Article headed “Helen Thomas Retires after Anti-Jewish Remarks.”
WATCHDOG: They were not “anti-Jewish remarks.” They were anti-Israel. Furthermore they were spoken off the record, probably meant as hyperbole, and by an 89 year old person.
The Watchdog has heard her comments and does not agree, far from it. But he for one is willing to accept her apology as sincere. God forbid that some of things that he and most others say in private were publicized!
What is amazing is how her fellow journalists were so quick to denounce and abandon her! With friends like that, she doesn’t need enemies.
Let’s not judge people by what is overheard in flippant, careless private conversation by snoops.
Once upon a time, before Zionism apparently became the orthodoxy within U.S. politics, the creation of the state of Israel by the decree of western powers in the land of Palestine was actually rather controversial. Palestinians see it as colonial aggression and usurpation.
It’s okay for numerous right-wing commentators to talk about how Israel should stop hamstringing itself and really let loose on the Arabs, but it’s unconscionable for a single reporter to privately harbor an opposing view? She’s a reporter.
Why is it relevant what she thinks? Does it prevent her from doing her job? I agree with the dog. Helen’s comments were a bit harsh – deeply offensive for some in light of the horrors that Anti-Semitism wrought throughout the diaspora – but it seems clear that she was speaking off-the-cuff, in hyperbole, and I don’t see the need to run her out of town and so abruptly, embarrassingly, terminate her distinguished career. She cannot die in peace like this. I think that she needs to be forgiven.
So who is running her out of town? She is arguably one of the worlds leading reporters who gave the world the benefit of her heartfelt wisdom and there is a price to pay. I’m sure Helen could continue to go to work each day. There must be some organization who agrees with her views and would hire her to sit in the front row of the White House press room.