Politico.Com has the story (linked below) about Helen Thomas' speech to an Arab group in Dearborn. Abe Foxman, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, has reacted strongly.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/1210/ADL_slams_Helen_Thomas_as_vulgar_antiSemite.html#
Here is more from Pajamas Media:
http://pajamasmedia.com/eddriscoll/2010/12/02/helen-thomas-rescinds-her-apology/
Thomas' words are a classic example of how criticism of Israel drifts over the line into anti-Semitism. Some of the comments on the reader comment thread also show that sentiment. They are also interesting to read.
Thomas has raised the issue of Jewish dominance in certain professional fields. First of all, non-Jews are not prohibited from entering any of those fields and prospering. The fact that Jews have excelled in those fields is nothing they should be embarrassed or defensive about. For example, should Jews be embarrassed that they have done so well in Hollywood? No, they should be proud of their achievements. The same goes for banking, law and medicine. To complain about this is similar to complaining about the fact that Asian Americans excel academically. (Not all do).
When the Nazis came to power in Germany, one of their first actions was to eliminate Jewish students and professors from universities. Guess which faculty departments gave them the most support. It was the medical departments. They were jealous of the fact that there were so many Jewish doctors-especially in Berlin. Not surprisingly many if not most of the university rectors in the Nazi years came from the medical departments. The University of Erlangen, which has long been one of the top medical schools in Germany, was a notable example.
But back to Helen Thomas. I care little how Helen Thomas, who is of Lebanese decent, feels about Israel. The problem is that when she bashes Israel, the word "Jew" usually comes out pretty fast. She is, in fact, a bigot, an anti-Semite. That any Arab group would give her awards and speaking engagements, says volumes about those organizations.
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4 comments:
Gary, your post would have more credibility if you linked to an article reporting what she said, rather than a commentary critiquing what is wrong with what she said.
Attempting to google something closer to news, I did not find (even on Jewish sites) reference to her talking about "Jews" but about "Israel" and "Zionists." She did, as I recall, say that "Jews" should go back to Germany, Poland, etc. during the original outburst that cost her her job.
She's wrong about Zionists running the world. A more nuanced statement, that organized Zionist advocacy organizations have undue influence on U.S. foreign policy, to the extent that Israel acts in a dangerously irresponsible manner, figuring the world, or at least the U.S., would never dare to cut off support, would have been accurate and timely. She's obviously too emotional about the whole subject to think through what she is going to say.
Isn't it funny how her anti-Semitism has erupted as soon as she was fired?
Siarlys,
I have added another link from Pajamas Media, which gives more details.
"She's obviously too emotional about the whole subject to think through what she is going to say."
Siarlys,
She is a professional journalist with how many decades of experience? Stop making excuses for her.
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