Wayne State University will no longer offer the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity in Media Award because of recent comments made by the journalist, the Detroit Free Press reports. Ms. Thomas, a Wayne State alumna, said during a speech in Dearborn that “Congress, the White House and Hollywood, Wall Street are owned by the Zionists. No question. They put their money where their mouth is.”
Ms. Thomas resigned in June as a Hearst Newspaper columnist over her comments calling on Israelis to get “out of Palestine.” At that time, Wayne State released a statement condemning the comments but saying it would keep the award.
A larger quote is,
“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.”
With the thawing of the Cold War, the United States does need to re-evaluate alliances that are in the best interests of the US. Israel may still be the best ally in the Mid-East, but the US needs to update the information to confirm that.
Since Ms. Thomas lost her job, resigning doesn’t quite explain the true dynamics of the situation; she most likely has become bitter.
At age 90, it is possible that factors other than bitterness are also responsible for Ms. Thomas’ “plain” speaking – read “careless” and/or “insensitive.” Nevertheless, one could rightly ask whether Ms. Thomas, a long-time political reporter, is really best seen as being “racist” when she criticizes Zionist political agendas.
What did she mean when she referred to Zionists? My understanding is that Zionism is best recognized as a particular political movement existing within the Jewish community; as such it should be subject to the same criticism as any other political movement, such as, say, the Tea Party, or Republicans, or Hamas. To criticize Zionists is not to critize Jews, per se. However, any criticism of Zionist political policy, or of Jewish secular state policy or actions, tends to result in charges of racism against the critic, much in the way that criticism of the US decision to go to war in Iraq was labeled unpatriotic. Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstein, among others, have criticized those who equate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. Zionism – as a political movement – has its own critics and the UN General Assembly (Resolution 3379 – 1975) once labeled Zionism a “form of racism.” This, the only UN resolution ever to be so, was repealed in 1991.
Maybe WSU in another 16 years will find a way to recognize Ms. Thomas – if not as a force for “diversity,” whatever that meant to WSU – but for her many decades of fearless, persistent inquiry and challenge to the powerful to be open and honest.