|
I'm Jewish, if you can't tell. And I've seen the video in which she made her so-called "indefensible" remarks. And I've just got to say it plain: there was no "there" there. She was being interviewed by a rabbi. She was friendly and smiling. She was asked ""Any comments on Israel", and she said, "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine." This in itself is ambiguous, of course, since it could refer to all of Palestine previous to the arrival of any modern Jews, or it could refer to occupied Palestine (since the 1967 war). Either way, though, it's simply a political opinion--one you may disagree with, but nothing even close to the expression of group animus, and American political figures express group animus all the time without being forced to apologize, much less end their careers.
When asked where they should go, she said, they should "go back home to Poland, Germany, America and everywhere else," and here I can certainly understand why some people would very angry. Doesn't she know what happened to the Jews in Poland and Germany? But, of course, she didn't say it should happen again. And while Jews may find it unthinkable to return to Poland and Germany, I can't help thinking about all the African-Americans who live in the South, where their ancestors were also grievously mistreated. And for those who will say that there was no comparison, they should be reminded that up until the early 1800s it was customary and normal to simply work slaves to death. Indeed, when the Constitution was adopted with an end to the slave trade in 1808, many believed that this would be the end it. The slaves in America would eventually all die off, and that would be it. Of course, things changed, and it didn't work out like that. And of course not all slaves were grievously mistreated even then, But the fate African-American slaves was easily horrible enough that no one could blame those who left the South as soon as they could, vowing never to come back.
More than that, however, African-Americans continue to be mistreated throughout the South. They are far more likely to more severly punished for crimes--or even to be charged in the first place. And yet they continue to live their in vastly disproportionate numbers, and no one thinks about it much. Indeed, for many, the very fact that it was a place of historic oppression is all the more reason for them to stay there, and reclaim it as a place of their own.
In short, what I'm saying about Helen Thomas is that she merely said something that made some people angry or upset, and that gave other people with their own agendas a chance to finally get rid of someone who had always bucked the powers that be. In the land of fake journalism, she was one of the last authentic voices to be heard, and they just couldn't wait for an excuse to get rid of her--particularly one that would make her look bad.
And here's the irony. Helen Thomas had nothing to apologize for. I don't agree with her. But neither do I feel offended. I understand where her feeling came from. Anyone who doesn't has to be at least a little bit crazy. We have to be able to hear such feelings from one another if we're ever going to be able to work through them, as well as working through the facts on the ground that continue generating new feelings as well--feelings that are much, much, much more bitter than those that Helen Thomas expressed.
As an American Jew, I am deeply ashamed that such a remarkable woman was shamed into retirement and exile in my name, that I was used in such a despicable and dishonest manner. I do not just with to defend Helen Thomas. I wish to apologize to her. As an American and as a Jew, I stand for much better than that.
|
STATE BLOGS
