WIESENTHAL CENTER STATEMENT ON HELEN THOMAS CONTROVERSY

HELEN THOMAS RETIRES AFTER TELLING JEWS, "Get the hell out of Palestine" and "Go back to Poland and Germany"

In response to Helen Thomas' remarks that Jews should leave Palestine and go "home" to Germany, Poland and elsewhere, Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said:

“Helen Thomas, the ‘dean’ of the White House Press Corps, did the right thing by retiring immediately following her shocking, bigoted and inappropriate remarks. It is important to remember thatthe Jews are not in Palestine. They are in the State of Israel where they belong and where their ancestors have lived for 2,000 years,” Rabbi Hier said, adding, “How long would any veteranAmerican journalist last if they told blacks to ‘go back to the plantations’ or ‘to Africa?’”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations withover 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin AmericanParliament (Parlatino).

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