Wayne State cuts Helen Thomas award over anti-Semitic remarks

[abdul-aziz]

:salam2:

DETROIT (WXYZ) - Wayne State University is cutting ties with former White House correspondent Helen Thomas in the wake of anti-Semitic remarks she made during an appearance in Dearborn Thursday.

In a statement, the university said it was pulling the diversity award it gives out in her name, saying:


"As a public university, Wayne State encourages free speech and open dialogue, and respects diverse viewpoints. However, the university strongly condemns the anti-Semitic remarks made by Helen Thomas during a conference yesterday. As a result of these remarks, Wayne State will no longer offer the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award."


During her appearance, Thomas made several anti-Semitic remarks, including criticizing Israel because of "Jewish-only roads in West Bank" saying no American would tolerate "white-only roads." She also said that U.S. interests are controlled by Zionist "propagandists against Arabs."


The 90-year-old Thomas resigned from her position as the White House columnist for Hearst Newspaper in June after she was blasted for calling on Israelis to get "out of Palestine." She graduated from Wayne State in 1942 when it was known as Wayne University.


http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region...-helen-thomas-award-over-anti-semitic-remarks

 

[abdul-aziz]

:salam2:

roll up the sleeve and pull out :

anti semitic

works all the time.

who cares if what she says is reality and the truth about what is happening.

for those who don't know this lady, she stood up and checked them in capitol hill a few years ago. They alienated her since the press is ..... well read it you will figure it out.

 

[sister herb]

Forgive her (Helen Thomas), she is senile; she tells the truth:

 

[MohammedMaksudul]

Antisemitism is not the bias against Jews, it's the bias against Semitic people. Some Jews are not Semitic and most Semitic people are not Jewish. If Wayne State U wants to be consistent, they should also fire every teacher and expel every student who speaks ill of the Arabs!

:salam2:

Now they wouldn't do that. Usual thing of them Racists.

 

[abdul-aziz]

Helen Thomas slams WSU for ending award named for her

Journalist Helen Thomas fired back at Wayne State University for ending an annual diversity award in her name, telling the Free Press Sunday night that "the leaders of Wayne State University have made a mockery of the First Amendment and disgraced their understanding of its inherent freedom of speech and the press."




Wayne State ended the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award on Friday after she made controversial remarks in Dearborn on Thursday about what she saw as Zionist control of American institutions. The morning after her remarks, the Anti-Defamation League issued a statement by director Abe Foxman that blasted her comments as anti-Semitic and called upon journalism schools and other groups to rescind honors that recognize her. Hours later, Wayne State said it was pulling its award, saying it "strongly condemns the anti-Semitic remarks made by Helen Thomas."

Contacted Sunday by the Free Press, Thomas, 90, criticized Wayne State, adding that: "The university also has betrayed academic freedom -- a sad day for its students."

Some Arab-American leaders have also criticized Wayne State's decision to pull the award named after Thomas, who grew up in Detroit and graduated from Wayne.

First reported by Freep.com, Thomas made her controversial comments on Thursday during a workshop by Arab Detroit, at which she delivered a short talk.

Speaking to about 300 people, a majority of them non-Arab, Thomas criticized U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and talked about "the whole question of money involved in politics."

"We are owned by propagandists against the Arabs. There's no question about that. Congress, the White House, and Hollywood, Wall Street, are owned by the Zionists. No question in my opinion. They put their money where their mouth is…We're being pushed into a wrong direction in every way."

Her speech drew a standing ovation.

Before her talk, the Free Press asked Thomas about her previous controversial comments in June when she told a rabbi on camera that Israelis should "get the hell out of Palestine" and "go home" to "Poland, Germany and America, and everywhere else."
Under fire, Thomas resigned, ending her long career as a White House reporter.

During the Thursday interview in Dearborn, Thomas defended her previous comments and criticized U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and Afghanistan, saying the Iraq war "was built on all lies."

"Thousands are dead, with no reason explained yet," Thomas said. "There has been no truthful reason for going into Iraq."

Asked what she thought was the reason for U.S. policies, Thomas replied:
"Because they own the ink. They also own the airwaves," adding that she was referring to "Zionists."

Thomas said that Palestinians are "second-class citizens, 78% of their land gone, taken by sheer aggression and nobody in America says anything."

Asked by the Free Press how she would respond to those who say she's anti-Semitic, Thomas said:

"I'd say I'm a Semite. What are you talking about? Who are you?"

Thomas' comments during her speech were criticized by Jewish groups and Wayne State.

"When she said … that Congress, the White House, Hollywood and Wall Street are owned by Zionists, Ms. Thomas repeated the anti-Semitic stereotypes that have been used for more than a century to incite hatred of Jews. Her comments should be condemned by all people who oppose bigotry in any form," said Robert Cohen, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit.