Helen Thomas, the veteran White House journalist who ended
her career with an anti-Semitic tirade, died on Saturday at the age of 92.
Thomas was the first woman to join the White House
Correspondents' Association, and the first woman to serve as its president. She
was also the first female member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's historic
press group.
Politico.com wrote that she served for 57 years at United
Press International, first as a correspondent then as a White House bureau
chief, before becoming a columnist for Hearst Papers.
Thomas was present at the press briefings of ten consecutive
presidential administrations. But her career in journalism ended abruptly in
2010 when she went on an anti-Semitic tirade in an interview with a rabbi.
Thomas, a daughter of Lebanese immigrants, told the rabbi
that Israel should "get the hell out of Palestine," and that the
Jewish people should go home to "Poland, Germany ... and America and
everywhere else."
After the video was posted, Thomas wrote on her web site, “I
deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the
Palestinians. They do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to
the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and
tolerance. May that day come soon."
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