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6 December 9 • 2010
Journalists honored this April at
Wayne State included Pulitzer Prize
winner Leonard Pitts Jr., the well-
respected Miami Herald syndicated col-
umnist. Later, after learning of Thomas'
May 27 remarks, he compared her
outburst to "bigotry"
and "a cancer of the
human spirit!'
Also honored in
April by WSU was
Arab American News
publisher Osama
Silbani, whose news-
\
paper has a long
Leonard Pitts
record of historical
Jr.
revisionism and cun-
ning exaggeration — more precisely,
Jew-bashing — when it comes to Israel
and the Middle East. In the wake of
Thomas' "Get the hell out of Palestine"
remarks and subsequent forced retire-
ment, Siblani wrote on June 12 in his
newspaper that she "should be corn-
mended, not vilified, for her honesty
and candor."
Clearly, there was an urgent need for
tighter criteria to select the professional
winners of the award — which IN
publisher Arthur Horwitz asserted in a
Publisher's Notebook on July 8 follow-
ing the May flap over Thomas.
Wayne State has about 800 Jewish
students. It has an active Hillel and a
strong Jewish alumni and donor base.
But it is well known for its diverse
enrollment, board makeup and support
base. Its yanking of the Helen Thomas
award is not a case of the "Zionist
lobby," as Thomas might suggest.
Wayne State's quick condemnation
sets an example for academic institu-
tions and professional organizations
that have honored Thomas. Most
notable among those organizations is
Freedom Forum, a Washington-based
nonpartisan foundation that champions
free press and free speech rights.
The ostensibly mainstream American
Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
honored her at its Nov. 18 national con-
vention in Washington. ADC's founder,
former U.S. Sen. James Abourezk,
D-South Dakota, intoned: "What she
said is what I've been saying for years
— the Zionists should get the hell out
of Palestine. Where they go when they
leave there is not my concern!'
The Society of Professional
Journalists, to which I belong, is wres-
tling with its Helen Thomas Lifetime
Achievement Award — and how
Thomas' right of free speech (and right
to offend the civilized world) contrasts
with a prestigious award being named
after her. I urge the SPJ national board
to reconsider the award title.
Building Controversy
Thomas retired on June 7 after her
controversial May 27 remarks Israeli
Jews were captured on videotape by
Rabbi David Nesenoff of RabbiLive.
corn at the first Jewish American
Heritage Month event at the White
House. Those remarks were dissemi-
nated on the Internet.
Amid Jewish outcry over her
remarks following the rabbi's release
of his video on his website, Thomas
apologized via her website. She "deeply
regretted" the remarks, noting they
didn't reflect her "heartfelt belief that
peace will come to the Middle East
only when all parties recognize the
need for mutual respect and tolerance!'
The apology was evasive at best: she
still extended no recognition or accep-
tance of Israel as a legitimate member
of the family of nations.
The spontaneity of her remarks
when a camera was pointed at her
was overwhelmed by her prepared
comments in Dearborn. As the ADC's
Foxman put it, "It shows a prejudice
that is deep-seated
and obsessive!'
Such hate must
have been brew-
ing for years. In his
analysis last week,
Foxman observed,
"While we will never
Abraham
know what the hid-
Foxman
den trigger was that
led Thomas to reveal
her prejudice, it is troubling that for
more than 60 years, she has made a
pretense of impartiality as a journal-
ist with a large megaphone. It makes
it even that much more horrendous
and horrific that she is now using that
megaphone to release her prejudice in
its crudest, most vulgar form."
In a Detroit Free Press interview
before her Dec. 2 speech, Thomas
further delved into fantasy, claiming
Menachem Begin, Israeli prime min-
ister from 1977 to 1983, created the
operating plan for modern-day terror.
Ultimately, I am sure Wayne State
will come up with a new, better way
to maintain the core principles of
spotlighting the spirit of diversity in
journalism: to honor excellence in
journalism and to promote a diverse
journalists' corps. What's most impor-
tant is preserving the raising of schol-
arship money for minority journalism
students, perhaps under the name of
a WSU graduate worthier than Helen
Thomas. El