Controversy Lingers

Dearborn museum commissions sculpture of embattled journalist.

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fficials of the fundraising cam-
paign to house a bronze bust
of veteran White House cor-
respondent Helen Thomas in the Arab
American National Museum are wary
that the controversy caused by her com-
ments that Jews should "get the hell out
of Palestine" could slow support.
The Dearborn-based
museum anticipates a
45-day Internet drive
to raise $10,000 to
cover the rest of the
$25,000 cost of the
bust of Thomas, 89, a
Winchester, Ky., native
who is the daughter of
Lebanese immigrants
Helen Thomas
to the United States.
She is a 1942 graduate

DETROIT
JEWISH NEWS

of what is now Wayne State University
in Detroit.
The sculpture honors Thomas' long
and storied career as a journalist and a
trailblazer for women in the profession.
It has been in the works since 2009.
The statue, sculpted by Susan Tinsley
McElhinney of Virginia, will be exhibit-
ed in the museum near Thomas' vintage
manual typewriter.
"For many years, Helen Thomas
was a widely respected journalist of
Lebanese descent and the Arab com-
munity may indeed want to honor her:'
said Richard Nodel, president of the
Jewish Community Relations Council of
Metropolitan Detroit. "I just hope that
the support for this memorial is there
despite her anti-Israel and anti-Semitic
views — and not because of them."

Thomas, who gained fame as a United
Press International correspondent, quit
her job with Hearst News Service on
June 7 in the wake of mounting out-
rage over her assertion that Israeli Jews
should "return" to Poland, Germany and
the U.S. She joined Hearst in 2000 after
57 years at UPI.
Rabbi David Nesenoff of RabbLive.
com asked Thomas on May 27 if she had
"any comments on Israel."
"Tell them to get the hell out of
Palestine she said. Her comments pre-
ceded by four days the recent strife over
a Gaza-bound fotilla.
Thomas has been reporting from the
White House since 1960.
After Thomas said that Jews should
get out of Palestine, Nesenoff, who was
attending the first Jewish American

Heritage Month event at the White
House, asked her where Jews should go.
"Go home Thomas said. Asked to
elaborate, she said, "Poland, Germany
and America — and everywhere else."
In the forefront of Jewish outcry over
her remarks following the rabbi's release
of his video to his website, Thomas
apologized via her website. "Her com-
ments, she said, "do not reflect my
heartfelt 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."
She never directly apologized for say-
ing Israeli Jews are living in Palestine,
which is a biblical region, but not a
country like the State of Israel.

Controversy on page 22

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