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What the Hell Happened with Helen?

A Special Commentary on the Helen Thomas Anti-Semitism Controversy

by Nina L. Diamond

When I heard that acclaimed veteran journalist and author Helen Thomas, 89, who is of Lebanese descent, abruptly retired a couple of days ago just after a YouTube video showed jaw-dropping public comments she'd made about Israel and Jews, I was shocked on more than the usual levels.

"Has Helen Thomas lost her marbles?" I wrote in an e-mail to a close friend who, like me, is both a journalist and Jewish. "What's going on with all these people revealing that they're in touch with their Inner Archie Bunker?"

We've heard sudden public outbursts of bigotry from all kinds of folks, including sports commentators, peace activists, shock jocks, actors...and now, a revered journalist?

"What's so stunning about the Helen Thomas mess," I wrote, "is that it's bad enough that she feels this way, but she, of all people, should've known better than to say it out loud, in public, to someone who can put it out in the media, someone who is a rabbi! This reminds me of when Mel Gibson, drunk, went anti-Semitic-postal. Is Helen getting into the cooking sherry?"

"Helen is officially senile," my friend wrote back. "She quit a week too late."

"I think it's interesting that when people lose their filter, for whatever reason, so many of them are revealed to be racist, bigoted, or anti-Semitic," I wrote. "I wonder if it works in reverse. When the head of the Klan gets old and his brain gets dusty, does he suddenly blurt out that he's always wanted to have a Bar Mitzvah?"

I was on to something.

"I'll bet that there are some people out there who were raised to be bigots, but deep inside it didn't really take," I wrote. "So, in order to fit in with those around them, and to do what's expected of them, they've been going along with all of it. Until one day when they blurt out something. And it's revealed that all along they've been secretly pro-Semitic."

Looking at this in reverse gives us an interesting perspective on the actions of people who've blurted out bigotry, including Don Imus' racist remarks, Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic ones and, now, Helen Thomas' anti-Israel-anti-Jewish rant. With them, we've heard the "I'm supposed to shock people" excuse and the "I was drunk" excuse, but what the hell happened with Helen?

Some have said it's because she's writing a syndicated opinion column now, not hard news, and that she went too far, not realizing that her free speech was going to result in the Hearst Corporation's freedom to kick her ass to the curb.

Some have said it's because she's almost 90 and maybe she's either semi-senile or has decided that at her age she's not going to bother to censor herself anymore.

Some have said that since an educated, worldly person like Helen Thomas doesn't suddenly become anti-Semitic, she must've been hiding her politically incorrect feelings all these years until that day when she blurted out how she really felt.

Which brings me to the most shocking aspect of all of this: Helen Thomas apparently has such strong feelings against Israel and Jews that she was willing to blurt those out in public, even though she's obviously media savvy enough to know that this would instantly kill her unbelievably long career and her impressive reputation.

Her feelings blinded her to common sense. And we should all be glad they did. Because it's better to know how people truly feel when it comes to racism, bigotry, anti-Semitism, and other forms of hatred.

Is Helen Thomas anti-Semitic?

There's a line between constructive criticism and anti-Semitism (or racism or any other kind of hate and bigotry), and it's not even a blurry one.

The debates, confusion, and misunderstandings arise not from the two separate acts or beliefs, but from the merging of the two: Someone can offer constructive criticism and not be anti-Semitic, while someone else who is anti-Semitic can also offer criticism, constructive or otherwise.

Telling those two kinds of people apart -- the critics and the anti-Semitic -- can be painfully easy or it can take some skill.

At a White House event celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month, with her angry comment to a video camera-toting Rabbi David Nesenoff of Rabbilive.com that Israel should "get the hell out of Palestine," and that the Jews in Israel "should go home" to "Poland, Germany...and America and everywhere else," Helen Thomas showed the world exactly which one of those two kinds of people she is.

In light of a Holocaust that killed most of the Jews of Eastern Europe, including those in Germany and Poland, it's hard to make a case that Thomas was just being insensitive as she offered some constructive criticism about Israel and the on-going efforts to achieve peace with the Palestinians as well as neighboring countries.

Helen Thomas' remarks make it very clear that she does not believe that Israel has a right to exist and that the Jews living there should go live (among other places) in the very countries that once thrilled at burning them alive in ovens.

In all fairness to Germany and Poland, yes, we all recognize that it's been more than 60 years since the Nazis ruled and made exterminating the Jews priority number one, but everyone can agree that Thomas' destination suggestions sounded -- and were -- horribly cruel.

She issued a public apology on her website, stating that the comments she'd made "do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon."

For many, though, her apology fell short.

In a written statement, Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), said that Thomas' apology "does not go far enough."

Her remarks, he wrote, "were outrageous, offensive and inappropriate. Her suggestion that Israelis should go back to Poland and Germany is bigoted and shows a profound ignorance of history. We believe Thomas needs to make a more forceful and sincere apology for the pain her remarks have caused."

Not long ago, two authors I've come to know well over the years also found themselves on the receiving end of the ADL's protective wrath. Both had made public statements that led the authors to be labeled anti-Semitic.

People who are truly anti-Semitic, or racist, or bigoted against any group, have a hard time hiding it. It leaks out of them even when they're not consciously aware of it. And it leaks out quickly. Anti-Semitic people want you to know how they feel.

I had a hard time believing that these two authors were truly anti-Semitic. They know I'm Jewish, and I knew them both well enough, and long enough, that if they were truly anti-Semitic I'd have known it. And pretty damn quickly.

It was that line again -- the one between constructive criticism and anti-Semitism.

The first author, I decided, was misinformed, and had let his precarious emotional state and frustrations cloud his judgment. He didn't hate Jews, and he was harmless, but his words could fan the dangerous notiions of those who are not so harmless.

The second author, I decided, had meant well, but had taken the wrong approach. He was trying to start a dialogue that he hoped would aid in the peacemaking process. Boy, did he screw up. And he knew it.

He tried to fix it, but nothing worked. Once you're labeled as anti-Semitic, it's hard to shake it. One-on-one, he had supporters in the Jewish community, but that wasn't enough to sort all this out. He participated in public forums designed to do just that, but those forums deteriorated into opportunities for otherwise well-meaning people to yell at him and call him anti-Semitic. He barely had a chance to speak.

I knew he needed help and that he sincerely wanted to clear up everything.

"You need a rabbi," I told him.

I referred him to a rabbi I knew well, one who I thought would be interested in helping him clear his name.

Helen Thomas, well, I have to agree with those who believe she's anti-Semitic.

Interestingly, plenty of people who are anti-Semitic, racist, or bigoted wouldn't call themselves that. They'd just call themselves "right."

Anti-Semitism is serious business. The label shouldn't be applied when it doesn't fit. Calling someone anti-Semitic just because they offer constructive criticism about something related to Jews or Israel, or because they disagree with particular Israeli or U.S. policies is actually dangerous and can backfire. Paranoia is not the answer. If everyone gets labeled "anti-Semitic," then it's like the fable of The Boy Who Cried "Wolf!"

When the wolf is really at the door, no one will listen.

* * * * *

Nina L. Diamond is a journalist, essayist, and the author of Voices of Truth: Conversations with Scientists, Thinkers & Healers. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including Omni, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and The Miami Herald.

Ms. Diamond was a writer and performer on Pandemonium, the National Public Radio (NPR) satirical humor program, for its entire run in Miami and select markets nationwide from 1984-1998. As an editor, she works frequently with other authors and journalists on both fiction and non-fiction.

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