, is I was working for a.

newspaper before I. entered the world of broadcast. journalism. I was the international. editor of a national daily newspaper. in Britain for many years. When the Ukraine conflict started, um the special military operation. I was covering that and. I went to the western part. of Ukraine to. to pick up there was a couple of. stories I was chasing there. I ended up in Lvov. The Ukrainians tried to um. to kidnap me and I managed.

to make my escape from. from there back out um back. out through Poland and then to. Germany. Wait, I'm going to ask you to pause, why did they do that? Why did they try to kidnap you, the. Ukrainians? Well, simply because I. was a journalist that wasn't towing. their narrative, and the Ukraine conflict is the. most propagandized war in. history, in my view. I mean, you look at what happened in. even the Iraq war, there was kind. of that space within the media field.

to criticize. your government's policy. When it came to Ukraine, that window or that gap narrowed. to the point where... It was impossible because. there was no space. to offer anything that was different. from the narrative of the Western. governments, the British government, the Ukrainian government. So if you were going there to. actually do some proper journalism, and I say that because, you know, with all. due respect to those organizations,

the BBC, CNN, Sky News, uh you. know the the times the telegraph. channel for they were doing these. kind of um. They were all saying the exact. same thing, they were taking it in. turns to stand on the top of the. same hotel roof in Kiev or Lvov and. repeat the line, repeat the. line, but they weren't actually. seeing what was. the reality on the. ground. They were just stenographers. essentially, these kind.

of. copy and paste reports, and It reached kind of insane. levels in Britain. I'm sure it was the same with the. United States, but Britain was, they. started demonizing Vladimir Putin. One of the craziest reports I saw. was that Vladimir Putin. has an. assistant that follows him around. with a briefcase and every time he. goes to the toilet they collect his. feces and urine so his opponents. can't run any kind of.

tests on them. I mean it got to, you know, completely insane levels. and anytime you were reporting so. I ended up at Russia today. after that because I saw that. my independence as. a journalist and my ability. to report on the truth had. completely disappeared. It was impossible. The only way to do that was. to go to Russia and. work for RT. We have one. of our logos, Question More, and that's what we do.

I always say, question more, question us. That's the role of a. journalist. So. I ended up working for RT, I ended up working two years in. Donbass on the Russian side, and I was seeing something. completely different from the. narrative that was being played out. in the West. I was seeing war crimes committed. daily by the Ukrainians. against a civilian population. When I was there, they called it. Donetsk Roulette. You never know when a missile. might strike you. And I was seeing attacks on. marketplaces, for example.

27 people killed body. parts everywhere. These were like babushkas, dadushkas. Old men, old women, the. poorest people in. that part of. the city. Um your homemade fruit and. vegetables from from their home just. obliterated you know arms and legs. uh everywhere i was seeing hospitals. that were that were struck. bus bus stops that were being. attacked you know so i mean i could. talk about that for a long time i. spoke about it at the united nations. security council um i.

gave testimony of of what i'd seen. the failures of Minsk 1. and Minsk 2 and the. path to peace. What we're seeing, and what. I always say, is what we were seeing. in that. part in Donbass, is the same playbook. that we're saying in Gaza, the same. playbook here in Lebanon. These are the most powerful. countries in the world, waging war using the most.

sophisticated technology, the most. powerful weapons against some. of the poorest, most vulnerable. people in the world. They can't fight back. They don't have the arms. They don t have the weapons. The people of Gaza, the people of. Lebanon, they weren't sent high. marks or storm shadows or. these advanced weapons. These were sent to their oppressors. to massacre them. This is what's happening. and it's the very same forces.

In Donbas, it was very simple for. me as a journalist. It was the people that wanted peace, the people who wanted to be able to. speak their own language, Russian, people that want to be able to. practice their own culture and. traditions, if they identified as. Russian, and pretty much. that was it. You could put it really. as simply as that. But then... And the Ukrainian government decided. to wage a war against its own. people. I know for some this went back to.

the start of the SMO, but this has. a much, much longer history, starting way back in 2014, the. Maidan coup. You know, all of these things people. forget about now. Conveniently, including the media. The media actually made them forget. about it because, you know, one day. there was a neo-Nazi problem in. Ukraine. You know, the Azov and the right. sector were carrying. out these horrific actions, these horrific killings. They were terrorizing the people. And the next day, all of a sudden,

Ukraine is a paragon of liberal. democracy. It's incredible. But people aren't getting the truth. So This is why I ended. up at RT because. the space to do proper journalism. just wasn't afforded to me anywhere. else. None of the British press. Like I said, I kind of semi-joked, but MI5 would never allow me to work. for the BBC or for. any of the other major news. organizations. And, you know, I have to say with. Russia today, with RT...

I have complete freedom to. report exactly what. I want and nobody tells me what. to say, nobody tells where. I can film, nobody tells who. I can speak to, who I should speak. to. I have total journalistic freedom. and I'm very. happy working for RT. I'm proud to work for RT And. we always say. that here on the ground, because, you know, obviously, I came. Kind of sprung into the into the. limelight after what happened to me.

and um but it's not about. me journalists should never become. the story unwittingly um. i did but we always say that you. know the our. job is to raise the voices of the. people of the of this land and we. always say that our mic is a. tribune for the people and it. will continue to be a tribume for. the as long as we. remain in the field. It must be such a strange experience. for you since you've been in. the British media for a long time,

conventional media, a newspaper in. a country that reads newspapers. famously. All of a sudden to have this. perspective where. you have more freedom to. do journalism, to straightforward. journalism at Russia. today than you had at. a British newspaper. I mean, what is that as someone who. I assume you were raised in the UK? Yeah. What is that like? Well, the media.

field in Britain, and. I think it's not just in Britain but. if you look at the Western. countries, it's. very concentrated, it is owned by a. very small group of people. who own and control the. media. They control what you say, they control the narrative. So, but I think that the. change was that the. owners of these media organizations. are now more and more. forcefully pushing their view. and their narrative.

And you see it permeating through. every word that's spoken on. British television. You see it written in every. single word in every newspaper. There's no divergence. They're all uniform. So, you know, of course, Russia, people in the West think that Russia. is some kind of... Authoritarian dictatorship that. we're living under the jackpot of. Vladimir Putin. But you've been to Moscow, you know.

anything but. the truth. It couldn't be further. from the truth, you see. people, I mean, there are very. educated people, they are. rich again. We were talking about Lebanon. earlier, having this rich culture. and history. I mean Russia, come on, I. mean, I don't know any other nation. on earth that has such a rich. culture and history, you know, Shostakovich, Dostoevsky, Prokofiev, Yuri Gagarin, they put the first human being. in space,

Meddileyev, the founder of the. table of the elements, these huge figures in the field of. science, of literature, of art, of music. And you go to any bar. in in in Moscow and. and you can sit down there within. five minutes you've had one. of the most intelligent. political or cultural conversations. that you've ever had sitting over. a cold pint of of Guinness. and for those that think that.

people are too afraid to criticize. Putin let me tell you they're not. they're, not I've heard it. myself and you know the same. the same kind of criticisms you hear. in every country. anywhere in the world. They're not afraid to express those. views. They don't necessarily hold. them. Vladimir Putin is incredibly. popular, and he's incredibly popular. for a very good reason, is that. people remember the days. before Putin became president, and they remember it was a very, very dark time in the country. And after the collapse of the Soviet.

Union, up until Vladimir Putin came. to power, there wasn't really. that kind of national stability. I mean, Russia is obviously a huge. country, 11 time zones, I think. it is. So to hold it together is. incredibly difficult. But Vladimir Putin bought that. stability. He made Russia into what. it is today. And this is a strong, economically thriving, independent. country that is actually, despite what the West says, You. know, it still has. These good relations with other.

countries on the world stage. It's not isolated by any. stretch of the imagination. It is only isolated if you think the. world is the western powers. So there is. this freedom to criticize, but of course it's hugely. popular. And, you. know, I think people in the West... Find that very difficult to. understand just. how popular Putin. is in Russia. Everything you're saying is true.

I've seen it multiple times. Even, for example, RT is banned in the United. States, it's banned in Europe. In Russia, you've probably seen, but Vladimir Putin holds a, every. year he holds a Q&A for. journalists, for members of the. public. Every year the BBC is there. Steve Rosenberg asks a question, he. tries to get a gotcha every. year. He fails every year, but he. keeps giving it a go. But the BBC is allowed to operate. freely inside inside.

Russia. I couldn't do the same in. Britain. They're trying to arrest me. They would they would arrest you. about freedom of press if you tried. if you practiced what you're. doing now in your home country. Yes. If I took an RT microphone into. London and started trying to. interview people, or if I stood. in front of a camera with an RT. microphone and started to give. a report, I would be. arrested. We're banned.

We're treated as, I don't. know, like foreign agents. So it would be unlawful for us. to work there. We could be jailed, sanctioned, a whole host of... Things can happen. So we don't have. that freedom to operate inside. Britain. I always, you know, this is. something that always amazes me. because you know the. Russian state television was banned. in Europe and. America because you know we're. propagandists or whatever, the. Kremlin media machine or you know. these kind of tired old tropes that. we hear, which is deeply.

rooted in Russophobia, but what they're really saying is. that the people of Europe and and. America are stupid. You know, people are. able to disseminate. facts from fiction, they're able to. watch a news report and decide. whether it's propaganda or whether. it is true. They can make that. decision themselves and they should. be able to make that decisions. themselves in a free and democratic. country that operates. with freedom of speech and.

freedom of the press. So, you know, it always strikes me as quite. bizarre that they keep saying, well, we uphold freedom of the press. Well, in fact, the European Union. has sanctioned. a journalist, someone I knew. No, Hussain Dourou, who is. a journalist for Red Media. They sanctioned him because. of his work. They said he's closed. I think they accused him of. something to do with the Russian. state, but it was because of is. reporting on. On Palestine, so there's.

no way that they uphold freedom of. the press. I myself am being investigated for. potential terrorist activities based. on my journalism, nothing else. That's it for my journalistic. reports. So where's the. press freedom? Can I walk into. um into the united states. can i can i you know freely walk. around and start interviewing people. can i interview donald trump can i. sit down and speak to the people on. the ground of course not with band.

it's an absurdity. it is but press freedom is. alive and kicking. And it's also a little. bit bewildering. It's surprising for me and. it's an ominous sign I would. say as an American to. see people arrested in Britain for. criticizing Israel. Why would it be illegal for a. Britain to criticize Israel? What does Israel have to do with the. UK? And by the way, it was Israeli. terror groups who murdered British. citizens, British soldiers, British. Diplomats.

That's exact, and many others, and. they murdered a lot of Brits and. murdered them with their hands. slowly. In some cases, blew them up. with bombs, but true terrorist acts, and the guy who did it later became. the prime minister, Menachem Begin. So actually, Israel owes a. great debt to the UK, which is. responsible for its formation in the. first place, as you know. So why in the world would. British citizens be banned. from criticizing Israel? They owe nothing to Israel. What is this? Well, it's a bizarre dystopian.

situation. You've probably seen, but in. Britain, I guess maybe six months ago, the. government moved to ban a group. called Palestine Action. And these were protesters. that were throwing paint at. airplanes or whatever. They were trying to stop a genocide. And Britain prescribed it as a. terrorist organization, I think. against all the legal advice that. they were given. They ignored that. and they ahead. And it became illegal to even. support or hold up placards saying.

I support Palestine action. So they were arresting like. 80, 90 year old women. They were dragging them away. and charging them as. terrorists under terrorism. offenses. So I mean Britain has obviously it's. invested in. Israel heavily invested in Israel. clearly because it was Britain. really that was behind the formation. of the state of Israel in the first. place. You can trace it back to the. Balfour Declaration where they drew.

a line in the sand and gave a land. that didn't belong to them to. another people whose land it wasn't. They gave away the land that. belonged to the people indigenous to. that land. So I think, you know, they talk. about this historical debt owed to. Israel. Now, of course, you can go to. Germany and some of the European. countries, and of course they talk. of the Holocaust, and they bear a heavy burden and. responsibility for that, or they. feel that. And again, there's this kind of. historical debt that they feel. But in Britain now, it's.

kind of moved way beyond. that. And like you said, they were. in the early days in. the formation of the state of. Israel, they were attacking Brits, killing Brits blowing up hotels. So this kind of. unraveled support where you. can't even criticize Israel, there's no space. Any criticism of Israel is now. deemed either antisemitic, an act of terror, unlawful,

and it means that you're ostracized. from society, you're labeled an. anti-Semite, you're labeled a racist. and I mean, the Britain's objective. is, I mean Israel is an. outpost for Anglo-American. imperialist, what they want to gain out. of the region. So it acts as this. kind of Anglo-imperialist outpost. and it will back Israel. militarily to the hilt. It will back them politically to.

the hill. But of course, they're. using it to strategically control. the entire of the. Middle East. I mean this is their. historical myth. I mean, everything. that happens in this region is. because of the historical mess of. the British and the French, you know, back in the time of. the Sykes-Picot, carving. up of that part of the world, just. arbitrarily drawing lines, okay, you. can have this part, you can have. that part. And you know the legacy of. that lives on today,

which is in fact why as a British. journalist, I'd say, of Irish. origin. You know, certainly as a Western. journalist, I have a. historical debt to the people of. this land because. of what my country has inflicted. upon them. And I see that. as part of my duty. as a journalist, not to. just fall in line behind my own. government, not to be a stenographer. for power, but. to expose to the world what's.

happening here on the ground in. Lebanon and in other countries. and for every bomb that. falls on Lebanon. and there have been many of them, I. can tell you, but every bomb that. falls on Lebanon is a bomb. that is supplied by the United. States, a bomb is supplied. by Britain. Israel just simply fires the bullets. that they're supplied and it's been. carrying out these actions with. the support and complicity of. Britain and the United States and. other Western countries. Do your former colleagues in the.

British media feel shame as. they continue their stenography and. see you speaking freely and risking. your life to do it? They should do. They should feel a great. sense of shame. But now, I don't know whether they. do. Like I said, on a personal. level, I've met the individual. journalists from the major news. organizations and they've been very, very gracious and very pleasant. as individuals. But they all fall in. line with the same narrative. Even the journalists that are coming.

here, they'll describe... Dahir, which is the southern suburbs. of Beirut, that entire area has. been evacuated. We're talking an area between 500. and 800,000 people. Mm. And that whole area has been. evacuated. It's bombed every single day. without fail. Fighter jets roaring overhead, drones overhead, civilian buildings. being destroyed. Now for them, this. is the southern suburbs of Beirut. They call it a Hezbollah. stronghold. Now, okay, that use of language. is not an accident.

It is deliberate. They call it Hezbullah stronghold. because it justifies the bombing of. that area. But this isn't a. Hezbollah stronghold. This is where we live. These are the coffee shops where we. meet our friends, these are the. places we go shopping, this. is an area vibrant, full of life, people's homes, this kind of thing. Yeah, the Western. media play a very pernicious role, in fact, in what. I believe is this manufacturing.

of consent. Because outside of that, Tahir is. just a place on a map that gets. bombed. Lebanon is a war zone. That's how they describe it. Lebanon isn't a warzone, as we. already discussed. Lebanon is as a. land of rich culture, rich. tradition, rich history, full of. the most amazing people. you could ever meet anywhere. in the world. The same with the south of Lebanon, they say, well, all these areas. south of the Latani. They're all Hezbollah supporters. I mean, of. course there's strong support for.

Hezbollah in those areas. because they see them as the only. organization that is standing up. and fighting against Israel, that is defending their land, their territory. Hezballah was only born in. the mid-1980s. Now, the people of... Lebanon don't have like a devolution. or a fantasy of, you. know, or a predisposed to. using weapons and guns. You know, it's not that they enjoy. going around shooting people.

They were formed as an armed militia. exactly to defend their. land, the same as in. Ireland, the same as, in fact, you. can pick any country that's. come under attack from. um you know from the from the. western powers from Israel from. their neighbors yeah that's. the origins of these organizations. but to call it Hezbollah land. which is some of the description. that we're we're finding this is. as we said the land that Jesus. walked in it's a land. rich um in. culture and history,

but the Western journalists are kind. of seeing it very much, or. speaking about it, or writing about. it very, much in those terms. We hear the same kind of, it's. like these dog-whistled, frigger. words, you know, ran back. The Iranian-backed. militia, the Hezbollah strongholds, all these. kind of things, the terminology. that they use, and it's absolutely. deliberate to justify. Israel bombing those lands. That's all it is.

So, whether they're embarrassed. about writing that or not, I don't. know. I think it's very difficult. to get a job in the British media if. you don't write those. kind of lines or. you don't speak them into a camera. now. And Noam Chomsky, who. back in, I guess, the 90s was interviewing a. British journalist, Andrew Martin, I. think he hit the nail on the head. when he said, okay, I'm not. necessarily saying you don't. believe what you're saying, but if you didn't believe what you.

said, you wouldn't be sitting where. you are now. I think that's it. It's true, right? I mean, you know, you're not going. to get a job unless you believe. those things, unless you're prepared. to say them or write them. Um, so whether they're. embarrassed or not, I don't know. And to be honest, I didn't care very. much. They may not be capable of it. So my my last question you don't. like talking about yourself, but is. about you So Israel tried. to assassinate you they failed. Just barely I.

Can't imagine interviews like. this make them. Less inclined to assassinating. you to try again. Are you gonna stay in Lebanon? Absolutely. 100% without doubt. I'll stay in Lebanon. Lebanon is my home. My beloved is. here in Lebanon, my life is here in. there. I always say look, Lebanon isn't my country but Lebanon. and the Lebanese people belong. in my heart. And yeah,

I'll forever be in the service. of the Lebanese people. They've been good enough to host me. in their country. And I hope that my. journalism does them justice and I. hope my presence does. them just as I always remember. And it's always important to. remember that I'm a guest in. this land. So no, I have no intention of. leaving. I have no intention to stop. reporting. We've already been back to the front. line. And just two days. after the attack, we made sure that. we went out because we're not going.

to be silenced. And if they think that we're going. to be leaving the field, then... They're very much mistaken. What a remarkable conversation. It is one of the great countries and. most beautiful countries in. the world. Top five in my opinion, top three. So I'm grateful you're there to. chronicle what's being done to it. in our name with our weapons. It's really evil. So anyway, Steve Sweeney, thank you. very much for doing this. I appreciate it. A pleasure, thank you.