A journalist who unleashed a “black people should go back to Africa!” tirade would rightly lose his or her reputation and position.
In America, the same applies if you launch into a furious “Israeli Jews go home!” rant. This is how American journalist Helen Thomas finished off her career:
A few months later the Israeli newspaper Haaretz followed up on the story. Was she repentant? No.
Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has acknowledged she touched a nerve with remarks about Israel that led to her retirement. But she says the comments were “exactly what I thought,” even though she realized soon afterward that it was the end of her job.
…
She issued an apology, she told the radio interviewer, because people were upset and she thought she had hurt people. “At the same time, I had the same feelings about Israel’s aggression and brutality,” Thomas said.
What did Church of England vicar Stephen Sizer have to say about this? Simple. He’s an admirer. He introduced an excerpt of the Haaretz report this way:
Helen Thomas is one gutsy 90 year old lady to take on the Israel Lobby. In Haaretz earlier this week she gave her candid views on what led to her ‘retirement’.
Sizer’s excerpt finishes with this from Haaretz:
Asked whether she’s anti-Semitic, she responded “Baloney!” She said she wants to be remembered for “integrity and my honesty and my belief in good journalism” and would like to work again.
Sizer concludes his post under these lines. With this cheer for Thomas:
Bring it on.
Sizer has a very long record of promoting and partnering with extremists and racists. The Bishop of Guildford and Lambeth Palace have been made aware of just how bad it is. As far as I know, it is still the case that neither has done anything at all to rein Sizer in. If that is true, it’s pitiful and inexcusable.
Stephen Sizer with other soulmates
