Comments on: The Helen Thomas media blitz: She got fired for WHAT?!

By: Michael Lonie

Michael Lonie — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 03:13:21 +0000

Well Patrick, Israel tried to give back all the land she captured in 1967 to Egypt, Syria, and Jordan (the states Israel captured the land from), except for East Jerusalem, which contains the holiest site in the world for Jews. Asking Israel to hand over East Jerusalem is rather like asking Muslims to hand over Mecca to Hindus, on the grounds that the Hindus have a fairy story about Krishna being born there, so it’s holy Hindu ground now. Israel did leave the Muslim waqf, or religious foundation, governing the Temple Mount and its two mosques, to continue running them. Israel proposed peace on the basis of negotiations between Israel and the Arab states, recognition of Israel’s negotiated borders (the “1967 borders” are mere armistice lines, never internationally recognized), and a formal peace treaty. The Israelis would keep only Jerusalem of their conquests, and Muslim worship there would be safeguarded.

The Arab states’ answer to Israel’s offer, which was made in August 1967, just two months after the Six-Day War in June, was the three no’s of Khartoum that were announced in September 1967: no recognition, no negotiations, no peace. This response continued until Sadat made peace in 1979, where he got back every rood of land Egypt wanted (the Egyptians did not want Gaza and the Palis there, so Israel was stuck with it and them). Israel made peace with Jordan in the 1990s, when the King of Jordan finally dared to make peace. Israel thought she was making peace with the Palestinian Arabs in the Oslo Accords of 1993, but the Palis never fulfilled any of their responsibilities under the agreement and immediately ramped up terrorism against Israel after Arafat and his consiglieri returned to Judea and Samaria (the West Bank so-called). If Israel’s enemies ever wanted to make peace there would be peace and a Pali state to govern, quickly. They don’t want peace or (on the part of the Palis) to govern a state, so there is no peace.

Your comment, Patrick, further reflects a certain ignorance about what Israel’s enemies characterize as “Palestinian Lands”. They mean by that all of Israel, not just the “West Bank” and the Gaza Strip. To them Tel Aviv is part of occupied Palestine. The 1967 “borders” were never recognized borders, as I noted above. What part of “Drive the Jews into the sea” do you not understand?

By: Patrick Hansel

Patrick Hansel — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:51:46 +0000

As deeply offensive as Helen Thomas’ words are–particularly the reference to Poland and Germany were heinous–they did contain some truth. Israel should get out of the Palestinian lands they occupy and return to pre-1967 borders. That is just, and at this point, it may be the only way to secure Israel’s future.

By: Zvi Menachem

Zvi Menachem — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:49:23 +0000

I thought the President’s remarks were sadly reserved. I wonder, in a hypothetical situation, if some prominent newscaster said, “Blacks should get the hell out… and go back to Africa,” would the President be more outraged?

By: Richard Schennberg

Richard Schennberg — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 20:12:55 +0000

I was not aware that we were being offered parts of Germany, Poland, and the US sufficient for lodging and employment for all of the Jews in Israel. Since we are being forced to give up land, how much land, lodging and employment are nations actually pledging for Jewish and Israeli refugees? Are people other than HT telling the Jews to GTHOOI, but then not giving them anywhere else to live and prosper? Perhaps all nations should stop making the policies that demand that the Jews GTHOOI but should also increase immigration quotas for Jewish refugees so that Jews have a place to live until the land disputes are settled.

By: Yankev

Yankev — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 01:46:29 +0000

Meryl, ture that “As Soccerdad points out, Thomas is passing along the lies that the Palestinians thrive on, and that the Arab world believes wholeheartedly. These are the lies that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tells reporters and is barely challenged in interviews.”

I haven’t read soccerdad’s post yet; has he pointed out that this is exactly the same lies that Pres. Obama perpetuated in his Cairo speech?

By: Royce

Royce — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 23:16:30 +0000

The real media firestorm would have erupted if Ms Thomas had said that the Palestinians should get out of Israel and go back to their homelands which refuse to let them re-assimilate due to political reasons. She would have been fired immediately with no questions asked.

That said, I think Ms Thomas is much less dangerous than the vast majority of her media comrades. She has made remarks like this for years, so only the far left still takes her seriously. The other anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian media elites are much more subtle, still attempting to pass themselves off as neutral, and even though conservative bloggers have educated many people to their agenda, many others can still be fooled.

By: DavidL

DavidL — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:27:22 +0000

Oh what a snide mood I am in.

First lucky for Thomas she didn’t say anything truly offensive like macaca or monkey.

Second, expelling Jews from their Biblical homeland back to the lands of their death camps is merely controversial, as in their two sides to the issue? I’d have thought it was repugnant.

Imagine if some conservative had said blacks should be forced back to Uganda at the point of a bayonet.

Fact the MSM and the Obama adminstration are anti-semantic. Thomas just made it impossible to obscure that embarrassing fact.

By: Herschel

Herschel — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:49:51 +0000

Soon we will be able to ask the question, are you for, or, against the Jewish people, and will be surprised by the answers received.
The ubiquitous anti-Semitic genie was only put back into the bottle after the revulsion of the Holocaust was publicized. Sadly, it started to creep out a few years ago with the simple innocuous chants of â€œJAPâ€ that went unanswered, later it morphed into â€œhymetownâ€ and other simple anti-Jewish slogans and jokes that even some foolish Jews thought were funny, then came Mel Gibson and his drunken anti Jewish rantings. Now aided and paid for by Muslim extremists, we are seeing the beginning of a full blown epidemic that will only continue to grow and will shock the left wing useful idiot self loathing kapos that have aided it. For now, being anti-Israel is PC for the left, very soon, anti-Jew will be too!

By: chsw

chsw — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:39:21 +0000

Helen Thomas can go back to Lebanon.

By: martin j smith

martin j smith — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:17:11 +0000

The real story behind Helen Thomas is what percentage of the MSM and Obama does she reflect. Was she a trial baloon ?
The question must be asked of the MSM is this:Do you support or oppose Helen Thomas” assertions ? The old line: We are not ant-seitic just anti-Israel is showing itself to be the lie it always was.