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What a way to go.
Just two months shy of her 90th birthday, Helen Thomas, the longtime Washington journalist, has abruptly retired as a columnist for Heart News Service. This, after remarks she made about Israelis that were caught on tape, saying they should, quote, "Get the hell out of Palestine", and go instead to Germany, Poland or the United States.
Rabbi David Nesenoff, an independent filmmaker from Long Island who runs the website RabbiLIVE.com, said he approached Thomas outside the White House after being there for Jewish Heritage Day on May 27.
He asked whether she had any comments on Israel. "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine," she replied.
"Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not Germany, it's not Poland," she continued. Asked where they should go, she answered, "They should go home."
"Where's home?" Nesenoff asked.
"Poland, Germany and America and everywhere else," Thomas replied. It should be noted, that Thomas is the daughter of Lebanese immigrants.
She apologized, but White House spokesman Robert Gibbs denounced her comments as "offensive and reprehensible." Her press corps colleagues with the White House Correspondents Association issued a rare admonishment calling them "indefensible."
Thomas began covering the White House for UPI in 1960. Fiercely competitive, she became the first female White House bureau chief for a wire service when UPI named her to the position in 1974. She was also the first female officer at the National Press Club, where women had once been barred as members. The opinionated correspondent used her seat in the front row of history to grill 10 presidents.
It's a shame that, at the age of 89, and after all of her accomplishments, Thomas will be remembered most, for this. There's no way she could have continued at her job. The fact is, she has lost all credibility as an objective journalist. On a happy note, I'm sure there are plenty of places for her to retire... heck, even Israel.
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