MARION, Ohio (AP) — In a radio interview, former White House correspondent Helen Thomas acknowledges she touched a nerve with remarks about Israel that led to her retirement. But she says the comments were “exactly what I thought,” even though she realized soon afterward that it was the end of her job.
“I hit the third rail. You cannot criticize Israel in this country and survive,” Thomas told Ohio station WMRN-AM in a sometimes emotional 35-minute interview that aired Tuesday. It was recorded a week earlier by WMRN reporter Scott Spears at Thomas’ Washington, D.C., condominium.
Thomas, 90, stepped down from her job as a columnist for Hearst News Service in June after a rabbi and independent filmmaker videotaped her outside the White House calling on Israelis to get “out of Palestine.” She gave up her front row seat in the White House press room, where she had aimed often pointed questions at 10 presidents, going back to Eisenhower.
She has kept a low profile since then.
“(It was) very hard for the first two weeks. After that, I came out of my coma,” Thomas said.
Rabbi David Nesenoff, who runs the website rabbilive.com, said he approached Thomas after he’d been at the White House 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.
“I told him exactly what I thought,” Thomas said in the radio interview. But when she soon began getting calls about her remark, “I said this is the end of my job.”
She issued an apology, she told the radio interviewer, because people were upset and she thought she had hurt people. “At the same time, I had the same feelings about Israel’s aggression and brutality,” Thomas said.
Asked whether she’s anti-Semitic, she responded “Baloney!“ She said she wants to be remembered for ”integrity and my honesty and my belief in good journalism” and would like to work again.
Spears said Thomas granted him the interview because the two had developed a friendship during previous interviews she had done with the station in Marion, 42 miles north of Columbus in central Ohio.
Their discussion also touched on current politics, particularly on women.
Thomas described Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as “a hawk.” ”I thought women in politics would have more compassion, be more liberal,” Thomas said.
As for Sarah Palin, Thomas said she believed the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate was ambitious enough to run for president.
“That would be a tragedy, a national tragedy,” she said, describing Palin as “very conservative, reactionary, unbelievable.”
Asked about tea party-backed Republican Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell, Thomas responded with one word: “Frightening.”
___
Information from: WMRN-AM, http://www.wmrn.com
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Comments (178)
angrymob
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:37pmShe thinks she can tell Israel where to go? Israel’s is one of our few allies in this world…would we put up with such bull if we were in their position?
Report Post »leftylemn
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:35pmEven the possibily of a newer younger witch is what’s “frightening” to Helen.
Report Post »horton148
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:33pmThat’s probably the first time she ever cried.
Report Post »caitlynsdad
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:26pmWelcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another episode of Name That Anti-Semitic Remark. One of the following two remarks is anti-Semitic and should never, ever be condoned. The other is just something that a journalist says to make innocent small talk. Can you identify which is which? If you can, you’ll win our Million Dollar Prize!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1. Jews control the media.
2. Jews should get the hell out of Palestine and go back to Europe, where they’ve always been perfectly welcome in the past.
Can you guess? Or would you like to use a lifeline?
Report Post »Ahcma
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 6:29pmOnly problem is that there has never been a state or country called Palestine, it has always been just a region within the arab world (like the Champagne region within France). So for puppet face to say “get the hell out of Palestine” just shows she doesn’t know geography, let alone history (and thank god she is).
Report Post »Goldenyears22
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 7:04pmThe history of Israel is ancient. When God called Abraham out to be His representatives on this earth, He gave to him the land of Israel and as far as the Euphrates River to the EAst. I would have to look it up to see just how far South and North. They have never had that much land because they were not obedient to God after a while they went into the Promised Land and began to assume the pagan religions of their neighbors. . It was occupied by other tribes and most of them were defeated, the hardest group for them to defeat were the Philistians, a coastal tribe of fierce warriors. So the nation belonged to Israel. They were conquered many times and eventually went off to captivity in Babylon and came back to Israel or Judah after 80 years of captivity by the Babylonians. Then Persia grew up a great king that defeated the Babylonians and the king of Persia gave the captured Israelites their freedom to go back to their homeland. Some went back, many stayed in Babylon, which is present day Iraq. The nation rebuilt but was later captured before the time of Christ by the Roman Empire. Finally Israel fell again and scattered to the far-corners of the earth. God promised that one day Israel would become a nation again and it took a very long, long time, finally they became a nation again in 1946 or 1945. The Jewish people returned by the millions to their land that was promised to Abraham and his descendants thousands of years ago. Israel belongs to God’s people.They rightfully reclaimed what was theirs. It has never belonged to the Palestinians, they are intruders, but God has a purpose for all things and a grand plan for the earth and one day will reveal to us what He has in mind. So Helen Thomas is wrong and is a crude, rude person who should return to her den and stay put. 20 years ago, I felt she should retire, No, thirty years ago, she should have retired. I’ve always wondered what there was about her that she was the darling of the press Corps.
Report Post »caitlynsdad
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 7:05pmMy personal opinion is, she just couldn’t bring herself to say Israel. For Helen Thomas to say Israel would have been like a nun saying the F word.
Report Post »M31Sailor
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 9:24pmDad
Do i have to streak naked and have you see and hear me to collect the million dollars?\
Sailor
Report Post »caitlynsdad
Posted on October 13, 2010 at 12:54am@Sailor
Report Post »LOL. No, just throw a book at me.
Awakenow
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:20pmNext thing you know she will be telling us she is not a liberal, oh yea that’s right she already did,so much for credibility.
Report Post »RobR
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:15pm………And she refers to actual Baloney as slip covers and talks to french fries……….so really why are we wasting another second on this hag?
Report Post »Rodney
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:14pmHelen is the scariest thing I have seen in a while. I can imagine her with a huge black hat on saying “hehehehe, I’m going to get you my pretty”.
Report Post »Ahcma
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 6:17pmActually, Margaret O’Brien (I think that’s correct) was lots better looking.
Report Post »Silver Lining
Posted on October 13, 2010 at 9:43amI think you mean Margaret Hamilton. Margaret O‘Brien was Judy Garland’s cute little sister in Meet Me in St. Louis…
Report Post »LadyIzShy
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:11pmshe showed her true colors and has no real regrets. what can you expect from a progressive?
Report Post »LBreath
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:10pmYou don’t have to agree with what is said to appreciate the candid voicing of an opinion. I’d rather face a self righteous bigot than a two-faced liar telling me what they think I want to hear.
Report Post »C. Schwehr
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 7:08pmShe was both…..and good riddance!
Report Post »aqualung
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:09pmShe looks like Gloria Alldred or Gloria Aldred looks like her.
Report Post »AmericanPatriot01
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 9:14pmYea its the female progressive look. They all look the same if you ask me, EVIL.
Report Post »BEH
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:09pmand she has the nerve to call Christine O’Donnell “Frightening”
Report Post »Goldenyears22
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 7:11pmHaha, Christine O’Donnell is a very pretty lady. I’ve been listening to her and I like what she has to say. She makes a lot of good sense and I think and hope those from Delaware will listen to her. Probably more than a lot of the career politicians she does know how the common, middle class people have to live. She knows their struggles. I’m not from Delaware, but I would vote for her.
Report Post »vic138
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:09pmAdd your comments
Report Post »angrymob
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 5:05pmWhere there‘s smoke there’s a fire…
Report Post »vic138
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:08pmI was going to write something about blacks and africa to make a similar “non-racial” comparison, but f it. Who cares. Glad she’s gone, not a good journalist anyway, just a relic.
Report Post »roberja
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:07pmMiss Thomas needs to spend her retirement in studying history, especially the conditions in the Middle East that led to the formation of the state of Israel. She should have told the Jordanians that statement. Also, a true journalist is supposed only to report the facts and keep opinions to herself. Get reading , Helen!
Report Post »JD Carp
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 10:17pmShe is just a qucked, unhappy old woman wurg kuttle sense and even lesss abilities.
Report Post »drbage
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:05pmShe, of all people, thought Hilary would be less of a hawk. The progressive policy is that you take the little white lie, repeat, embellish it, let it lie fallow for a while, then resurrect it and voila it is the truth. May she enjoy her retirement and please, oh please, do not write a memoir and expect us to buy it!
Report Post »Goldenyears22
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 7:08pmHave you noticed how much the press is building Hillary up again? They want her to run for president. What they forget is that there are a lot of us who do not want her. I look at her and think that her mind might not be in the best shape these days.
Report Post »AmericanPatriot01
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 9:12pmIf she did write one the colleges would probably make it manditory reading so they could poison our youth with it.
Report Post »Bronco II
Posted on October 13, 2010 at 8:28amI second that.
Report Post »hashmark717
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:02pmFrightening? Please, Helen, the only thing frightening is that you actually sat in the White House press room for all those years. Good riddance to you and your delusional thoughts!
Report Post »Goldenyears22
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 7:06pmNothing looks better than her empty seat. Ah, some things are refreshing.
Report Post »thefiremanjoe
Posted on October 13, 2010 at 7:01amThe best part about her leaving, is the fact that a Fox News Journalist got the seat now!!! That’s gotta really tick off Obozo!!
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:01pmAsked whether she’s anti-Semitic, she responded “Baloney!“ She said she wants to be remembered for ”integrity and my honesty and my belief in good journalism” and would like to work again.
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Report Post »Hey maybe CAIR can find her a job working for Aljazeera or as an editor of Awlaki’s terror magazine !! Helen Thomas is an Arab afterall ….
angrymob
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:08pmI think she’s of Lebanese decent…so yeah.
Report Post »angrymob
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:55pmYeah…I was right she’s of Lebanese decent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Thomas
poverty.sucks
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:00pmRepublican bad, Democrat good. What response do you expect from a leftist journalist regarding any conservative candadate. Anytime I see that approach I can’t expect anything good from the article. Purposeful smear attempt.
Report Post »HKS
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 3:59pmI‘d say she’s where she belongs, enough said.
Report Post »RightUnite
Posted on October 13, 2010 at 6:47amA-freaking-men!
Report Post »Danglinbags
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 3:59pmHelen…OMG Hawtie Alert! Focksie lady! ,#
Report Post »C. Schwehr
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 7:07pmYou really are quite sick…
Report Post »ozz
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 9:46pmThat is just disgusting. Your comment and the fact that the ruling class has to become senile, and slip up before “we the people” can oust them. “I will live free or die free on a pile of smoking brass.”
Report Post »TattooQ
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 3:58pmAnti-semitism to the anti-semite isn’t anti-semitism. It’s what passes for normal. Is it any wonder that the Council on American Islamic Relations, unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case, saw fit to give her an award at their D.C. area funtion over this last weekend.
Report Post »NoName22
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 10:39pm^^^^Someone read between the lines.
Report Post »snowleopard3200
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 3:57pmShe made the remarks on the public record what she feels about Israel; bear the responsibility already and just accept you messed up Helen.
http://www.artinphoenix.com/gallery/grimm (mixed art)
bulldawg
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:23pmThe bad thing is she was speaking for so many in the administration, the ones who don’t have the nads to say it, can you say it Mr. President.
Report Post »http://www.weeklyrepublic.com
LONGLEGGEDMACKDADDY
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:40pmYo snowlepard, why you postin those cat fools? Do anybody buy those crazy things?
Report Post »Independent American
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 5:15pmThe art displayed on the website looks like it came from an art festival at an elementary school.
Report Post »Polwatcher
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 3:56pmDon’t believe your eyes and ears……Helen.
Report Post »Freelancer
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 3:55pmWhat is more “frightening” is this woman’s picture…. If she farts, you get a dust cloud!
Report Post »angrymob
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:07pmThat’s hysterical! :)
Report Post »Rubicon
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:11pmhahahahahahahaha
Report Post »john seven eighteen
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:19pmDoes anyone remember the Patrick Swayze movie “Next of Kin”, where Liam Neeson called that woman a “real scuz bucket”? I think this describes Helen Thomas to a tee!
Report Post »Masamune
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:35pmGahhh!!! I’m blind!!!
Report Post »Independent American
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:41pmIs that a picture of Helen Thomas or of Marty Feldman?
Report Post »CatB
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 9:02pmThat is great!!! never heard that one before … but it fits! ROFLMAO
Report Post »GeorgeWashingtonslept here
Posted on October 13, 2010 at 4:53amYou really want to see what and Ole Douche Bag looks like? Smile Helen……………and just fade away!
Report Post »RightUnite
Posted on October 13, 2010 at 6:45amHehehehe!
Report Post »DivineMomentsOfTruth
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 3:54pmThats right! Who should we believe? Helen or our lying ears?
Report Post »wleeblake
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 4:35pmThis women was a far left racist,and should have been canned 60 years ago.
Report Post »Independent American
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 5:23pm“Baloney” means it was “a meaty” comment.
Report Post »Bob_R_OathKeeper
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 5:34pmShe looks like baloney that’s been left in the fridge for a couple of years. Semper Fi.
Report Post »Robert W
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 5:42pmA national tragedy having a strong pro-life woman as president? Another example of the mental disease called liberalism.
Report Post »2
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 5:48pmHelen, You Old Bag. You have been an Anti-Semitism for 50 years and the main place I see Baloney is between your two ears. LIB/TERD HAG and OLD BAG.
Shut your Pie Hole you goofer like magot.
GBMBulletsSKNRD
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 7:12pmWow what a dirtbag.
Report Post »RONALDREAGAN1980
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 9:18pmHelen Thomas crossed the line when she said the Jews should go back home to Poland and Germany. That was wrong. However, her presence will be missed. She has covered 10 presidents and didn’t cut any of them any slack. She tried to hold these men of extreme power accountable to the people of this country, and she did a good job of it. If her criticisms of Sarah Palin and Christine O’Donnell seem harsh, consider for a moment the strong likelihood that she has seen more than you or I.
Report Post »2
Posted on October 12, 2010 at 10:27pmHer face looks like Old Use Baloney on the way out. OLD BAG!
Lone-Wolf
Posted on October 13, 2010 at 1:32amYou cannot go against The Lobby and survive hell, a lot of the people in gov. who are Jewish have dual citizenship to Israel (No bias in setting foriegn policy there). Read John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt’s The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
Report Post »LUDWIKA BRONISLAWA
Posted on October 13, 2010 at 1:52amThose answers she gave the rabbi were far from the first time she made such remarks. Dear old ‘Auntie Semetic’ (got that one from The People’s Cube) has said things like that in the White House press briefing room for crying out loud. She, of course, is just a victim of this right-wing Israel sympathizing country! Third rail INDEED!
Report Post »thecommish58
Posted on October 13, 2010 at 9:01amShe is the other side of the extreme right – neither of which should be give a public forum to speak in…being around for 10 administrations does not qualify her for anything except a gold watch – her inability to present unbiased reporting is what cost her the front row seat.
Report Post »ron the veteran
Posted on October 13, 2010 at 9:50amsome poor smuck woke up next to that! can you just imagine trying to chew your arm off to get away from that?
Report Post »James
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:48amSeriously…what if Beck would have said “ tell the Arabs to get the hell outta Palestine”? These libs need to realize who our allies are.
Report Post »