matthew cassel @matthewcassel Twitter profile

Last Seen Profiles

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

2 years

I have never seen mourners carrying a casket being attacked by police like is happening at Shireen Abu Aqla’s funeral in Jerusalem right now.

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@matthewcassel

2 years

I cannot believe this. No peace even for the dead.

Khadija

@khadljasays

2 years

Everyone switch on to Al Jazeera right now. This is one of the most horrifying things I’ve seen. IOF is attacking mourners carrying Shireen’s body from the hospital right now. They’re using stun grenades and tear gas and charging at them with horses and batons.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

Kyiv right now

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

Emotional flight to Yerevan yesterday full of diaspora Armenians returning home to offer whatever support they can in ongoing war with Azerbaijan.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

My crew and I just left Nagorno-Karabakh where there’s been four days of non-stop bombardment of the capital Stepanakert by #Azerbaijan . The population has either had to flee to #Armenia or is living in bunkers to shelter from the attacks.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

8 years

Iraq 14 years ago and the person responsible with Ellen earlier this month.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

The people of Nagorno-Karabakh are almost entirely ethnic Armenians and want to be independent or join Armenia. But more than anything they want an immediate ceasefire, which given the ongoing attacks doesn’t seem likely.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

Kyiv now

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

After a war in the 1990s Armenian forces took control of the area. But this time it was clear that drones and other military technologies provided by Turkey and Israel have given Azerbaijan the upper hand.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

Armenian hospitality on full display in subterranean restaurant where we sought shelter during bombardment of Nagorno-Karabakh. Everyone emotionally & physically drained, but still serving coffee w/ warmest of smiles. And, of course, don’t even think about trying to pay!

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

2 years

My crew and I just returned from Sharm el Sheikh where we spent the 5 days reporting on #COP27 for VICE News. Some observations:

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

Kyiv bus and train stations are packed with thousands of people trying to flee to the city #Russia #Ukraine

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

2 years

At #cop27 we asked UK PM @RishiSunak if he would be demanding Egypt release jailed British-Egyptian activist @alaa . His response:

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

This was the scene of an airstrike in Stepanakert last weekend. I was only able to take a couple shots before the air-raid sirens went off and we had to again seek shelter. It's almost impossible to report in #NagornoKarabakh because the bombing never stops.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

During a lull in the bombing on a foggy morning in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh, a man walks past the Holy Mother of God Cathedral

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

After driving all night this is what I opened my eyes to in Nagorno-Karabakh last Friday. It was one of the last peaceful moments before the heavy bombardment began and never stopped. Now that we're out I feel safe posting about our time there.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

This is how most of our trip in Nagorno-Karabakh was spent, sheltering in bunkers while the constant explosion of bombs sounded aboveground. (seen is @VICENews cameraperson @deguzmanimal )

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

8 years

Armed white men acquitted for taking over govt land on same day Native Americans arrested for defending theirs #oregonstandoff #NoDAPL

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

2 years

There were undercover agents all over Sharm el Sheikh and they're not very discreet. All had similar square frame, suits, sunglasses, some literally standing in the middle of the desert. Their omnipresence was disconcerting.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

8 years

While US bans refugees/migrants from Muslim countries, sources in Moria camp on Lesbos, Greece tell me 3rd person has died there this week.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

Our @VICENews report on the ongoing war between #Armenia and #Azerbaijan for #NagornoKarabakh is now online:

Life Under the Bombs as Armenia and Azerbaijan Return to War

Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh has intensified sharply, as both sides accused the other of targeting c...

www.youtube.com

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

2 years

The designated protest area had the strictest and least friendly security. The only protest we saw there was by mainly pro-gov Egyptians, and even then there were more plainclothes security around than demonstrators. The area is so far from #COP27 that no one noticed it.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

8 years

Egyptian, Syrian and Pakistani have all died in recent days. Their friends tell me it's due to sub-zero nightly temperatures in camp.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

6 years

A female suicide bomber exploded herself 30-40 meters away from me and my crew on Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis about 30 min ago. I did not see any casualties. It seemed she was targeting police officers.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

2 years

Seif's arrival in Sharm to campaign for the release of her brother, Alaa Abdel Fattah, is bringing human rights in Egypt front and center at #COP27 . Her events have been the most well attended by media, delegates and also pro-gov agitators.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

2 years

Our report on this and a lot more will be out soon on VICE News. And before the trolls return, let me end by saying that I've been traveling to Egypt for nearly 20 years and love it from the bottom of my heart.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

Palestinian journalists in Gaza have one of the world’s most dangerous jobs and rarely get enough credit for their bravery in documenting the wars from which they too can’t escape.

Yousef Alhelou

@YousefAlhelou

3 years

Standing solid to document brutal lethal Israeli air strikes.. allow me to introduce to you our brave Palestinain photojournalists and press workers who strive to do their work despite the risks #GazaUndrrAttack #PalestineUnderAttack #Media #Press #Journalism

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

8 years

No coups, no shootings, no bombings, just a Syrian widow and her 3 yr old enjoying the sea for their 1st time ever.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

2 years

Heard lots of Egyptians and internationals express similar sentiment: had the government released Abdel Fattah months ago it would be a much different and more successful #COP27 for them. Instead human rights is starting to overshadow everything else.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

Woke up in Armenia and opened Twitter for news about #VPDebate . After 10 min of scrolling the only tweets I’ve seen have been about an insect, and I follow mostly journalists and news outlets 😐

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

6 years

Here we go. This is something that’s bothered me throughout my career. After this NYT article about its journalist using the horribly unreliable Google Translate in his work I guess it’s time to Tweet about it:

Gaza and Google Translate: Covering the Conflict When You Don’t Speak the Language (Published 2018)

David M. Halbfinger, The Times’s Jerusalem bureau chief, found Google Translate useful in Israeli and Palestinian territory, but Waze sometimes reaches a dead end.

www.nytimes.com

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

We're getting reports from journalists and civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh's main city Stepanakert that the #Azerbaijan bombing has intensified the past two nights. People are stuck in shelters unable to leave the region or even go outside. #Armenia

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

2 years

I lost count of how many times airport security, police, COP security, hotel staff, transport workers and others used their personal phones to photograph my passport. This and reports of the #COP27 app gaining access to users' phones made people feel watched at all times.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

10 years

How many pictures of dead Palestinian children will it take before someone in US govt suggests halting aid and weapons used to kill them?

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

Watching election results in Poland’s too-close-to-call presidential race at a gay bar in the city of Poznan. People here are worried that President Andrzej Duda, who campaigned on an anti-LGBT platform, will win another term in office. (Reporting for @vicenews )

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

2 years

This was a telling moment where a security official stopped a young Egyptian from leaving the civil society area to a public road on bicycle. The rules were arbitrary and unclear, and getting around #COP27 was extremely difficult.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

The bombardment was relentless when we left a couple days ago, but usually stopped at night and resumed in the morning. I can't imagine how terrifying it must be for people unable to sleep, hoping the next strike doesn't hit their home. #NagornoKarabakh

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

6 years

One of few places Palestinians in Gaza can find work is near Israeli ‘border’ where they often come under fire from the other side of the fence. Watch our short film from Gaza on @theintercept

Farmers at Gaza’s Edge Try to Make Ends Meet Between Economic Squeeze and Israeli Sniper Fire

Palestinians farm the narrow swath of land that separates Israel and the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of protesters were recently killed by Israeli snipers.

theintercept.com

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

2 years

A lot of journalists and delegates bothered by all of this but were (understandably) worried to speak out, but that seemed to change with Sanaa Seif's ( @sana2 ) arrival at #COP27 .

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

The 90s war was bloody and both sides did terrible things. Refugees that fled both countries should have right to go back, incl to Nagorno-Karabakh. But even then it would still be majority Armenian.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

9 years

French-Moroccan photographer Leila Alaoui spoke to AJE in July ’15, six months before she was killed in Burkina Faso

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

Criticism for our piece from #NagornoKarabakh . We touched on events 30 years ago, in which 100,000s Azerbaijanis were displaced (smaller number of Armenians were as well). 1915 mentioned because every Armenian brought it up as reason for why they see war as existential.

Jaka

@ajavahir

4 years

Heartbreaking to see this, but @VICENews @matthewcassel sadly you were not there 30 years ago when Azerbaijani citizens were ethnically cleansed and killed from these same territories. You are reminiscing on stories from 1915 while omitting what just happened 30 years ago.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

There are so many well-organized and well-armed checkpoints all across Kyiv. I don’t see how advancing Russian forces could possibly invade this city.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

9 years

Palestinian refugees from Syria sing and dance debke after arriving on Lesbos yesterday http://t.co/LF8HAzQ0Vm

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

6 years

Imagine a foreign journalist covering the US without being able to understand a Trump press conference or talk to people in the street. Ridiculous, right? So why is it OK in Arabic-speaking countries?

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

10 years

AJE journalist Baher Mohamed's 1st pic with family after being released on bail RT @Flip_Stewart This: http://t.co/jxQGGfjtJf

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

6 years

Media should hire more Arabic speakers to cover the Arab World, including, of course, people from the region, or at the very least support their correspondents to take some time to learn the language before they spend years reporting from there.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

It’s hard to believe the scenes in Kyiv this morning. People fleeing the city in terror hours after Russian war begins.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

Why are 'indiscriminate' rockets so worthy of condemnation by world leaders while the *far deadlier* 'discriminate' ones from the other side aren't? #Gaza

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

Watching our VICE News special report on Russia's invasion of Ukraine as air-raid sirens go off here in Kyiv:

Invasion of Ukraine: A VICE News Tonight Special Report

We were there as Russia began its full-scale attack on Ukraine. In Invasion of Ukraine: A Vice News Special Report, correspondents in Kyiv, Moscow, and Washi...

www.youtube.com

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

8 years

If growing anti-Arab racism & Islamophobia were taken more seriously in the US, Khalid Jabara might still be alive:

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

All over Ukraine civilians are being given weapons and joining ‘territorial defense’ units like this one in Kyiv to defend their neighborhoods from Russian forces

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

From the center of Kyiv it's now possible to hear the faint sounds of fighting on the city's outskirts. The war is getting closer.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

During Egyptian revolution Laila Soueif put herself in between me and attacking secret police as they tried to confiscate my camera. She’s one of bravest people I know. Now she writes about the ongoing detention of her son, Alaa Abd El Fattah:

Opinion | My Son Is Not Alone. Millions of Young People Commit His Crime. (Published 2021)

Alaa is a political prisoner in Egypt because he dared to dream of another world.

www.nytimes.com

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

645am in Kyiv and sounds of fighter jets overhead. Two hours ago one was shot down, debris fell into an apartment building. Unclear if Russia or Ukraine controls the skies at the moment.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

6 years

I've traveled to 5 countries on 3 continents over past year w/ @ICRC to document stories of people who disappeared after leaving home. Check out the trailer for our series, "The Missing," out soon on @NBCLeftField

Trailer: The Missing | NBC Left Field

Every year, a growing number of people around the world leave their home countries in search of safety and a better life. The routes people take are often da...

www.youtube.com

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

2 years

This is what happened when protesters in Sri Lanka tried to reach the president's residence weeks ago. Today, it seems there were too many for police to stop:

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

8 years

10 years living and working as American in Middle East and - despite my govt's wars, bombings - no 'Muslim country' has ever banned me.

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@matthewcassel

3 years

Kyiv is unrecognizable this morning. Sirens, explosions, people feeling with whatever they can as fear of Russian invasion heading towards Ukrainian capital increases.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

6 years

The message is clear: many outlets do not really care about understanding this culturally rich and complex region. And that’s a huge disservice to the publics we seek to inform, especially considering how disastrous our governments’ policies there have been.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

9 years

Hitler is responsible for the Holocaust. Any claims suggesting otherwise are wrong, not "disputed."

New York Times World

@nytimesworld

9 years

Netanyahu makes disputed claim that Palestinian gave Hitler idea to burn Jews (w/ video)

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

9 years

...I asked why they wanted me to film, they said "we've been asking him for water for an hour, as soon as you filmed him he gave it to us."

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

There are serious anti-tank obstacles on most roads leading into the city, and people (incl experienced vets) with RPGs, AKs, Molotovs, etc in apartment blocks all over the place.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

10 years

Let me get this straight: Gazans were expected to accept a ceasefire proposal written by the two parties besieging them?

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

9 years

A cpl Syrian guys asked me to film them asking for water from Hungarian police. I did and officer gave them water immediately...

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

8 years

asylum in EU, but after months in Moria camp on Lesbos is returning to Mosul area where he said at least he would have respect unlike in EU.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

2 years

Rishi Sunak Ignored Questions About a UK Citizen on Hunger Strike in Egypt

The UK Prime Minister refused to answer repeated questions from VICE World News about the plight of jailed UK-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah.

www.vice.com

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

8 years

On boat to Athens today, police let me briefly speak to Iraqi man handcuffed to his son w/ disabilities. He told me he had hoped to seek…

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

and it's fucking terrifying.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

8 years

Spent last 2 weeks on Lesbos, situation is horrible. Few allowed to leave, many canceling asylum request to be deported as "criminals."

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

6 years

Now consider this: the overwhelming majority of western correspondents who are based and spend significant time in the Arab World do not speak more than a few words of Arabic.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

Going around Kyiv this morning it seems morale is high both among soldiers and civilians after city’s defenses proved effective last night. But there’s also worry that it’s still just the beginning. #Russia #Ukraine

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

A special @VICENews report on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including our story on the start of the war in Kyiv, is out now:

On the Ground in Ukraine: A VICE News Tonight Special Report

Russian forces continue to push deeper into Ukraine. Thousands seek shelter, while others volunteer to fight. We're on the ground in Kyiv as events unfold.He...

www.youtube.com

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

Hearing more reports of this repulsive - but not surprising - behavior by EU border guards as refugees try to flee Ukraine to neighboring countries.

Nze

@nzemmili

3 years

Watch how they are threatening to shoot us! We are currently at the Ukraine -Poland border. Their Police and Army refused to let Africans cross they only allow Ukrainian. Some have slept here for 2 days under this scorching cold weather, while many have gone back to Lviv.

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@matthewcassel

2 years

Sharing clips from our @VICENews report on how the Egyptian government is using #COP27 to cover up its ongoing human rights abuses. 🧵

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

10 years

When did Egypt's govt become peacemaker? How many Egyptian dissidents are on death row, journalists in prison?

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

2 years

Anyone else feel @instagram is becoming increasingly unusable? More than half of content is ads, many indistinguishable from accounts I follow. Why do they need so much ad revenue? Genuine question: what is it used for?

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

2 years

I fully expect every company that has come out as pro-refugee since the start of the Ukraine war to condemn the UK's decision to send asylum seekers thousands of miles away to Rwanda.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

10 years

I'm watching US TV journalists break from 'objectivity' to express grief over damaged property but not for police victims. #Ferguson

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

10 years

7 months ago Netanyahu led a war on Gaza that killed ~1,500 civilians. Today my govt treats him like a rockstar http://t.co/LuFgNvAilZ

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

@dpatrikarakos they are singing "yimach shemo" ("may his name be erased")

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

6 years

My spoken Arabic is far from perfect and I don’t read well, but I’m able to have conversations and conduct interviews with Arabic speakers. When I reached that level of comprehension it was like unmuting the TV.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

We left Kyiv this morning to the west. Every few kilometers there are new military checkpoints. All of Ukraine suddenly feels like the east (where conflict has been raging for 8 years).

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

8 years

After 13 months, part 1 of our film, “The Journey,” following a Syrian family’s struggle to reunite, is online:

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

This morning in Kyiv

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

6 years

You would think being able to communicate with people in their own language would be seen as an asset, but I can’t think of a single job or assignment that it’s helped me with. In my experience it's just not a priority for media.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

7 years

My film for @NBCLeftField on Bilal, a 13-yr-old boy w/ big dreams despite growing up under Israeli blockade in Gaza

Growing up in Gaza in the Dark | NBC Left Field

What’s it like to be a 13-year-old growing up in Gaza? For Bilal, it means practicing wheelies, listening for drones in the sky and rushing to finish his hom...

www.youtube.com

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

12 years

Watching Alex Jones arguing against gun control makes me want to buy a gun to protect myself from Alex Jones: http://t.co/oMoUXIMQ

Alex Jones Berates Piers Morgan On CNN

"You're a hatchet man of the New World Order!"

www.buzzfeednews.com

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

Kyiv is dead silent apart from the occasional sounds of bombs in the distance. Even the crows, whose cawing dominated the city's soundscape before Thursday, seem to have fled.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

4 years

Those dangerous situations overseas were also caused by ... America

Good Morning America

@GMA

4 years

. @MarthaRaddatz : "It is so horrible to know, we are in America where this is happening, on Capitol Hill. I'm not in Baghdad. I'm not in Kabul. I'm not in a dangerous situation overseas. We are in America." LATEST:

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@matthewcassel

3 years

Kyiv’s Zoloti Vorota metro station is truly remarkable

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@matthewcassel

3 years

This is the problem when airtime is filled not with reporting but with talking heads who, in an attempt to sound smarter than the next, make grossly offensive comments, like this one erasing Germany’s Jews.

Ruth Michaelson

@msrmichaelson

3 years

Rachel, with all due respect, there were roughly 500,000 Jews in Germany before WW2, including my family. This idea that German Jews were not somehow not “ethnic Germans,” is ahistorical and helps no one, especially Ukrainians.

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@matthewcassel

9 years

“Germany is the country that has never repaid its debts. It has no standing to lecture other nations.”

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@matthewcassel

2 years

Baghdad.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

3 years

Waking up in Kyiv shortly after 5am to sounds of explosions in the distance…

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@matthewcassel

9 years

Heard from multiple Syrians yesterday that Hungarian police are using force to fingerprint them. Why that matters:

Through Hell and Hungary: Riding the Rails With Refugees in Budapest

VICE News met the migrants and refugees who have been stuck at a train station in Hungary’s capital desperately waiting for the chance to continue on their journey to Western Europe.

www.vice.com

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

6 years

Consider just how much western media has covered the Arab World in recent years (Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Saudi, etc). It’s probably safe to say that no other region outside US/Europe has made as many headlines.

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matthew cassel

@matthewcassel

10 years

TIME Magazine cover from January 12, 2009. Could be replicated today: http://t.co/DgUatIUln9

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@matthewcassel

3 years

Kyiv right now

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