“Graduation celebrations are not the venue for divisiveness,”
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Helen Thomas
Helen Amelia Thomas was an American reporter and author, and a long-serving member of the White House press corps. She covered the White House during the administrations of ten U.S. presidents—from the beginning of the Kennedy administration to the second year of the Obama administration.
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culture · American journalist (1920–2013) · journalist · writer · also Helen Thomas, Helen Amelia Thomas, Thomas
Born 4 August 1920 · Died 20 July 2013 · Q253364
51 published statements · 0 followers
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2026· 7 entries
“t until a few days ago, after the world learned of her comments that Israel should”
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“I censored myself for fifty years when I was a reporter.”
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“Congress, the White House, Hollywood and Wall Street are owned by Zionists. No question, in my opinion.”
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“I hit the third rail. You cannot criticize Israel in this country and survive.”
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“clearly, unequivocally revealed herself as a vulgar antisemite”
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“Why do they [Jews] have to go anywhere? They aren”
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2013· 5 entries
Died 2013-07-20.
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“I don't speechify. I know the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. And that's what I ask. But they get mad at the straight line. I just want to ask a tough question.”
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“You don't spread democracy through the barrel of a gun.”
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“According to Thomas this was supposed to be off the record. The reporter (assumedly Bogert) asked for her autograph after she spoke at the event. As she signed his copy of her book, he said to her, "You look sad?" She responded by saying "Well I am. I'm covering the worst president...”
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“We were never hyphenated as Arab-Americans. We were American, and I have always rejected the hyphen and I believe all assimilated immigrants should not be designated ethnically. Or separated, of course, by race, or creed either. These are trends that ever try to divide us as a people.”
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2011· 1 entry
That he was "outraged" when the Society of Professional Journalists voted on retiring a scholarship award named for Thomas
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2010· 3 entries
Shortly before a speech for the eighth annual "Images and Perceptions of Arab Americans" conference in Dearborn, Michigan, Thomas told reporters that she still stood by the comments she had made to Nesenoff
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Following controversial remarks she made about Israel in an impromptu, unstructured amateur short interview when solicited for "any comments on Israel," she replied, "tell them to get the hell out of Palestine
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About the alleged control of the United States by Zionists
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2009· 4 entries
Thomas celebrated her 89th birthday
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Thomas commented on the Obama administration's handling of the press, "we have had some control but not this control
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Awarded Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award (2009).
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Thomas was present in the front row for newly elected President Obama's first news conference
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2007· 2 entries
Thomas questioned White House Press Secretary Dana Perino as to why Americans should depend on General David Petraeus in determining when to re-deploy U
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Thomas received a Foremother Award from the National Center for Health Research
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2006· 2 entries
Thomas was called upon directly by President Bush for the first time in three years
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Thomas encouraged Arab-Americans to become journalists: "For her own part, Helen Thomas says that, while she’s glad to see Americans of Arab descent winning journalism prizes, she would prefer simply to see more bylines
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2003· 1 entry
Thomas received the Religious Liberty Award from the American Humanist Association
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2000· 5 entries
Awarded honorary degree presented by University of San Francisco (2000).
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Awarded American Book Awards (2000).
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The day after it was announced that the UPI had been acquired by News World Communications Inc
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Thomas was presented with the Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award
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Her alma mater, Wayne State University, established an award for journalists in her honor, the "Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity award"
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1998· 1 entry
By establishing the "Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award"
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1995· 1 entry
Awarded IWMF Lifetime Achievement Award (1995).
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1993· 2 entries
Awarded Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism (1993).
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Thomas won the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism
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1990· 1 entry
Won Siena Medal (1990).
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1986· 2 entries
Awarded Michigan Women's Hall of Fame (1986).
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Received the William Allen White Foundation Award for Journalistic Merit from the University of Kansas
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1985· 1 entry
Received the Columbia University Journalism Award
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1984· 1 entry
Was honored with the National Press Club Fourth Estate Award
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1979· 1 entry
The Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Thomas's name and picture
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1976· 1 entry
Thomas was named one of the World Almanac's 25 Most Influential Women in America
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1975· 2 entries
Awarded Ladies' Home Journal Women of the Year (1975).
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The Washington Press Corps club, known as the Gridiron Club, admitted Thomas, making her the first woman to become a member
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1970· 1 entry
UPI named Thomas their chief White House correspondent, making her the first woman to serve in the position
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1962· 1 entry
Thomas convinced President Kennedy not to attend the annual dinners held for the White House correspondents and photographers if they disallowed women from attending
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1959· 1 entry
And a few of her fellow female journalists forced the National Press Club, then barred to women, to allow them to attend an address by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev
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1955· 1 entry
Was assigned to cover the United States Department of Justice
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1943· 1 entry
And reported on women's topics for its radio wire service
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1942· 1 entry
As the school did not yet offer a degree in journalism
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1920· 2 entries
Born 1920-08-04.
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“The United States . . . could have stopped the bombardment of Lebanon. We have that much control with the Israelis . . . we have gone for collective punishment against all of Lebanon and Palestine.”
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