The eighty-nine year old journalist who blazed the trail for women reporters since 1943 has been cut down in a matter of minutes over her blunt and insensitively phrased statement about the legitimacy of Israel. I think this is a terrible travesty and an unfortunate show of fickleness on the part of those Americans who have spoken out against her. I won’t argue against the callousness of the statement or the inappropriateness of its timing, but I will say that, while this woman has dedicated her life to the unbiased reporting of facts, she is still a human being with biases and a personal story. (Not to mention that at the time of her comment she was working as an opinion columnist.) To black ball her and to undo a lifetime of achievement over a single comment is unforgiving and lacks wisdom.
The fact is Helen Thomas is in the small percentage of Americans that can remember when Jews began settling in Palestine. She is also of Lebanese descent which no doubt also colors her personal opinion about Zionism. One need not be called a bigot to be an anti-Zionist. Many Jews beginning in the late 1800’s at the birth of Zionism felt that Zionism was the unholy pursuit of secular Jews. And today there are orthodox traditions that still do not recognize the legitimacy of Israel.
I myself am a Palestinian sympathizer. That may make some people very angry, but it is true. I am certainly not anti-semitic. I have many friends who are Jewish and I feel the deep beauty and wisdom of Jewish religious and cultural traditions, many of which have greatly impacted the direction and character of our own society. I had, at one point, stopped to consider whether or not the Jewish religion would be the right spiritual path for me and I have an abiding love and respect for those who have allowed me to lean into their heritage for an intimate viewing. I am not anti-Jew.
I do believe, however, that the Western world has had an opportunity here to learn from history and we have failed to do so. At a time when Jews were being massacred, the Western World in general stood by and allowed it to happen. There is—and should be—a tremendous shame felt for that abandonment of our fellow human beings. I believe this is what prompted support for the state of Israel. No one country said, “Come here. Practice your traditions in our land.” Truthfully, I don’t think that many Westerners could reconcile their shame with their anti-semitism. Better to put them somewhere else. Why not the land where they lived 1800 years ago?
Sadly, in supporting the formation of a Jewish state in a land that already had inhabitants we recreated the Native American situation. This is the history out of which my sympathies for the Palestinians spring. Since the Palestinians did not meet the Western definition of “civilized and governed” their feelings, needs and concerns were not met with any real consideration. And so they fought, like Pontiac, Crazy Horse, Red Cloud and Geronimo fought to secure their land, their livelihood and their traditions. One by one tribes were either obliterated, assimilated or driven to a reservation. One by one reservations were moved, reclaimed by the government or denied altogether. This is a shameful history that is so easily forgotten. And clearly very easily repeated.
For those of you who are wondering, no, I don’t think it is a viable solution to force march all the Jews out of Israel. There is a solution which will have to come out of humility on both sides and which will have to be accepted despite the inability to satisfy. A terrible compromise necessitated by a series of terrible choices in terrible times. My wishes for the Native Americans are similar—a sovereignty and self-determination that will likely never be granted. Until that happens I see myself as an occupier though I am many generations an American.
I believe there is room enough in this world for all of us, for our big fat opinions and our tragic mistakes. There is also room in the heart for forgiveness and reconciliation, for understanding and for compromise. We may not feel that Helen Thomas, or Zionists, or Arab-Muslims may have behaved in accord with their best selves, but they are all humans who deserve to be heard and regarded as whole beings. Fervent reactionism has never done anyone right. For that reason, with this post, I openly refuse to disgrace a woman of great achievement and merit over a single, poorly expressed opinion.
