A longer video clip (below) has now been posted of the full exchange between Helen Thomas and passersby that included Jewish students and David Nesenoff. The brouhaha that ensued led to trailblazer Thomas announcing her retirement. This full clip gives a decidedly different tenor to the exchange than the truncated remark that was seized upon to vilify an American icon. I caught this at Balloon Juice, where John Cole entitles his post ‘You Got Played‘ and writes with fitting sarcasm:
Clearly, this woman is evil beyond words. The way she smiled at those Jewish kids while giving them friendly advice to enter careers in journalism so they can have fulfilling lives of learning and accomplishment … You guys got played. And by this jackass [Nesenoff], running around doing Mexican impressions in his spare time. Does anyone still want to try to pretend she was suggesting people be time-warped back to Auschwitz? Or that her pleasantly offering advice to Jewish students was horrifying anti-Semitism at work? Anyone? On the upside, no one is talking about the unpleasantness with the flotilla anymore.
The transcript is over the fold.
Transcript (thanks to John Cole)
Q: Any advice for these young people over here for starting out in the press corps?
Thomas: Go for it. You’ll never be unhappy. You’ll always keep people informed, you’ll always keep learning. The greatest thing of the profession is you’ll never stop learning.
Q: Today they are covering the Jewish Heritage Month.
Thomas: … and meet the President.
A: Any comments on Israel? We’re asking everyone today, any comments on..
Thomas: Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine.
Q: Oooh. Any better comments?
Thomas: Remember, these people are occupied, and it’s their land. It’s not Germany and it’s not Poland.
Q: So where should they go, what should they do?
Thomas: They can go home.
Q: Where is home?
Thomas: Poland. Germany.
Q: So you are saying Jews should go back to Poland?
Thomas: And America and everywhere else. Why push people out who have lived there for centuries? See?
Q: Now, are you familiar with the history of that region and what took place?
Thomas: Very much. I’m of Arab background.
{It goes on for a little while with friendly banter about languages they both speak with words I can not even begin to spell.}
Q: Thank you.
Thomas: All the best to you (directed at the Jewish students). Go for it- go for journalism, you’ll never regret it.
If only Nesenoff wished the best for you, Helen, and had not disingenuously held on to this full video til the 7th June.
It could be this type of actual hard questioning, directed at Press Secretary Gibbs at a press briefing on June 1, that got under the goat of the likes of Nesenoff:
“Our initial reaction to this flotilla massacre, deliberate massacre, an international crime, was pitiful. What do you mean you regret when something should be so strongly condemned? And if any other nation in the world had done it, we would have been up in arms. What is the sacrosanct, iron-clad relationship where a country that deliberately kills people and boycotts – and we aid and abet the boycott?”
Check out this piece by Sam Sedaei in the HuffPo: Is Helen Thomas an Anti-Semite, or Are Her Critics?.
Here’s some real actual racism for you.
Mathew Yglesias proposes that we complete the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and kick the Palestinians out of the West Bank and Gaza too.
Sadly No via @Mondoweiss
Drilling down into that post by HTML Mencken, Josh Marshal posts a semi-anonymous comment from V-Mask wearing “JW”.
JW FTW
…
emphasis mine.
Remember, Apartheid South Africa? Many of us in the left, including myself, would say:”Racist Whites should get out of South Africa, if they are afraid to give the Blacks equal rights.” If your ethnie is in power and cannot treat others with equal rights, then your ethnie should move somewhere else! Why should it not apply to the racist Zionist in Israel?–Michael Santomauro
Birobidzan experiencing a small revival, thanks to Jews arriving from Israel
Christian Science Monitor: Russians returning
Jewish Autonomous Region
Area
36000 sq km
Capital
Birobidzhan
Key Industries
Construction materials, energy, machine engineering and metals, timber, pulp and paper, light, and food and beverages.
Transport infrastructure
The Jewish Autonomous Region has a well-developed transport infrastructure. The Amur River links the Region to the Pacific ocean. The Trans-Siberian railroad also crosses the Region.
Roads. The Jewish Autonomous Region has 1,640 kilometers of public highway. The Region’s main artery is the Khabarovsk – Birobidjan – Obluchie – Amur Region highway, with a ferry over the Amur river. The Region has international road links over the Amur River to the Chinese towns of Tongjiang, Mingshang and Jiayin.
Railroads. The Jewish Autonomous Region has 310 kilometers of railroad. The Trans-Siberian railroad links the Region to the rest of Russia.
Airports. The Region’s airport at Zhiolty Yar links Birobidjan with Khabarovsk and remote urban centers. The Region also plans to start international flights between Birobidjan and Jiamusi (China).
River transport. The total length of the Region’s waterways (Amur and Tunguska rivers) is 600 kilometers. Navigation is open on the Amur River for 180 days on average.
Map and links at http://alethonews.wordpress.com/. Direct URL: http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/birobidzan-experiencing-a-small-revival-thanks-to-jews-arriving-from-israel/
posted by Matthew
I guess this is the very same Matthew that felt the need to attack skepticism of the establishment 9/11 narrative, the same guy that is blind to the power of the Israel lobby. Wait that reminds me of some other guys, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and Robert Fisk. I guess it’s no mystery how they got all those high profile positions.