The Daily Bail

If you missed the story earlier:

Helen Thomas Says Jews Should "Get The Hell Out Of Palestine And Go Back To Germany" (WATCH)

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There is no validity to the Hamas narrative, of course. It is false in every particular. Hamas regularly holds the interests of Gazans hostage to its anti-Israel agenda, and it is doing so now. Hamas has refused to accept both of the aid shipments brought by the recent flotilla, even though Israel convoyed them to the border crossings. Israel herself is the largest donor of humanitarian aid to the Gazans. Hamas’ interest is in breaking the blockade so that it can receive weapon shipments unhindered from Iran. Conditions in Gaza, meanwhile, are substantially better than presented by Western media. And it is Hamas that launches rockets at Israel from Gaza, Hamas that executes bombing attacks inside Israel, and Hamas that uses women and children as human shields for its headquarters, arms caches, and supply routes.

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Ari Fleischer: Fire Helen Thomas

Helen Thomas has been a national joke for years, at least since Tony Snow thanked her once for providing the “Hezbollah view” in the daily briefings, but people rolled their eyes at her cranky, off-topic commentary for years before that. Stein says that her more “filtered” questions — really just rants about Israel dressed up as Jeopardy-style answers in question form — were popular with some of the “political and foreign policy observers” (presumably, Stein means in the press corps). Yeah, I’ll bet.

Now that Thomas has expressed her true feelings on ethnic cleansing — and remember, Jews have lived in “Palestine” for millenia and got kicked out of other old Ottoman cities well before Israel came into existence — will those observers stand up to defend Thomas and those views? Will they just keep silent? Or will they call for an action that is probably at least 20 years overdue in asking for Thomas’ expulsion from the WHPC and asking for someone to replace her and her exhausted anti-Israel hobby horse? For that matter, will the Hearst chain endorse Thomas’ views on Israel by keeping her employed, or will they cut her loose?

I’d bet that we’re in for a big round of silence. Hearst will bury its head in the sand, and Thomas’ friends in the press will desperately look away as one does with a mildly demented old relative who shouts embarrassing insults in crowded public places and hope that bystanders believe that they’re too embarrassed to correct the old lady.

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Helen Thomas’ agency dumps her as client

Perhaps Helen Thomas hoped that her apology would suffice in tamping down the furor over her videotaped rant telling the Jews to “get the hell out of Palestine.” It turns out that even her own agents didn’t buy it. Nine Speaker announced that it has dropped Thomas as a client, while Lanny Davis blasted the doyenne of the White House Press Corps as “an anti-Semitic bigot”:

    Senior White House Press Corps member Helen Thomas may have apologized for her recent on-camera remarks calling on Jews to “get the hell out of Palestine” and go home to Europe, but her reputation seems beyond repair amid the abounding calls for her resignation.

    In the wake of the incident, Thomas’ agent Nine Speaker Inc. announced that it would no longer represent her.

    “It is with a heavy heart that Nine Speakers Inc. announces its resignation as the agent for Helen Thomas, Dean of the White House Press Corps,” wrote Diane Nine, agency president.

    “Ms. Thomas has had an esteemed career as a journalist, and she has been a trailblazer for women, helping others in her profession, and beyond. However, in light of recent events, Nine Speakers is no longer able to represent Ms. Thomas, nor can we condone her comments on the Middle East,” wrote Nine.

Meanwhile, Bill Clinton’s former White House counsel denounced Thomas, and challenged the White House Correspondents Association to defend any continued access to the WHPC:

    “Helen Thomas, who I used to consider a close friend and who I used to respect, has showed herself to be an anti-Semitic bigot,” wrote Davis in a statement.. “She has a right to criticize Israel…. However, her statement that Jews in Israel should leave Israel and go back to Poland or Germany is an ancient and well-known anti-Semitic stereotype of the alien Jew not belonging in the land of Israel that began 2,600 years with the first tragic and violent Diaspora caused bythe Romans.”

    “If she had asked all blacks to go back to Africa, what would the White House Correspondents Association’s position be as to whether she deserved WhiteHouse press room credentials – much less a privileged honorary seat?” wrote Davis, referring to Thomas’ seat in the middle of the front row at the White House briefing room.

    “Does anyone doubt that my friends Ann Compton and Joe Lockhart, whobelieve in the First Amendment right of free expression as much as I do,would not be as tolerant and protective of Helen’s privileges and honorsif she had been asking Blacks to return to Africa? Or Native Americans to Asia and South America, from which they came 8,000 or more years ago? I doubt it”, concluded Davis.

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