The Detroit Free Press which report about Thomas' speech in Dearborn characterized the comments that got her fired as something "which critics have said were anti-Israel," perpetuating the myth that Thomas was fired for being critical of the Jewish State. Note to the Freep, no one gets fired for being critical of Israel, not even in Israel. Thomas' comments back in June were anti-Semitic, she told Israeli Jews to go back to Germany and Poland [where they faced the horrors of the Holocaust]
During her anti-bias appearance yesterday, Thomas was asked her about her comments:
"I paid the price for that," said Thomas, a longtime White House correspondent. "But it was worth it, to speak the truth. The Zionists have to understand that's their country, too. Palestinians were there long before any European Zionists."
Thomas claimed that "You can not say anything (critical) about Israel in this country."
In a speech that drew a standing ovation, Thomas talked about "the whole question of money involved in politics."
"We are owned by propagandists against the Arabs. There's no question about that. Congress, the White House, and Hollywood, Wall Street, are owned by the Zionists. No question in my opinion. They put their money where there mouth is…We're being pushed into a wrong direction in every way.
It was almost as if Thomas was reading directly from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, at an anti-Bias conference!!!During her interview and speech, Thomas often used the term "Zionists" negatively, saying that Dennis Ross, President Obama's adviser to the Middle East, was a Zionist.There are some people who believe that any criticism of Israel is Antisemitism. That belief is as ignorant as Antisemitism itself. There is however, a great deal of crossover between hatred of Israel and hatred of the Jews. To find out what people really mean you need to examine the words they use. Make no mistake about it, Thomas uttered the word "Zionists" but her words showed that she meant the word "Jews." What Thomas said yesterday, that Congress, the White House, Hollywood and Wall Street are owned by Zionists, was a repetition of the anti-Semitic stereotypes that have been used for centuries to incite hatred of Jews. Ms. Thomas is nothing but a bigoted hater and that was the reason she was fired, not because she hates Israel (most of the progressive media is anti-Israel). Thomas was canned because she is a low-life hater, an anti-Semite and her speech yesterday adds more to her long record of hatred.
"Obama, he puts in charge for the Arab world a Zionist like Dennis Ross…You don't put a Zionist in charge of the Muslim world in the White House."
One more thing, allow me to send a shout-out to the hypocritical folks at Media Matters, you enjoy blasting conservative figures such as Glenn Beck with trumped up charges of Antisemitism, along with writing up one-sided editorials about people throwing around Nazi-related terms, since you folks have set yourselves up as the “protector of all Jews” will you now write something that criticizes real Antisemitism spewed out by the progressive Helen Thomas? When the Helen Thomas video broke on June 4th, Media Matters took three days to report it and tried to whitewash her comments by calling them anti-Israel. So my progressive friends are you going to finally accept the fact that it is humanly possible for a progressive to be a hater? If you can, maybe you can go after some other real haters, two of the most Antisemitic sites on the internet, the progressive Daily Kos, and the progressiveHuffington Post.
Thats if George Soros allows you to.
UPDATE: Video of Helen Thomas Anti-Semitic Speech Delivered 12-2 in Dearborn, MI Posted here
hhhhhhhhhhhhhh
8 comments:
May this old bag ton in hell for eternity. Starting immediately would not be soon enough.
You give only a few quotes from the speech, but they don't seem to add up to much. Your discussion of them is far less defensible than are the statements you attempt to criticize.
You note, refreshingly, that criticism of Israel is not ipso facto anti-Semitic, but your only evidence of "anti-Semitism" on Thomas's part is her criticism of Zionism. Zionism is a political program regarding Israel - partly inspired by religious hegemony, but at its core nothing more than an issue of political geography; it is not synonymous with Judaism or Jewishness (indeed, more than a few Jews, notably including some observant Orthodox Jews, are not Zionists). The fact that you slide seamlessly from an accusation that her speech was indistinguishable from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to the fact that she is anti-Zionist to a claim that she is anti-Semitic only demonstrates that you do not or cannot make distinctions between these concepts. You negate the force of your own criticism of what she actually said by burdening it with absurd equivalencies to things you made up.
It is hardly debatable, or improper to state, that the pro-Zionist lobby has a stranglehold on American foreign policy, or that they enforce it with political donations. (The existence of the J-Street project, and its call for redirection of political donations from American Jews, is simply an acknowledgment of that fact. The panicked reaction of AIPAC to that effort, and its attempts to preserve its own sources of funding, is confirmation.) Calling such a self-evident observation anti-Semitic is merely an attempt to take simple facts of the matter off the table for discussion - it is a form of propaganda, not political or moral argumentation (and thus ironically proves the very point you object to Thomas making in her speech).
Her most troubling suggestion - that Israeli Jews should move to Europe - is also not anti-Semitic. It is understandable that many Jews would not wish to move to countries associated with the Holocaust of 70 years ago, but saying they should do so is not a call for (nor would it result in) a new Holocaust, and implying as much is unfair. As a political program, it is not dissimilar to the frequent suggestions heard from pro-Israeli quarters that the Palestinians should move to Arab countries outside Palestine - a suggestion that is never met with criticism or implications of intended genocide. (Arguably, Thomas's suggestion is less radical, since almost all WWII-era Israeli Jews did come from the countries they are asked to return to, and many contemporary Sabras are directly descended from those who did - giving those Jews a more natural connection to their personal or ancestral homelands in Europe than Palestinians have to Arab countries they often have no direct connection to.) Neither relocation program seems likely or practical, but you cannot arbitrarily decide that just one is "anti-Semitic" simply because you don't approve of it.
Almost everything you quote Thomas saying - and I can only presume these are the most damaging parts of her speech - is a factual observation about, in most cases not even Israel itself, but contemporary political debate about Israel within the US. Remarkably, in fact, the word "Jew" does not even appear anywhere in the quotes you give. Only by equating "Zionists" with "Jews" - an equation you yourself note is false - can you impugn her with supposed anti-Semitism, and the statements you quote from her do not uphold that charge.
In making these attacks - attacks entirely devoid of even the slightest engagement with Thomas's criticisms on factual grounds - you merely demonstrate that you cannot brook any criticism of Israel, or even discussion regarding Israel, on any grounds, and will use hyperbolic and non-factual charges to smear those who offer it. Which is exactly what Thomas said. I'm sure she's glad to know you agree.
What an ugly witch she is. (apologies to all witches out there). I hear they are casting her as the Wicked Witch Of The West in a remake of the Wizard Of Oz, not because she can act, but because of all the money they will save on makeup.
She's in (or was in) the field of journalism. She was one of those personalities most respected by her peers. Being a vile, venomous peice of trash is item number one in her job description. Yet people still ask me why I don't watch TV news and decline offers of news papers when people are done with them. This world nauseates me.
If we keep "religion" and "ethnicity" out of the discussion, we should still support Israel because it is our friend in the Middle East. It is in USA's interest to help Israel.
If she doesn't like it here, she can move back to Lebanon. As a Christian she can experience the full range of behavior that Muslims reserve for their Christian brothers.
I wonder if this nasty piece of work is in cahoots with Baroness Jenny (Forked) Tonge in the UK House of Lords, who regularly expresses almost identical sentiments?
Each is as hate-filled as the other, as bitter and twisted as the other and as plug ugly as the other. These are two cases where the outer person reflects the inner one.
Kevin Keith missed two key points in his defense of Thomas against charges of Anti-Semitism. Perhaps they are subtle, but they are illustrative of Helen's problem. It is Helen that seems unable to separate Zionism form Judaism - although she might wish to. Helen said that Hollywood was owned by the the Zionists. That claim is rank nonsense and its only currency is grounded in the same foolishness as the the claim that the Zionists somehow have bought the Congress,etc. The second point is Helen's implicit insistence that Jews have no history in the Middle East and should go back to Europe. Thomas' denial of Jewish roots in Israel echoes the recent attempts by Palestinians to deny Jews their history - and displays not only willful ignorance but, in concert with the first point, points to a particularly noxious antipathy to Jewish Nationhood and Nationalism. Neither Keith nor Thomas seem to recognize the profound Jewish attachment to their ancestral homeland or recognize the effect allegations like Thomas' carry. Basically, Thomas has endorsed the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Israel - but she would never acknowledge that. The current attempts to delegitimize the very existence of Israel and render the Jews stateless once again are truly insidious. Thomas' famous quote "Get the hell out of Palestine" was directed toward the _Jews_ - she made no reference to "Zionists" as her interlocutor used the word Jews when asking Thomas to clarify her comments.
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