Ninety-year-old Helen Thomas gave a speech at the eighth annual “Images and Perceptions of Arab Americans” conference in Detroit yesterday. Before her talk, she spoke with reporters about her infamous suggestion that Jews should “get the hell out of Palestine” and go “home” to Germany, Poland and the U.S.:
I stand by it. I told the truth,” the 90-year-old Thomas told reporters…. “I paid a price but it’s worth it to speak the truth.”
But Thomas was just getting warmed up. This is what she had to say in her speech:
“Congress, the White House and Hollywood, Wall Street are owned by the Zionists,” Thomas said. “No question.” …
“I can call the president of the United States anything in the book but I can’t touch Israel,” she said.
Yes, that must be frustrating for her.
The Associated Press actually covered for Thomas by mischaracterizing the comments that got her fired by Hearst:
Her speech followed her resignation from Hearst Newspapers in June, after she told an interviewer that Jews should “get the hell out” of the Palestinian territories and go to Germany, Poland or the United States.
The AP just volunteered that part about the “Palestinian territories.” If you listen to Thomas saying the Jews should “get the hell out of Palestine,” it is obvious that she is using “Palestine” in the Arab sense to mean Israel. If she had merely meant that Jews should get out of the West Bank, she would have said they should go home to Israel.
The AP reports that Thomas received a standing ovation at the “Images and Perceptions of Arab Americans” conference. Yesterday was a big day for her; she was also “the guest of honor at the Arab American National Museum, where a sculpture of her was unveiled during a private reception.”
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