Various news outlets are announcing the death of Helen Thomas at 92, the disgraced journalist who, for years (between Kennedy and Obama) covered the White House. At the end of her career, she occupied the fabled center chair in the front row of the White House briefing room. Despite widespread claims of her left-wing bias, Thomas was considered the “dean” of the White House Press Corps until anti-Semitic remarks abruptly ended her career.
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Thomas was forced to resign/retire in June of 2010 when her anti-Jewish comments came to light. In an interview posted online, after being asked about the Jewish state of Israel, Thomas said, “Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine … Remember, these people [Palestinians] are occupied and it’s their land. It’s not German, it’s not Poland…”
Thomas then suggested the Jewish people leave Israel and “go home” to “Poland or Germany or “America and everywhere else. Why push people out of there who have lived there for centuries?”
Six million Jews were murdered in Poland and Germany during WWII.
Thomas later attempted to apologize with a statement online, but many, including the Anti-Defamation League, did not feel the apology went far enough, “Her suggestion that Israelis should go back to Poland and Germany is bigoted and shows a profound ignorance of history,” the ADL’s Abe Foxman said. “We believe Thomas needs to make a more forceful and sincere apology for the pain her remarks have caused.”
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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