I met Helen Thomas last year at a conference called “Women and Power” at Omega Institute. We were presenters on the same panel about women and the media. She was funny, gracious, kind, opinionated. Among her many bon mots, she said (and I love this) that”If you want to know what’s happening in the world, read the comics.” (paraphrase, but close).
My feeling is that as we get older, we women learn to lose our inhibitions in many ways. Helen Thomas represents that clearly. We realize that being careful is not all that it is cracked up to, that being nice at the exclusion of ourselves should not always be the most important quality to have. Her comments on Israel and the Jews, however, went too far in my estimation. She is, of course, allowed her own opinion, but even she realized after the fact that what she said was not right. Her emotions got the better of her–I am not sure if it was because of her age. Maybe after years of being asked questions, she let her inner editor fall away when she shouldn’t have.
I am sorry she will end her career on this note…if in fact her career is ended. Maybe she should do stand-up. Sarah Silverman has shown that raw comments get a laugh from many. In my cartoons, I try to be uninhibited but thoughtful, not hurtful, and not provocative as in pushing people’s buttons. I want to be like Helen Thomas, but not as she was last week.
The cartoon below was done last week (June 10, 2010) and has run in numerous online sites, starting with womensenews.org, then dscriber.com and now salon.com It’s getting a lot of comments, mostly in the form of dialogue between the commenters on their own opinions. As long as the comments don’t get nasty, dialogue is what we need.
That old racist (Lebanese) ARAB woman Helen Thomas’ ‘ethnic cleansing’ view reflects the ‘conflct of the middle east’ Arab racism & Islamic bigotry that is.
You have to thank that old Arab hag for being honest, at least, at her last days…
Take a good look at this “moderate” Arab and tell me it’s not about Arab racism.
The basic attitudes of the intolerant Goliath Arab Muslims world is that: ‘You Jews are “outsiders” here in the middle east!’ The Arab Palestinians who’s parents or grandparents came over from Arab land and occupy the Jews’ original homeland? they’re OK, they’re “home.”
Because the entire middle east is ‘Arab Muslim land’ all other non-Arab non-Muslim minorities are “outsiders” especially the Jews, Why? Because they’re neither Arab nor Muslim…
Now, let’s here some radical liberals defending the Arab Muslim bigotry with “occupation and poor palestinians” slogans.
The same radical liberals that couldn’t care less what the Islamic Palestine or Hezbollah have in store for them, exactly what kind of Islamic states are in line with liberals’ supposed claim for defending human rights, or even women’s rights?
I guess, that Palestinian crimes against humanity like torturing fellow “rivals,” honor killing epidemic and oppressing Christians are OK with liberals’ values.
Not to mention the total fear in totalitarian like “Palestine” for speaking out, unlike in democratic free Israel, there’s virtual no freedom of the press or speech.
That’s besides Palestinian & Hezbollah’s routinely horrindeous crimes like taking the lives of their civilians for no more as toys in their games of bloodshed, in use of war.
I did not view what Helen Thomas said as any more offensive than someone saying that “All Americans should go back home”. That statement uttered by a native American would have a certain “truth” to it. And by a non-American, though insulting, is ignorant. I was surprised by her saying it because being in the media herself, she should have known what a firestorm it would create, torching her entire career it seems. I guess ultimately, I don’t care that much about Helen Thomas, nor what she said. I live in too small of a teapot to contain this particular tempest.
@lrlee
Thomas was responding to unexpected badgering from another reporter. It’s not like she made these statements in an article or at a press conference. She got angry. I’m sure she doesn’t think that Israeli Jews should actually go “back” to Germany, which at this point makes no sense, no matter how you feel about Israel and Palestine. She was expressing her frustration, and she said something flippant, and now she’s being painted as an anti-Semite. Ridiculous. She must have been close to retirement anyway, and simply decided that it wasn’t worth it to fight this battle. I don’t blame her.
She was badgered by another reporter? I want to read more about that…have a link?