Remember Helen Thomas? She's the veteran US reporter who resigned from her position in the White House back in June after her comments that Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and return to Germany or Poland.
Now the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee are presenting her with their 2010 Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award:
ADC President, Sara Najjar-Wilson, stated that, "No one deserves the Courage in Journalism award more than Helen Thomas. Helen's unwavering dedication to her work, love for her country, and courage in asking the tough questions that no other person dared ask, are a source of pride to all Americans.
This award is established by the family of the late journalism pioneer Dr. Mohammad T. Mehdi. Dr. M.T. Mehdi regularly challenged the common stereotypes and notions of Arabs in the American mass media and in the public sphere to help create a better understanding of the Arab American community...
One wonders if the award to Helen Thomas, far from challenging common stereotypes and notions of Arabs, will not in fact go some way to reinforcing them.
"What makes this a double whammy of a disgrace is that Mohammad Mehdi of whom the award is named was himself quite the bigot. Quoted in his 1998 NY Times obituary, Mehdi famously said, '''We make a 100 percent difference between the person who is a Jew and that who is a Zionist. Zionists are neurotic, sick people. Most Jews are sick people and would benefit from Dr. Freud's couch.'' Dr. Mehdi has also been quoted as asserting that ''New York is a Zion town'' and ''the real father of Israel is Hitler."
http://mideastparalleluniverse.blogspot.com/2010/11/one-mans-ceiling-is-another-mans-floor.html
Posted by: Noga | November 05, 2010 at 01:09 PM