Holocaust Survivors Respond To Falls Church News-Press‘ Claim That Helen Thomas’ Comments Weren’t Anti-Semitic

by Alex Alvarez | 4:31 pm, January 6th, 2011

» 13 comments

Helen Thomas‘ returned to her Falls Church News-Press column today and, less than 24 hours after her first post has been published, she’s already inspired a new wave of controversy. Only, this time, it’s not for something Thomas has said.

The FCNP’s owner, Nicholas F. Benton, welcomed Thomas back with open arms – and a defense of Thomas’ previous comments about Zionists watching you as you sleep. Benton wrote that, despite her contentious comments about Jewish people, he remains “firmly convinced that she is neither bigoted, nor racist, nor anti-Semitic.”

Well, the New York-based American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants, for one, happens to disagree. The group’s vice president, Elan Steinberg, had this to say about Benton’s comments:

Mr. Benton may hire whomever he wants, but his whitewash of Helen Thomas’ monstrous comments is unacceptable and a disgraceful perversion of facts. This is particularly unseemly for a member of the journalism profession.

In June, we were aghast when Helen Thomas shockingly told Jews in Israel to go back to places where our families were burned and gassed during her living memory. Compounding this, last month she repeated the anti-Semitic canard that “Zionists” control the government and Wall Street – a monstrous harangue we know only too well.

The issue here is not whether Mr. Benton can hire her to write – of course he can. But in misrepresenting the heinous character of her remarks, he has disgraced himself.

It’s nearly impossible that Benton wouldn’t have anticipated that his comments would have garnered some sort of reaction. We shall soon see, we suppose, whether Benton, his paper, or Thomas herself issue some sort of response, or simply sit back and enjoy the warm glow of the spotlight.

American Gathering Of Holocaust Survivors, Anti-Semitism, Falls Church News-Press, Helen Thomas

Harry Flashman

Since 9-11 Islamist jihadis have carried out over 16,000 terror attacks worldwide with thousands dead, many more thousands wounded.

Jews stayed busy as well, working on over 160 Nobel prizes in science and medicine.

Nicholas F. Benton is just another useful idiot for the left. Nice going, fool.
ladyruth54

Falls Church, VA, the home of the mosque that two 911 hijackers and Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter attended.
tatboy

Benton wrote that, despite her contentious comments about Jewish people, he remains “firmly convinced that she is neither bigoted, nor racist, nor anti-Semitic.”

That says a lot about Mr. Benton.
Dave E.

C’mon now. I think it’s wonderful that in these trying economic times there are still opportunities for the undead.
lane

If she had told black americans to ‘go back to Africa’, her comments would, rightly, be acknowledged as hateful bigotry. But anti-semitism is too often tolerated. Her hateful words are sickening and the tacit approval is wrong. Simply, wrong
OxyCon

I’ve just been working on my resume because I want a job at the “Falls Church News-Press”, so here we go, beginning with my qualifications:

1: I think all Blacks are lazy, stupid and should go back to Africa.
2: Chinese people shouldn’t be able to get drivers licenses and they’re all spies for China.
3: All Muslims are terrorists who want to take over the world and then blow it up.
4: Indians smell like curry powder.
5: Jews are greedy and they’re harvesting the organs of little Palestinian kids.
6: Irish people are a bunch of hot headed drunks.
7: Latinos are sex crazed and hot headed.
8: We should annex Mexico and turn all Mexicans into our servants.
9: Albinos are creepy looking and are the result of a woman having sex with a ghost.

Now all I have to do is nail my 8 hour interview!
Alex Alvarez

OxyCon said:
I’ve just been working on my resume because I want a job at the “Falls Church News-Press”, so here we go, beginning with my qualifications:

1: I think all Blacks are lazy, stupid and should go back to Africa.
2: Chinese people shouldn’t be able to get drivers licenses and they’re all spies for China.
3: All Muslims are terrorists who want to take over the world and then blow it up.
4: Indians smell like curry powder.
5: Jews are greedy and they’re harvesting the organs of little Palestinian kids.
6: Irish people are a bunch of hot headed drunks.
7: Latinos are sex crazed and hot headed.
8: We should annex Mexico and turn all Mexicans into our servants.
9: Albinos are creepy looking and are the result of a woman having sex with a ghost.

Now all I have to do is nail my 8 hour interview!

“Liked” for #9.
michiganruth

you can google this editor fellow Benton; turns out he’s a loony lefty from way back. (sorry I don’t have a link at hand.) his main thing seems to have been gay rights advocacy, but I don’t know, maybe that’s too boring now that gay men can walk down the aisle in a white wedding dress and Manolo pumps.

however, it does seem to show once again that Western anti-Semitism is a liberal phenomenon.
skyfet

Sooner or later all this name calling will have no effect at all. People need to reserve this vile accusation to thos who actually deserve it, otherwise it’s just going to be disregarded when brought up.
redwriteblue

ladyruth54 said:
Falls Church, VA, the home of the mosque that two 911 hijackers and Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter attended.

Thank you for reminding mediaite of that.

The U.S. State Department continues to bring thousands of Middle Easternersto be “resettled” in our country as “Political Asylum” refugees. If even a small percentage of them have the desire to inflict mass casualities on New Yorkers out for a Saturday night in a crowded Times Square they are a disaster wating-to-happen:

http://patriotsforamerica.ning.com/profiles/blogs/palestinians-have-missle
tatboy

skyfet said:
Sooner or later all this name calling will have no effect at all. People need to reserve this vile accusation to thos who actually deserve it, otherwise it’s just going to be disregarded when brought up.

Already there…
CAconservative

Are they sure that it wasn’t Whoopie defending this indefensible trash? This sounds more like her kind of gig.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Hal/100002036256674 Mike Hal

Elan Steinberg’s attack on Falls Church News-Press is just another in a long series of cases attesting to the fact that for Jewish Americans freedom of speech ends where their racist aspirations are concerned. Steinberg basically is claiming: no, I’m not saying that FCNP does not have the right to hire Mrs. Thomas, but it will not be moral to hire her. Or, if you chose to, it will be unacceptable not to constantly attach next to her name the label of anti-Semite. Elan Steinberg feels he has a license to be fascistic to those he disapproves of. But for the rest of us to go along with that – well, this is clearly morally reprehensible and dangerous. It is time for Americans to have the right to hear things from all perspectives, even if this diverges the line that Jewish Americans want to force upon Americans.