Leftist media queen and White House press corps member Helen Thomas' recent remarks supporting ethnic cleansing for Jews ( "they should all go home to Poland and Germany") created enough of a flap that she issued a pro forma, insincere apology on her website ( no link...I'm not giving her traffic, thank you):
""I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heartfelt 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."
Here's the video again of what she had to say. Does it sound like she wants mutual respect and tolerance by the Arabs for Jews, or just for the Jews to be gone?
While a number of members of the White House press corps were happy to talk about how 'inappropriate' her remarks were, very few of them thought she should be fired and some of them attacked ex-White House press secretary Ari Fleisher when he called for exactly that.
Here's Joe Lockhart, who served as press secretary under Mr. Bill:
“I hope we are strong enough as a country to sustain voices that are wrong, voices that offend, even voices that incite.”
“The good news is Ari no longer has the weight of government behind him in intimidating voices he doesn't agree with.
Now riddle me this - let's say that we had a video of Ms. Thomas saying that all blacks need to go home to Africa? Or Muslims back to their countries of origin? How long do you think Helen Thomas would remain employed ? And would any of these good 'liberals' miss a beat in calling for her to be fired and ousted from the White House press corps then? You know they wouldn't.
Here's a little something to ponder. Helen Thomas, an Arab-American has been a raging anti-Semite for years, and it's no secret. Not to the White House press corps, not her employers at Hearst and not to President Obama , sitting there cuddling this repulsive old Jew hater.
Here's yet another example, with her engaged in a ridiculous pro-Hezbollah rant with the late Tony Snow:
And there are plenty of other examples available.
Yet in spite of being aware of this for years, the White House Press Corps honored her by voting her a seat in the front row, and apparently feel perfectly happy now with having her continue as an honored doyen in their midst.
I actually agree with them, believe it or not.She should stay right where she is.
Helen Thomas is valuable because she provides a picture perfect example of the double standard most Left- leaning journos ( and believe me, the majority are Left- leaning) have when it comes to Jew hatred. While they might not personally endorse it, they're prepared to accept it, just like Joe Lockhart, as a legitimate point of view that is subject to debate. That's something virtually none of them would do if that hatred was directed anywhere else but at Jews.
So I think it's better that Helen Thomas remains an honored part of the White House press corps, especially since few if any of them seem uncomfortable with her in their midst. It tells us a great deal about a large part of the membership of that august body. And who knows? It may actually serve as a wake up call to our society about how commonplace and acceptable in public discourse this kind of obscene anti-Semitism has become.
UPDATE: I'm hearing persistent rumors from my sources that Helen Thomas is going to be fired by Hearst. We'll see what develops.
UPDATE 2: A number of voices on the Left have predictably despicable arguments along the lines of 'why was what she said considered anti-Semitic, rather than just anti-Israel? What about freedom of speech?'
That's how bad it's gotten.
Here's a heads up; after surviving the Holocaust, the Jews of Poland and Germany ( and a lot of other areas in Europe) had nowhere else to go. As a matter of fact, the last Jews murdered in the Holocaust were killed by Poles in a pogrom in Kielce, when they tried to reclaim their stolen homes.
And aside from the continuous Jewish presence in Israel, let's not forget that half of the Jews in Israel didn't originally have former ‘homes’ in Poland or Germany. They had their origins in the Muslim world and were ethnically cleansed after 1948, and unlike a lot of the ‘Palestinians’ they had no choice in the matter. Sending them 'home' like Helen Thomas suggested is tantamount to calling for them to be murdered en masse.
Don’t tell me Helen Thomas didn’t know that. It simply didn't concern her, or those of her friends defending her now. It never has.
And yes, embracing segregation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing limited to Jews and Jews only is anti-Semitism by definition.
CNN picked up the story! Alert the media!
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