THE DEAN OF WHITE HOUSE REPORTERS FOR DECADES
Journalist Helen Thomas Liquidated
FIRED FOR CRITICIZING ISRAEL
BEING OF LEBANESE EXTRACTION
HELEN THOMAS KNEW ISRAEL'S WAR CRIMES
Helen Thomas was a reporter and commentator who was
publicly liquidated by the United States of America for telling the truth about
Israel's crimes. In this manner, Helen Thomas' crime was to criticize Israelis
for their invasion of Palestine where they settled and built homes on land that
belonged to other people. On top of that, Ms. Thomas stated that the Jews should
leave and return to their homes in Germany, Poland, and the United States where
they had come from.
She was liquidated - immediately silenced by the Jewish owned
media, and the White House which has been corrupted by Jewish Power.
The Story of Helen
Thomas's Liquidation as White House Reporter...
Helen Thomas (born August 4, 1920) is an
American author and former
news
service reporter, member of the
White House Press Corps and opinion
columnist.[1]
She worked for the
United Press
International (UPI) for 57 years, first as a
correspondent, and
later as White House
bureau chief. She was a columnist for
Hearst Newspapers from 2000 to 2010, writing on national affairs and the
White House. She covered every
President
of the United States from the last years of the
Eisenhower
administration until the second year of the
Obama
administration. She was the first female officer of the
National Press Club, the first female member and president of the
White House Correspondents' Association, and the first female member of the
Gridiron Club. She has
written six books; her latest, with co-author
Craig Crawford, is
Listen Up, Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know
and Do (2009). Thomas, who is of
Lebanese
Arab descent, retired on June 7, 2010, following comments she made about
Israel, Jews and Palestine.[2]
Early life and education
Thomas was born in Winchester, Kentucky, the seventh of the ten children of George and Mary (Rowady) Thomas, immigrants from Tripoli, Lebanon.[3][4] Thomas has said her father's surname, "Antonious", was anglicized to "Thomas" when he entered the U.S. at Ellis Island,[3] and that her parents could neither read nor write.[5] Thomas was raised mainly in Detroit, Michigan, where her family moved when she was four years old, and where her father ran a grocery store.[3][6] Of her experience growing up, Thomas has said,[7]She has also said that in Detroit in the 1920s, she came home crying from school, "They wanted to make you feel you weren't 'American'... We were called 'garlic eaters'".[6] She was raised as a Christian in the Greek Orthodox Church[3]"We were never hyphenated as Arab-Americans. We were American, and I have always rejected the hyphen and I believe all assimilated immigrants should not be designated ethnically. Or separated, of course, by race, or creed either. These are trends that ever try to divide us as a people."
She attended public schools, deciding to become a journalist while she was in high school.[8] She enrolled at Wayne University (now Wayne State University), in Detroit, receiving a bachelor's degree in English in 1942.[9]
Early career
Her first job in journalism was as a copygirl for the now-defunct Washington Daily News, but shortly after she was promoted to cub reporter, she was laid off as part of massive cutbacks at the paper. Thomas joined United Press International in 1943 and reported on women's topics for its radio wire service, earning $24 ($305 in current dollar terms) a week.[10][11] Later in the decade, and in the early fifties, she wrote UPI's "Names in the News" column, for which she interviewed numerous Washington celebrities.[12] After 1955, she covered federal agencies such as the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.Thomas served as president of the Women's National Press Club from 1959–60. In 1959, Thomas and a few of her fellow female journalists forced the National Press Club, then barred to women, to allow them to attend an address by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
Presidential correspondent
In a 2008 article, the Christian Science Monitor described her thusly: "Thomas, a fixture in American politics, is outspoken, blunt, demanding, forceful and unrelenting. Not only does she command respect by the highest powers in the US, her reputation is known worldwide."[16] When Cuban leader Fidel Castro, was asked in the early 2000s what was the difference between democracy in Cuba and democracy in the United States, Castro reportedly replied, "I don't have to answer questions from Helen Thomas." Thomas considered Castro's reply to be "the height of flattery". [17]
Thomas was the only female print journalist to travel to China with President Richard Nixon during his historic trip in 1972.[18] She traveled around the world several times with all U.S. Presidents since Richard Nixon, and covered every Economic Summit since 1975, working up to the position of UPI's White House Bureau Chief, a post she would hold for over 25 years. While serving as White House Bureau Chief, she authored a regular column for UPI, "Backstairs at the White House".[19] The column provided an insider's view of various presidential administrations.
Thomas was the only member of the White House Press Corps to have her own seat in the White House Briefing Room. All other seats are assigned to media outlets.
Departure from UPI
On May 17, 2000, the day after it was announced that the UPI had been acquired by News World Communications Inc., an international media conglomerate founded and controlled by Unification Church leader Reverend Sun Myung Moon which owns The Washington Times and other news media, Thomas resigned from the UPI after 57 years with the organization.[20] She later described the change in ownership as "a bridge too far".[20][21] Less than two months later, she joined Hearst Newspapers as an opinion columnist, writing on national affairs and the White House.[22]After leaving her job as a reporter at the UPI, Thomas became more likely to air her personal, negative views. In a speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she quipped, "I censored myself for 50 years when I was a reporter. Now I wake up and ask myself, ‘Who do I hate today?’"[23]
George W. Bush administration
During President George W. Bush's first term, Thomas reacted to then-Press Secretary Ari Fleisher's statements about arms shipments to the terrorists by asking: "Where do the Israelis get their arms?" He responded "There's a difference Helen, and that is --". "What is the difference?", she asked. He responded: "The targeting of innocents through the use of terror, which is a common enemy for Yasir Arafat and for the people of Israel, as well as --". She interrupted him, saying: "Palestinian people are fighting for their land." He responded: "I think that the killing of innocents is a category entirely different. Justifying killing of innocents for land is an argument in support of terrorism."[vague][24]In January 2003, following a speech at a Society of Professional Journalists banquet, Thomas told an autograph-seeker, "I'm covering the worst president in American history." The autograph-seeker was a sports writer for The Daily Breeze and her comments were published. After that she was not called upon during a press conference for the first time in over four decades. She wrote to the President to apologize.[25]
Traditionally, Thomas sat in the front row and asked the first question during White House press conferences. However, according to Thomas in a 2006 Daily Show interview, this ended because she no longer represented a wire service.[citation needed] During the Bush administration, Thomas was moved to the back row during press conferences; She was called upon at briefings on a daily basis but no longer ended Presidential news conferences saying, "Thank you, Mr. President." When asked why she was seated in the back row, she said, "they didn’t like me...I ask too mean questions."[26]
I'd like to ask you, Mr. President, [about] your decision to invade Iraq ... Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is: Why did you really want to go to war? .... You have said it wasn't oil...quest for oil, it hasn't been Israel, or anything else. What was it?Bush responded by discussing the War on Terror, and stated as a reason for the invasion that Saddam Hussein chose to deny inspectors[clarification needed] and not to disclose required information.[27] Thomas was criticized by some commentators for her exchange with Bush.[citation needed]
In July 2006, she told The Hill, "The day Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I'll kill myself. All we need is another liar... I think he'd like to run, but it would be a sad day for the country if he does."[28]
At the July 18, 2006, White House press briefing, Thomas remarked, "The United States ... could have stopped the bombardment of Lebanon. We have that much control with the Israelis... we have gone for collective punishment against all of Lebanon and Palestine." Press Secretary Tony Snow responded, "Thank you for the Hezbollah view."[29] Other members of the press weighed in. According to Washington Post television critic Tom Shales, questions like the one above have sounded more like "tirades" and "anti-Israeli rhetoric."[30] However, Greg Mitchell of Editor & Publisher described Shales' attack as "disturbing".[31]
In a press conference on November 30, 2007, Thomas questioned White House Press Secretary Dana Perino as to why Americans should depend on General David Petraeus in determining when to re-deploy U.S troops from Iraq. Perino began to answer when Thomas interjected with "You mean how many more people we kill?" Perino immediately took offense, responding,
Helen, I find it really unfortunate that you use your front row position, bestowed upon you by your colleagues, to make such statements. This is a...it is an honor and a privilege to be in the briefing room, and to suggest that we, the United States, are killing innocent people is just absurd and very offensive.[32]
Obama administration
On July 1, 2009, Thomas commented on the Obama administration's handling of the press, "we have had some control but not this control. I mean I'm amazed, I'm amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency and you have controlled...".[36][37][38] She also said that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press as much as President Obama.[39]
On August 4, 2009, Thomas celebrated her 89th birthday. President Obama, whose birthday is also August 4, presented Thomas with birthday cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday to her before that day's press conference.[40]
Controversy and resignation
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Comments on Israel and Jews
Thomas retired following negative reaction to comments she had made about Israel, Jews, and Palestine during a brief interview with Rabbi David Nesenoff of RabbiLive.com.[1][41][42][43][44][45] Nesenoff was on the White House grounds for an American Jewish Heritage Celebration Day, and he questioned Thomas as she was leaving the White House via the North Lawn driveway:[44][46][47][48]A one-minute excerpt of the May 27, 2010 interview was posted on Nesenoff's website on June 3. On June 4, Thomas issued an apology on her web site:Nesenoff: Any comments on Israel? We're asking everybody today, any comments on Israel? Thomas: Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine.
Nesenoff: Ooh. Any better comments on Israel?
Thomas: Hahaha. Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not German, it's not Poland...
Nesenoff: So where should they go, what should they do?
Thomas: They can go home.
Nesenoff: Where's the home?
Thomas: Poland, Germany...
Nesenoff: So you're saying the Jews go back to Poland and Germany?
Thomas: And America and everywhere else. Why push people out of there who have lived there for centuries? See?
Nesenoff: Are you familiar with the history of that region?
Thomas: Very much. I'm of Arab background.
Nesenoff: I see. Do you speak Arabic?
Thomas: Very little. We were too busy Americanizing our parents... All the best to you.[49]—May 27, 2010, RabbiLive.com [44]
I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon.[50][51][52]She resigned from her job three days later, on June 7, 2010.
In October 2010, Thomas said in a radio interview that realized soon after making the comments that she would be fired, stating, "I hit the third rail. You cannot criticize Israel in this country and survive." She added that she issued an apology because people were upset, but that ultimately, she still "had the same feelings about Israel's aggression and brutality."[53]
On December 2, 2010, shortly before a speech, Thomas told reporters that she still stood by the comments she had made to Nesenoff. Referring to her resignation, she said "I paid a price, but it's worth it to speak the truth".[54][55][56]
Reactions and repercussions
Thomas's agency, Nine Speakers, Inc., dropped her as a client because of her remarks.[57][58] Craig Crawford, who co-authored Listen up, Mr. President, said "I ... will no longer be working with Helen on our book projects.”[59] Her scheduled delivery of a commencement speech at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland, was canceled by the school.[60] The White House Correspondents' Association, over which she once presided, issued a statement calling her remarks "indefensible".[61] On June 7, Thomas abruptly tendered her resignation from Hearst Newspapers.[62]Paul Jay, CEO and Senior Editor of The Real News Network, suggested that the acrimonious reactions related to the previous instances on which Helen Thomas had questioned American support for Israel; Thomas had previously asked President Obama about Israel's "secret" nuclear weapons, and why the White House did not condemn the Israeli attacks on the aid flotilla.[63] Others saw it as recrimination for past questioning of "Zionist" tactics within America.[64]
On June 8, in an interview on NBC's Today Show, President Obama called her remarks "offensive" and "out of line", and said her retirement was "the right decision". He remarked that it was a "shame" her celebrated career had to end in such controversy, and at the same time he recognized her long service covering U.S. presidents, calling her "a real institution in Washington."[65] Her comments also garnered rebukes from numerous others, including White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, former special counsel to and White House spokesman for President Bill Clinton, Lanny Davis, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, and Hoover Institution senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson.[50][66][67][68]
Helen Thomas' alma mater, Wayne State University strongly condemned what it called her "wholly inappropriate comments."[41]
Thomas' defenders either supported her comments or tried to put them into what they felt was a proper context. These arguments included the belief that she was completely correct and should not have felt any repercussions (Hezbollah called Thomas' comments "courageous, bold, honest and free opinion," while Hamas said she had "told the truth."[69][70]), that Thomas was only referring to the West Bank when she talked about Israelis getting the hell out of "Palestine", or that her comments could not be explained away but should not erase what she had achieved in her memorable career, such as Sam Donaldson, another former White House correspondent who did not agree with what Thomas said. Donaldson, however, praised Thomas' achievements as an early woman journalist, and said her comments likely reflected the view of many people of Arab descent).[71]
After Thomas' resignation, her coveted front row center seat in the White House Briefing Room was awarded to the Associated Press (AP), while Fox News moved from the second row into the AP's former front row position.[72]
In August 2010, a group of Holocaust survivors and relatives criticized the Arab American National Museum of Dearborn, Michigan for its plans to place a statue of Helen Thomas in its museum, saying that it would be immoral to honor her and that "American values are at stake."[73][74]
The president of the Society of Professional Journalists, Kevin Smith, said in June that Thomas's comments were "offensive" and "inexcusable."[41] The society was later asked why it decided to continue the Helen Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement after Thomas's comments. Smith's successor as the society's president, Hagit Limor replied in December: "We discussed the issue at our exec board meeting in July 2010. The majority believed this to be a one-time slip that didn't change Ms. Thomas's lifetime of service, which is what we were honoring." [75][76] However, on January 14, 2011, the Society of Professional Journalists voted to retire the Helen Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement; stating that it staunchly defends the right to free speech, but that "the controversy surrounding this award has overshadowed the reason it exists". "...No individual worthy of such honor should have to face this controversy. No honoree should have to decide if the possible backlash is worth being recognized for his or her contribution to journalism."[77] "SPJ will simply not give a lifetime achievement award (anymore)" said Scott Leadingham, spokesman for SPJ.[78]
December 2010 speech controversy
On December 2, 2010, in a speech for the eighth annual "Images and Perceptions of Arab Americans" conference at the Byblos Banquet Center on Chase, Thomas said: "Congress, the White House and Hollywood, Wall Street are owned by Zionists. No question, in my opinion."[54] Thomas defended her comments on December 7, telling Scott Spears of Marion, Ohio AM radio station WMRN, "I just think that people should be enlightened as to who is in charge of the opinion in this country." [79]The next day, the Anti-Defamation League called for journalism schools and organizations to rescind any honors given to Thomas. The organization said that Thomas had "clearly, unequivocally revealed herself as a vulgar anti-Semite" in the speech.[80] Hours later, Wayne State University in Detroit discontinued the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity in Media Award, which it had been granting for more than ten years, citing what it called her antisemitic remarks. The school issued a statement saying: "As a public university, Wayne State encourages free speech and open dialogue, and respects diverse viewpoints. However, the university strongly condemns the anti-Semitic remarks made by Helen Thomas...". Speaking for the school, Matthew Seeger said: "The controversy has brought a negative light to the award, which was never the intent of the award."[54] Thomas herself reacted with scolding remarks saying that "the leaders of Wayne State University have made a mockery of the First Amendment and disgraced their understanding of its inherent freedom of speech and the press." She also stated that "the university also has betrayed academic freedom—a sad day for its students."[81] The university's Arab American Student Union held a protest on campus December 10. In a news release the Palestine Cultural Office of Michigan made a call for concerned individuals to contact the university. Also, members of the Congress of Arab American Organizations held a meeting with university officials on December 7 in an attempt to make them repeal their decision. In a later response the university said it would not reverse its position.[82] Asked by The Detroit Free Press how she'd respond to people who say she's anti-Semitic, Thomas responded: 'I'd say I'm a Semite. What are you talking about?'".[83]
In interviews with the Iranian state run PressTV, several American political commentators expressed their opinions regarding Helen Thomas' comments:
- Carol Gould, an author and political commentator, describes Thomas' comments as "ridiculous" and pointed out that the owners of many American media organizations are not Jewish (e.g. Rupert Murdock, Ted Turner) and that when President Ahamdinejad was in New York recently every television network (including CNN, NBC and Bloomberg) hosted him despite his controversial views.
- Eugene Bird, president of International Foreign Policy Center, stated that "a lot of people who will agree with her so far as influence of the Israel and the five lobbies of Israel in the US [is concerned]. It's not just [sic. AIPAC], it's ADC, it is the Christian Zionists; the evangelical right wing community. So in a way she is still speaking truth to power even though she is not in the White House."
- Alison Weir, founder of If Americans Knew, stated that "Israel has massive influence on both the US media and Hollywood. Anybody who researches this, finds that fact. There is so much evidence for it. Helen Thomas did not say that they were the only ones who had any role in it, but what she did say was quite accurate: that they dominate the media; that very often they are significant in the media coverage...So the fact is, there is a major influence on the US media by Zionists; that is the reality." She also stated that "I think that if the Americans got the whole facts on this issue our US policies would be considerably different. But consistently we don't get the overall facts. We get Israeli reporting."[84]
March 2011 Playboy interview
In March 2011 Thomas gave an extended interview to David Hochman, Contributing Editor of the men's magazine Playboy. Asked by Hochman to explain her controversial remarks made in May 2010, she said, "Well, there's no understanding of the Palestinians at all. I mean, they're living there and these people want to come and take their homes and land and water and kill their children and kill them." When asked what she had meant when she commented that the Jews should go back to Germany, Poland and America, Thomas replied that the Jews should have stayed where they were as they have not been persecuted since World War II. Upon being asked if she recognizes that Palestinian hijacking and suicide bombing is wrong, Thomas answered, "Of course I don't condone any violence against anyone. But who wouldn't fight for their country?...The suicide bombers act out of despair and desperation." Thomas insisted she does not feel antipathy toward Jews personally: "I think they're wonderful people. They had to have the most depth. They were leaders in civil rights."Later in the interview, when asked by Hochman if she stood by her December 2010 accusations that Zionists own the White House, Hollywood and Wall Street, Thomas answered that she did and added that America is in the grip of a Jewish conspiracy. She went on to name some of the Congressmen she believed to be involved: Charles Schumer (D), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) and Eric Cantor (R). When confronted with the fact that Jews constitute a fraction of the world's population, Thomas told Hochman: "I know where you're leading with this. You know damn well the power they have...It's real power when you own the White House, when you own these other places in terms of your political persuasion. Of course they have power. You don't deny that. You're Jewish, aren't you?"
Thomas accused Israel of treating the Palestinians as the Nazis had treated the Jews: "They can't just come in and say, 'This is my home,' knock on the door at three in the morning and have the Israeli military take them out. That's what happens. And that's what happened to the Jews in Germany. Why do they inflict that same pain on people who did nothing to them?"[85]
Awards
Thomas has received numerous awards and more than 30 honorary degrees. In 1976, Thomas was named one of the World Almanac's 25 Most Influential Women in America.[86]In 1986 she received the William Allen White Foundation Award for Journalistic Merit from the University of Kansas.[14] Thomas received an Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media from the Freedom Forum in 1991. The White House Correspondent's Association honored her in 1998 by establishing the Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2000, her alma mater, Wayne State University, established an award for journalists in her honor, the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity award;[87] but in December 2010, the award was discontinued by Wayne State citing her renewed remarks that she stands by what she had said earlier in May to Nesenoff. Speaking for Wayne State, Matthew Seeger, its interim dean said, that the award is given to promote the importance of diversity in the media; but this award “is no longer helping us achieve our goals”.[88] In 2007, Thomas received a Foremother Award from the National Research Center for Women & Families.
In October 2010, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) honored Thomas with a lifetime achievement award.[89][90]
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