5 Reasons To Give Helen Thomas A Break Already By Levon P [6 more lists]

Helen Thomas, White House correspondent for nearly 60 years, recently answered a question regarding Israel. The question was of whether or not she had any comments on Israel. Regarding what? Who knows? Someone named Rabbi David F. Nesenoff wanted to know though, so he asked her. In her answer, which punitively forced her into retirement, she essentially said Israelis should go back home to Germany, Poland and the United States then continued by saying that the land in question was originally Palestinian land. Seems she ticked off the wrong people in stating her belief in the ongoing he said / she said dispute that’s kept the region foreign to peace for so many decades. Some say she’s an anti-semite now. Others say she should always be remembered as the woman whom empowered so many women by breaking the stigma of women working in high places and still showed up to work every day until the age of 89. To an intelligent listener, it’s clear her belief is not that Jews should go back to Nazi torture as the rabbi so gracelessly implies. Is her belief ethical? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. But were her words intended to damn all Jews and Israelis to Nazi mistreatment? Likely not. She has since apologized for having offended so many people. You can view the video of Helen Thomas answering the question in question at: http://www.rabbilive.com/RabbiLIVE/Helen.html.

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Was The Word “Jews?” Or Was It “Israelis?”

Frankly, the fact is, Rabbi David F. Nesenoff, the person asking Thomas about her opinion on the issue of what Israelis should do was pretty clear in using the word “Israelis” and not “Jews,” in the initial question.

Israel is a nation, not a religion, so to state an opinion, flattering or otherwise, regarding a nation and its actions and policies is not quite the same as attacking an entire religion. Believe it or not, Americans have every right to criticize other nations.

In following, the rabbi eventually threw the word “Jews” into a follow-up of the original question…even though it was quite obvious the nearly-90-year old woman was already speaking of Israelis and not Jews, land and not people. Perhaps the asking should have been more clear form the get-go. Perhaps better journalism would have prevented this mess from ever happening? Perhaps religious leaders are biased in favor of their own beliefs. Perhaps journalism should be led to journalists and religious leading should be left to religious leaders.

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Credibility

All things considered, Helen Thomas has been known for some 60 years as an objective journalist. To say she said one thing that no one likes and therefore paint her an anti-semite is, in short, absolutely ridiculous.

Being as she has been in The White House, quite frankly, longer than probably anyone and has been there to observe and question, it’s safe to say she’s seen and heard enough policy procedures on the Israel/Palestinian conflict to know first-hand more than perhaps even the President himself regarding the matter. Doesn’t it seem odd that when someone so heavily informed says something, a bunch of noobs say, essentially, “Nuh-uh. She’s wrong, she’s evil, she’s an anti-semite, she’s done.”…?

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Use Your Brain, Not Your Ears

When Helen Thomas said that Israelis should go back to Germany, Poland or the United States, she did not literally mean they should go to Germany and Poland, walk in to gas chambers and die. It takes a serious degree of idiot-ill-logic to connect the dots and come to that conclusion. Many respected people, former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer for one, claim to believe that she meant just that. If Ari and his new contact lenses really think that, then perhaps the people of America should be less concerned with what an 89-year old journalist said and more concerned with how well-informed the nation really was during his time at The White House way back in the Dubya years. Many have after all questioned the accuracy of Fleischer’s words to the press during the bombings of Iraq.

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Hateful Or Opinionated?

Did Thomas really say something hateful? Or was she simply answering the question of her opinion? She did not once say, “Because I hate so-and-so people, they should do so-and-so.” Rather, she said what she believes to be the case in the conflict of the land being disputed over by Israel and Palestinians.

A conflict that has been so heavily sprinkled and coated with so many question marks over the decades, that the basis of the conflict itself can barely even be seen anymore.

Is it really right to say one’s opinion is anti-semitic simply because it goes against the policies of a foreign nation? Were the words “anti” or “hate” ever even used in her comments?

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Lobbyists

Lobbyists instill all sorts of beliefs in people. “Take this medicine every day, it’ll keep you healthy.” Strange as it may seem, quite often doctors only say that because lobbyists pay them to.

“Don’t eat this anymore, it’s bad for you.” Why not eat it? Because lobbyists paid an agency to tell you not to.

“Israel must be worshipped.” Why? Because lobbyists might actually be paying people to tell you to. It would be wise to question this logic of treating Israel like some sort of angelic deity without question, but the truth is, the average American can’t.

Who WOULD one ask? Congress? The president? Who knows? Helen Thomas, however, has spent 60 years doing just that. Questioning government and all of its lobby-funded maneuvers.

Perhaps her opinion comes from a source the people themselves have never seen. To smear her opinion rather than question her sources first is beyond rude, it’s downright dumb.

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Was The Word “Jews?” Or Was It “Israelis?”

Credibility

Use Your Brain, Not Your Ears

Hateful Or Opinionated?

Lobbyists