Disgraced former White House correspondent Helen Thomas will be receiving a lifetime achievement award next month from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Coming roughly three months after Thomas was forced to resign from Hearst Newspapers for disgustingly telling Israeli Jews to move back to Germany and Poland and "get the hell out of Palestine," this is clearly going to raise a lot of eyebrows especially with all the media's recent hyperventilation over so-called Islamophobia.
Consider how the following report from The Hill is going to play in an environment where the press are accusing Americans of being anti-Muslim (h/t Hot Air headlines):
The longtime White House correspondent who resigned from Hearst newspapers in June in the wake of comments she made about Israel will receive a lifetime achievement award from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
CAIR is honoring Helen Thomas, who is of Lebanese descent and now 90 years old, at its Leadership Conference and 16th Annual Fundraising Banquet on Oct. 9 in Arlington, Va.
Speakers will also include Oxford Islamic studies scholar Tariq Ramadan.
What does this tell us about CAIR's sensitivities concerning the current debate over supposed anti-Muslim sentiment in this country, especially with the announcement coming while America is involved in hopefully fruitful peace negotiations with Israel and the Palestinians?
After all, this Islamic organization is giving a lifetime achievement award to a woman with a history of anti-Semitic remarks who was just months ago forced to resign for doing so.
Do they know what this says to Jews and supporters of Israel in this country? Doesn't it give the appearance that all you have to do as a journalist in America is bash Jews and Israel and you'll be given an award from our nation's leading pro-Islamic organization?
This certainly doesn't seem to be the message you'd like to be sending while America tries to negotiate peace in the Middle East and struggles with religious tensions within its own borders.
As for Thomas and all of her former employers as well as supporters, we hope you're proud of yourselves.
