Judaism Without Embellishment |
Helen Thomas is not the only example of course, but her example is one that the media finally decided to examine, rather than just brush away. Also, Ms. Thomas decided to take the long-winded approach to her semantic laden bigotry.
Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic |
Helen Thomas was fired for saying that the Jews of Israel should move to Europe, where their relatives had been slaughtered in the most devastating act of genocide in history. She believes that once the Jews are evacuated from their ancestral homeland, the world's only Jewish country should be replaced by what would be the world's 23rd Arab country. She believes that Palestinians deserve a country of their own, but that the Jews are undeserving of a nation-state in their homeland, which has had a continuous Jewish presence for 3,000 years, and has been the location of two previous Jewish states. This sounds like a very anti-Jewish position to me, not merely an anti-Zionist position.In college and after, I heard the attempts to explain away this bigotry the same manner. The people who thought Jews were "bad" and got called on it would say they were really anti-Zionist. Leftist friends would explain away the statements of Mideastern students in that way.
David Hochman |
Helen Thomas |
PLAYBOY: It was your follow-up comment, when you said the Jews should go back to Poland, Germany and America, that really infuriated people.
THOMAS: Well, that immediately evoked the concentration camps. What I meant was they should stay where they are because they’re not being persecuted—not since World War II, not since 1945. If they were, we sure would hear about it. Instead, they initiated the Jackson-Vanik law, which said the U.S. would not trade with Russia unless it allowed unlimited Jewish emigration. But it was not immigration to the United States, which would have been fine with me. It was to go to Palestine and uproot these people, throw them out of their homes, which they have done through several wars. That’s not fair. I want people to understand why the Palestinians are upset. They are incarcerated and living in an open prison. I say to the Israelis, “Get out of people’s homes!” It’s unacceptable to have soldiers knocking on a door at three in the morning and saying, “This is my home.” And forcing people out of homes they’ve lived in for centuries? What is this? How can anybody accept it? I mean, Jewish-only roads? Would anyone tolerate something like that in America? White-only roads?
PLAYBOY: You mean Israeli-only roads, not Jewish only, right? [Editor’s note: Israel closes certain roads to Palestinians, but roads are open to all Israeli citizens and to other nationals, regardless of religious background.]
THOMAS: Israeli-only roads, okay. But it’s more than semantics because the Palestinians are deprived of owning these roads. This is their land. I’m sorry, but we’re talking about foreigners who came and said, “God gave this land to us.” [Former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak] Rabin said, “Where’s the deed?” I mean, come on! Do you know that an Arab Palestinian trying to go home to see his mother has to go through 10 checkpoints and then is held there, while an American tourist can go through right like that? The Palestinian people have to carry their kids to hospitals and are not allowed to drive cars and so forth. What is this? No American Jew would tolerate that sort of treatment here against blacks or anyone else. Why do they allow it over there? And why do they send my American tax dollars to perpetuate it?
Even she says it is semantics, meaning that Jew and Zionist are interchangeable. This also goes to a bit of mass deception perpetuated by journalists, academics and other mouthpieces of Socialism. The false notion that only Jews are Israeli citizens, the false notion that only Jews can vote in Israel. In the mind of Thomas and others, saying that Israeli roads are for Jews only is not inaccurate, since they think that only Jews can be Israelis. Even the typical #OWS protestor can agree with her.
Not sure if Thomas has the convoluted the view that Palestinians should be voting in Israel, but that would fit. This is the common and bizarre notion that is rarely challenged in the press. For decades after WWII the US, France and British occupied Germany but Germans were never allowed to vote in France, England, or the USA. Did anybody ever question that? Of course, nobody in the media ever questioned Warsaw Pact countries being 'denied' a vote in Moscow either. Here in the US, the only non-State that gets electoral college representation is the District of Columbia. But somehow, the
Thomas had more to say about Jews in her interview, especially about Jeffrey Goldberg, who I quoted above. Links to the blockquote added by me.
PLAYBOY: Do you have a personal antipathy toward Jews themselves?Jeffrey Goldberg responded in a short and very classy way.
THOMAS: No. I think they’re wonderful people. They had to have the most depth. They were leaders in civil rights. They’ve always had the heart for others but not for Arabs, for some reason. I’m not anti-Jewish; I’m anti-Zionist. I am anti Israel taking what doesn’t belong to it. If you have a home and you’re kicked out of that home, you don’t come and kick someone else out. Anti-Semite? The Israelis are not even Semites! They’re Europeans, and they’ve come from somewhere else. But even if they were Semites, they would still have no right to usurp other people’s land. There are some Israelis with a conscience and a big heart, but unfortunately they are too few.
PLAYBOY: In the wake of your anti-Israel comments, a blogger from The Atlantic argued there’s really no distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. He wrote, “Thomas was fired for saying that the Jews of Israel should move to Europe, where their relatives had been slaughtered in the most devastating act of genocide in history. She believes that once the Jews are evacuated from their ancestral homeland, the world’s only Jewish country should be replaced by what would be the world’s 23rd Arab country. She believes that Palestinians deserve a country of their own but that the Jews are undeserving of a nation-state in their homeland, which has had a continuous Jewish presence for 3,000 years.…”
THOMAS: [Interrupts] Did a Jew write this? [Editor’s note: The writer is Jeffrey Goldberg.]
PLAYBOY: “…and has been the location of two previous Jewish states. This sounds like a very anti-Jewish position to me, not merely an anti-Zionist position.”
THOMAS: This is a rotten piece. I mean it’s absolutely biased and totally—who are these people? Why do they think they’re so deserving? The slaughter of Jews stopped with World War II. I had two brothers and many relatives who fought in that war against Hitler. We believed in it. Every American family was in that fight. But they were liberated since then. And yet they carry on the victimization. American people do not know that the Israeli lobbyists have intimidated them into believing every Jew is a persecuted victim forever—while they are victimizing Palestinians.
Is Thomas seems unaware that the persecution and slaughter of Jews began long before WWII and continued long after? Ignoring this is certainly in line with denying the wrongs of Stalin while being faithful to her antisemitic roots. Seeing it as no big deal fits right in too.
The Soviets did not start bashing Israel right away. They were, in fact, the second country to recognize Israel as a nation, the USA was first. Israel began as a Socialist leaning state, that the Soviets and the French found very appealing. The Soviets cut diplomatic relations in 1967, during another war that involved Israel's neighbors wanting to drive all the Jews into the sea. Like a jilted lover calling his ex-girlfriend a lesbian, they ramped up the antisemitism, disguising it as anti-Zionism (Zionology). Useful idiots in the West, like Helen Thomas, are more than willing to spread the hate long after their Soviet puppet masters have retired.
UPDATE: A Twitter user provided this comical response to my tweet about this post -
Glenn Beck as antisemitic in a thread about Helen Thomas? He also directed another tweet at me claiming Obama governs closer to Reagan than FDR and "facts tend to have a liberal bias." See what I mean? I don't remember what Reagan nationalized (if anybody has info on that, please forward) but I just named what Obama did in that direction yesterday. Check for show times for stormkrow at the Funny Bone!@JohnTagliaferro Why would Jews hold Kol Nidre service at#OWS. The only anti-semite in your thread is#GlennBeck