On videotape, veteran journalist says Jews should 'get the hell out of Palestine.'
Helen Thomas. CNN is reporting that longtime White House correspondent Helen Thomas, 89, has retired. The Hearst newspaper columnist got in some hot water for remarks she made in a video interview with RabbiLIVE.com during a celebration of Jewish Heritage Month at the White House at the end of May.
When asked about Israel's recent arrests of Palestinians, Thomas said Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and "go home...to Poland, Germany and America."
Thomas apologized for her remarks, but that wasn't enough for many people who called for her resignation or firing. In a statement Thomas said: "I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon.’’
Lanny Davis, the former special counsel to President Clinton and White House spokesman, called Thomas "an anti-Semitic bigot" and compared her remarks to “asking Blacks to return to Africa," according to a statement posted on Politico.com.
Former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told the Huffington Post the remarks were grounds for firing.
"As someone who is Jewish, and as someone who worked with her and used to like her, I find this appalling. ... She is advocating religious cleansing. How can Hearst stand by her? If a journalist, or a columnist, said the same thing about blacks or Hispanics, they would already have lost their jobs," Fleischer said.
After making those remarks, Thomas was dropped as a client by the agency Nine Speakers, and she agreed to bow out as commencement speaker at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland.
» Politico.com: More Thomas fallout
» Huffington Post: Ari Fleischer: Fire Helen Thomas
» Fox News: Why Are We Tolerating Helen Thomas' Journalistic Hypocrisy?
» Time: Helen Thomas: Go to the Back of the Room
» NY Post: Lazio Says Helen Thomas Must Go Over Israel Remarks
» Washington Post: Helen Thomas agrees to bow out as commencement speaker