The Audacity of Hate: Helen Thomas

"Every journalist, no matter their network, has a personal agenda. It falls to the people to discover those views before they are consumed by them." ~Unknown. There is nothing magnificent about that old quote, but perhaps it does not truly need to be. After decades of the rise in cable personalities and newspaper columnists it seems fair to warrant consideration of their own views and personal ambitions. Last year in December Helen Thomas helped her viewers out, and in March 2011 she reaffirmed her commitment to personal ideology over objective coverage. Unfortunately hers is w worldview of categorical hate; a coalesced desire to harm and destroy an ethnic and religious group which stands persecuted throughout the world to this very day. Beyond the pretext of Thomas' statements there is however a more sinister shadow to analyze: the rising hate which can--and already has translated into violence against Jewish people.

(Photo credit goes to mediaite.com)

The 90-year old reporter's unremarkable statements echo the common shallow attack used by sore anti-Semites around the globe: Jews should leave the land they stole (Palestine), and Jews somehow control the presidency, congress, news media, and banking system. Perhaps Thomas would like to consider her own race (Arab) and its tendency to control and starve the world of oil for monetary gain. Or mayhaps the Saudi King's profiting like a Westernized playboy while his people have nothing and lie miles below the poverty line.

No, one must suppose these things must be excused because inexplicably they will be blamed on the Jews (funny enough, given that Israel allows considerable free speech rights to both Muslims and Christians, a virtuous policy not common in the surrounding countries of the Middle East).

But to address the initial argument from the haters of Jews, what is truly wrong with that? Have human rights suffered under the Jews controlling of J-Street, as their critics imply? Is the fact that an American Jewish male or female is a member of an elite institution or works on Wall Street the damning proof needed to indict them for figurative (or even literal) slaughter? Success is not guaranteed to anyone in this world; what if Jewish citizens tend to be part of an oligopoly of it? Anyone inevitably can join if they work hard enough, so that proclaimed view is harshly ridiculous by all considerations.

Notwithstanding prior commentary, how can the Jews be faulted for wanting a quick and sensitive response to anti-Semitism? Since their coming into existence Judaic peoples have been persecuted, and this is merely their attempt at protecting themselves after the events of the Holocaust.

Then the hateful ruffians conspire with their secondary line of attack: Jews stole Palestine from the Arab-Muslims. Anyone who has ventured into the colorful subject known as World History knows that the Jews arrived in Palestine (the Promised Land) decades before the Muslim Faith was at infantile stages. At that point listed as the Israelites, the newcomers swept in and conquered the territory (entirely legitimate in the B.C. era, as all nations would and did agree). Years later the Jews would offer to protect the remaining Arabs of Palestine once the State of Israel formed, yet Pan-Arabian influences told otherwise, forcing the majority of Arab citizens in the Gaza Strip and Palestine to flee. It was from this that they would fabricate the tale of evil Judaic conquest that tore them from their homeland.

Some may be quick to brush off this issue as irrelevant, yet it should not be treated so lightly. Adolf Hitler succeeded in his carnage because the Jewish people considered his schemes impossible on a larger scale, and yet his triumph came while they stayed unawares. The same logic must be applied to the present day situation, as incredulous as it may be for a 21st Century person (intellectual or plain) to fathom. Groups from the radicals of the Middle East like Al Qaeda and Western movements led by bigots like David Duke must be carefully monitored and discredited before they gain further steam. American Jews in particular must be certain not to fall for the same mistakes as their forefathers did in pre-World War II Germany. All that it will take for evil to triumph is if wise men turn their minds aside and ignore growing threats to long-term security.

In the name of freedom and the enduring legacy of the Jewish People, America and Europe must stand to quash anti-Semitism before it grows stronger and more prone to successful missions against democracy and a free society.



Jordan Wells

National Alliance Vice President for Policy