<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Helen Thomas shows no regret over anti-Israel&nbsp;comments]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<table width="100%" align="center">
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<td><span class="PublishedDate">[ 					20/02/2011 &#8211; 10:30 AM ] </span></td>
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<p style="font-size:10pt;">WASHINGTON, (PIC)&#8211; Helen Thomas, a  former senior media correspondent for the White House, refused to take  back comments condemning Jews occupying Palestinian land and demanding  they return to their homelands.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Helen displayed unparalleled courage  during a recent interview with CNN that would have tried to elicit  regret over statements last year that enraged Jews demanding their exit  from Palestine and return to their homelands of Europe and America.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Thomas refused to express remorse over the  statements and the ordeal that followed, but she expressed regret that  some of the statements were poorly interpreted or misunderstood.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Thomas, who is over 90 years old, lost her  job as a White House correspondent and was subjected to pressure and  heavy criticism over those statements.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">In response to the anchor who insisted  that the remarks were insensitive to Jewish holocaust victims, Thomas  said how about sensitivity to the Palestinians who are waken from their  sleep 3:00am to be ejected from their homes and to three generations of  Palestinian refugees who continue to live in refugee camps.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">The occupying Jews must go back to where  they came from and must not take over the land of the Palestinians,  because they are not entitled to occupy other people&#8217;s land, Thomas  said. She emphasized that the holocaust does not give Jews the right to  occupy Palestine and drive thousands of Palestinian families from their  homes and turn millions into refugees.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Regarding the wave of criticism she faced  after the remarks, she said there is a strong Zionist lobby in the  United States, and that freedom of expression is not maintained when it  comes to Israel and the occupation of Palestine.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">When asked if she believes her comments  were anti-Semitic, she said that she herself was a Semite of Arab  descent. The host Joy Behar responded by saying that she is not Jewish.  Thomas then replied saying not all Jews are Semites and that most of the  Jews occupying Palestine were from Europe.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">She insisted that the Jews should return to their homelands because they are not under persecution there anymore.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">She was asked how she felt when an annual  press award in her name was stopped over her statements. Well, it&#8217;s  their decision, she replied. But I think it&#8217;s stupid. But my  accomplishment in journalism is something totally separate.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7I%2bnm8s%2fqkJMJMu7Gb02FrkdG7a9GE81tO2LL4LHw%2f9Wnc29aY4nkWikfWjjVfedMMJeAW4mafU6kSMmrqIj2BIBYVkwjWxjwwPjAkD5PSV4%3d">Helen Thomas shows no regret over anti-Israel comments</a>.</p>
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