“The core complaint is that Ambassador Newman should not have been invited because he or his government offends you,” Reilly said.

A bad smell offends me, old mate hurling abuse at the traffic lights offends me. The language used doesn’t reflect the crimes of the State the Ambassador represents pal!

Responding to questions from Deepcut, Reilly claimed the press club withdrew Pavlovsky’s invitation because the Russian embassy “wanted an altered format” for Pavlovsky’s address, and because “the board formed a late view that we would not learn much from this Ambassador that was not already known at the time”.

What new did we learn from the Israeli Ambassador? The fictional narratives and lies he told are all the same as we’ve heard before.

Reilly and his “iNdEpEnDent” Board should have a long hard look in the mirror,

APAN President Nasser Mashni called the press club’s invitation to Newman “disgraceful” last week, saying it “cannot claim to uphold journalistic integrity while platforming oppressors and silencing voices for the oppressed”.