Thomas, who has been covering the White House since the time
of President Dwight Eisenhower and in office for over 50 years, was forced to
resign from her job as a columnist of Hearst Corporation when she was accused
of “anti-Semitism” for allegedly making “anti-Israel comments”.
During a “Jewish Heritage celebration” at the White House on
May 27, Helen Thomas, was approached by an anti-Palestinian rabbi and blogger
who asked her what she thought of Israel, a question she responded to by
saying: “They should get the hell out of Palestine.”
The blogger-rabbi then used clever verbal gymnastics to
extract “incriminating evidence” and had her say: “Remember, these people are
occupied. And it’s their land. Not Germany. Not Poland.”
He then asked her where should those Israelis go, Thomas
answered: “Go home.”
“Where’s home?” the rabbi asked.
“Poland. Germany.” She responded.
Helen Thomas answered the questions right, but the so-called
mainstream media and Israel supporters in the United States shamelessly pounced
on this 89-year-old lady who will be 90 in August and accused her of indulging
in “anti-Semitism” when in fact she was not. Helen Thomas did not say or mean
that Jews should leave West Jerusalem, Haifa, Yafa, Tel Aviv and Nazareth and
go back to Germany or Poland, as the media made it out to be. The context of
her words was, in fact, a reference to the occupation of the West Bank and East
Jerusalem by Israel since 1967.
Helen Thomas' statement does not differ much from the
official US policy that considers the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and
East Jerusalem illegal.
A year ago, President Obama went to Cairo and delivered a
historic speech promising “a new beginning” between America and the Arab and
Islamic world. The Thomas affair proves that the new beginning that Obama
promised the Arab world is almost impossible to start when the US foreign
policy in the Middle East places Israel over and above every other
consideration. Any criticism of Israel, as this unfortunate event shows, is met
with a vicious pro-Israeli “lynch mob” which is armed with prepackaged and
ready-to-use indictments of “anti-Semitism".
For most people in the Arab world, the perception of the US
is that it is a country that subsidizes the Israeli occupation of Palestinian
lands and supports Israel no matter what Israel does. This perception gained
credence recently when President Obama and his administration refrained from
condemning Israel over its killing of an American citizen and nine other
Turkish citizens on “Freedom Flotilla" that aimed to break the Israeli
blockade of Gaza.
Helen Thomas' forced resignation will further cow the
mainstream media into not criticizing or questioning Israeli policies in the
Middle East. It will also serve as a chilling reminder that the US media is not
really free.