Now, Thomas, it may be recalled is of Lebanese heritage and has covered all US presidents since John F. Kennedy. She was usually seated in the front rows of all White House press conferences as a mark of respect for her veteran status as a credible journalist. Of course none of that mattered when Nesenoff and his gang went to town with her comments. This is how the viral YouTube video presented it:
Keep in mind that it's Nesenoff who brings up Israel - as if Jewish Heritage Day could not be commemorated without attaching it to plaudits for Israel. And don't miss the spin put on them by RabbiLive.com: as if what Thomas said was in any way untrue or naive, that the only option for Jews persecuted under the Nazis was to go and occupy Palestinian land as some sort of God-given right, that Jewish settlers streaming in from Europe and the US now still have the right to occupy Gaza and the West Bank, that it compromised Thomas' credentials as a White House reporter in some way. The only reason what Thomas said seems shocking is because you never hear it in the American mainstream media.
But here's another video of Helen Thomas at a White House press briefing from June 1, that might give more of a clue why the pro-Zionist lobby decided it had to make an example out of Helen Thomas. This is her question after the US refused to condemn Israel for its barbaric attack on the Turkish flotilla to Gaza:
The only thing Helen Thomas was perhaps guilty of was being incautious in her remarks to a rabidly pro-Israel media. I guess when you're almost 90 you don't care so much about diplomatic niceties. But so much for 'freedom of expression' in the US media.
Anywhere, anywhere in the world a person with the guts to speak uncomfortable truths will never be allowed to stay. If you are part of an establishment then mediocrity and boot-licking is the only way to prosper.
ReplyDeleteThank good the Pro- Jewish lobby is controlling the white House.
ReplyDeleteImagine if it was contrilled by the House of Saud !!!
continuing Sabizak's comment, this has been happening since time immemorial. From Countless monarchs ruling vast areas to a small dacoit, nobody wants to hear an uncomfortable truth or criticism.
ReplyDelete@mcphisto rightly said...
ReplyDelete@efff... my dad done his engineering from Detroit (USA) in late 70s& whenever we hear stories of his American life he always call American people as Alien, away from reality, only knows whats happening in their own city whats happening beyond that they don't know but always said Americans are very nice people :)
.... i use to argue him how is it possible that people don't know enough about their homeland... later i found out that its true...
You all remember George W. Bush (Republican presidential front-runner latter become president)was hit with quiz on foreign affairs in 03 November 1999 that "Can you name the general who is in charge of Pakistan" & "And the prime minister of India?"
His reply was NO....
source....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/19991104/aponline181051_000.htm
Grt post indeed !! My frst evr apprection for XYZ !!
ReplyDeleteGuess what: Nesenoff is himself a racist, much worse than Thomas could ever be: http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/53541/
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that Israel can get away with things so easily? They are smart and know how to manipulate the media.
ReplyDeleteThe occupiers of Palestinian land control the media because they know how to. The viral Helen Thomas video and the doctored video of the flotilla are all examples of how swiftly they react. Yes, they have played the Holocaust card a trifle too often, but they know they can still milk it.
We, Pakistanis, let our blood curdle and swear at them. When did we organize a smart protest using twitter, FB and YouTube? We are the only people who can give them a run for their money but we take out lame mulla processions with misspelled placards - denying ourselves even the benefits of video soundbites - "Dawn with Israel!"
great post
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anon_frm_hell, for comparing Pakistan to an Apartheid state. Let us be inspired, actually, by your analogy. Of course,Pakistan, in the territories it rules, certainly, horribly mistreats its minority population, just as Israel, in the territory it rules, mistreats its majority population.
ReplyDeleteBut perhaps, Anon_frm_hell, Pakistan can take a leaf out of Israel's book and shut its minorities behind an embargoed big wall? Only allow them a few supplies to live on - soap, maybe? - plus a few goats, although their horns can be used as bomb fragments, so maybe no goats?
Surely, the minorities will be DELIGHTED by this fortunate turn of affairs. They will happily stream into these walled areas because - fuck - the apartheid state will finally be treating them better. Not a single one of them will feel claustrophobic, walled in, trapped, starved, denied of opportunities, because, dammit, the situation will have improved, and they will be able to wander to the outside world after waiting at checkpoints five hours a day (you can finish a lot of reading that way, I hear). The Pakistani population will have a ready supply of construction workers too.
Oh, and thank you for saluting us Pakistanis for licking Arab asses: we suck up to the Jordanians by killing Palestinians, we suck up to the Palestinians by showing hatred of Israel (which automatically to you becomes Jew hatred - because, face it, that's how you spun it even though its not true).
We Pakistanis are not perfect, Anon-frm_hell, and our history is stained in blood, we were bastards in Bengal and must apologize, but we are all relieved we were not born Palestinian, because quite frankly, it would really suck to live in Gaza and the West Bank right now.
Perhaps we should built a wall in Bengal. Yeah, would have been better.
I think Anon_frm_hell is a racist. His post is filled with blanket Arab-hatred.
ReplyDeleteYes, Anon_frm_hell does not seem to think Arabs are human. He should replace the word Arab with Jew in his post and then see what his own reaction is. Sometimes a bigot has to look in the mirror.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! Helen the cheeti! sab presidents ki "pahti" thi! Obama gave her cup cakes on her bd jee!
ReplyDeleteBut was it worth ending her career? well like you said who cares at 90!
Helen you shall be missed not because of this particular outburst but for being the most furious white house reporter !
@ Tayyab. What you wrote is correct and you will find many more similar examples. However my view is that American way of life is such that everybody ends up doing his/her job. If you are of certain filed you will be Master of that whereas we are Jacks and we feel happy about it.
ReplyDeleteB"H
ReplyDeleteI'm Jewish, an American living in Lahore, and this post and its comments are frightening.
It amazes me that you can all mourn the Ahmadis (and rightly so), a persecuted religious minority in your country, and then turn around a week and a half later and spew such venom about Jews, Israel, the Holocaust -- a complete anti-Semite's list of topics, I might add.
Total number of Ahmadis worldwide: ~ 10 million
Total number if Jews worldwide:
~ 13 million.
The whole pack of you, with your hate on for Jews (have any of you even met a Jew? have any Jewish friends?) you're no better than the clerics who cry out for Ahmadi blood -- including the author of this sorry little blog.
Well Anon516 I think quite adequately answered Anon_frm_hell. I just want to respond to Maxine's Other Daughter:
ReplyDeleteForgive me for not getting the Maxine reference but your comment is brilliantly typical of the obfuscating American Zionist mindset that labels every criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic. Even Israelis are more circumspect.
1. For your information Palestinians, in fact all Arabs, are also Semites. So I really do not understand what anti-Semitism you are screaming about.
2. Nobody, least of all me, has ever confused a criticism of Israel and American Zionists with a denigration of or hatred against Jewish people in general. Yes, I do have many Jewish friends, but unlike you they are far more clear headed about Israel.
3. So, according to you, if one speaks out against the persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan, s/he has no right to talk about the persecution of the Palestinians by Israelis? Or against the American mollycoddling of Israel that supports that persecution? I really fail to see any logic in your argument. If anything, it is you who amazes me: to mourn for Ahmadis in Pakistan but get splenetic if the same yardstick is applied to Palestinians in Palestine.
4. Since you seem to be largely unaware of history or opinions that do not agree with you (you have not pointed out even one instance of what I wrote being incorrect), let me just point out that a) a number of people even in the US have supported Helen Thomas and discounted her views as being anti-Semitic b) the history of the birth of Israel is largely glossed over by Zionists now: despite 'Biblical claims', even the World Zionist Congress' first choices for a Jewish state were Uganda and in South America. Palestine was the third option. And the only reason it came about was because of American racism that forced Jewish refugees to go there rather than land on American soil and the European racism of the Zionists who believed the native Palestinians did not matter ("a land without a people for a people without a land"). It is also nothing but racism that allows Jewish people from any corner of the globe to come settle in Israel as citizens but denies that right to the existing inhabitants of the land and in fact would rather see a continuing ethnic cleansing (the original being in 1948). My point in going through this little bit of history is only to corroborate why I fully support what Thomas said. It has nothing to do with wanting to see Jews being killed or persecuted.
You know what is really frightening? That you can travel half way around the world and keep your mind closed.
It is bad, but you have to tell the truth.
ReplyDeleteMikes,
http://taoofbadass101.com