Arab-American leaders met today with Wayne State University officials, asking them to reverse its decision last week to pull a journalism award named after journalist Helen Thomas after she made controversial remarks. And they defended Helen Thomas against those who say she made anti-Semitic comments Thursday in Dearborn.Which means that the official position of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee - who say with certainty that Helen Thomas only speaks the truth - is that Israeli Jews must leave the country that they were born in and that "Congress, the White House, and Hollywood, Wall Street, are owned by 'the Zionists.'"
"Helen Thomas is not now and never has been anti-Semitic," Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said tonight. "She has worked her entire career, 60 years, to bring truth to the American public and she is simply continuing to do that."
Not once as far as I can tell has an Arab American leader or spokesperson made the slightest noise that Thomas' comments were offensive.
And this reaction is telling:
The Arab-American group said in a statement that unless the situation "is properly addressed and corrected, this hastily-made decision will negatively impact relations between the university and the Arab American community for many years."In other words, the group is threatening Wayne State University for exercising its right for free expression - to distance itself from a person now widely recognized as a bigot and an anti-semite, not just by Jews.
Arabs threatening people who do something they disagree with? Who would have thought it?