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WASHINGTON: She wanted Jews in Israel to "get the hell out of Palestine" and "go home" to Germany, Poland, and the US. Instead, she had to get the hell out of the White House and went home — to retirement.
Journalists write news more often than make news, but Helen Thomas, 89, was no ordinary scribe. The doyenne of the press corps ("Prime Doyenne," some called her), who has covered the White House from before President Obama was born, was an American institution.
She was so revered that she had a reserved front seat in the White House briefing room, and by convention, because of her seniority, got to ask the first question at presidential press conferences.
But last week, the reverence turned to shock, outrage, and even anger in the press corps and beyond. Asked by a Jewish blogger what she thought of Israel, Thomas, who is of Lebanese origin, snapped that Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and go home to "Poland, Germany and America and everywhere else."
The blogger, Rabbi David Nesenoff, who filmed the comments, said he was shocked by the response, and soon posted it online, where it generated a firestorm of protest.
Thomas later expressed "deep regret" for her comments and saying "they do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance." But it was too little, too late. Many in Washington DC, including fellow scribes, who had been at the receiving end of her tart tongue, felt it was time for her to go.
Even the White House press corps, which treated her with awe, called her comments "indefensible". A local school cancelled a speech she was scheduled to give and an agency that represented her for speaking engagement dumped her.
It was an ignominious end to a glorious career that spanned ten US presidents. Described as the most famous woman to ever cover the White House, Helen Thomas even played herself in two movies ("Dave" in 1993 and "American President" in 1995). Her in-your-face style, which got more opinionated and cranky with seniority riled presidents and their aides to the extent that ex-secretary of state Colin Powell once joked, "Isn't there a war somewhere we could send her to?"
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ms-veteran-US-scribe-/articleshow/6025726.cms
Journalists write news more often than make news, but Helen Thomas, 89, was no ordinary scribe. The doyenne of the press corps ("Prime Doyenne," some called her), who has covered the White House from before President Obama was born, was an American institution.
She was so revered that she had a reserved front seat in the White House briefing room, and by convention, because of her seniority, got to ask the first question at presidential press conferences.
But last week, the reverence turned to shock, outrage, and even anger in the press corps and beyond. Asked by a Jewish blogger what she thought of Israel, Thomas, who is of Lebanese origin, snapped that Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and go home to "Poland, Germany and America and everywhere else."
The blogger, Rabbi David Nesenoff, who filmed the comments, said he was shocked by the response, and soon posted it online, where it generated a firestorm of protest.
Thomas later expressed "deep regret" for her comments and saying "they do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance." But it was too little, too late. Many in Washington DC, including fellow scribes, who had been at the receiving end of her tart tongue, felt it was time for her to go.
Even the White House press corps, which treated her with awe, called her comments "indefensible". A local school cancelled a speech she was scheduled to give and an agency that represented her for speaking engagement dumped her.
It was an ignominious end to a glorious career that spanned ten US presidents. Described as the most famous woman to ever cover the White House, Helen Thomas even played herself in two movies ("Dave" in 1993 and "American President" in 1995). Her in-your-face style, which got more opinionated and cranky with seniority riled presidents and their aides to the extent that ex-secretary of state Colin Powell once joked, "Isn't there a war somewhere we could send her to?"
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ms-veteran-US-scribe-/articleshow/6025726.cms