Helen Thomas, Veteran Reporter: Why She Had to Resign
THE GUARDIAN: Her fierce questions shocked White House staff; Castro refused to answer her. And now veteran reporter Helen Thomas has had to quit. By Chris McGreal

Fidel Castro was once asked to define the difference between democracy in Cuba and the United States. "I don't have to answer questions from Helen Thomas," the old revolutionary replied.

The grand dame of the White House press corps, who outlasted nine American presidential administrations – and Castro's rule – was finally forced to halt her determined, often opinion-laden questioning and into retirement this week over comments on the issue closest to her heart, the Middle East.

There were no fond farewells for the 89-year-old reporter remembered as a trailblazer for women in journalism but also as a grumpy old contrarian. Her front-row seat in the White House briefing room, in recent years uniquely tagged with her own name rather than that of an organisation, was left empty.

Reporters who variously described Thomas as cranky, stubborn and opinionated said they weren't surprised she'd finally overstepped the mark when she told a rabbi that Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and "go home" to Poland and Germany. But the torrent of anger and criticism was tempered by Thomas' lofty status.

By the time of her resignation she had clocked up many firsts: first female officer of the National Press Club and first female president of the White House Correspondents' Association. She worked as a White House reporter for far longer than any other – for half a century. She was probably also the first White House correspondent to have a birthday cake delivered by a president, when Barack Obama arrived bearing cup cakes (they share a birthday). >>> Chris McGreal | Wednesday, June 09, 2010

TOWNHALL.COM: Helen's Hate-Filled Exit : The last two presidents have been elected on the very dubious campaign promise of "changing the tone" of Washington. Either could have proven his sincerity by shredding the credentials of the White House press corps Dean of Mean, Helen Thomas. Her tone was nasty, and her "questions" usually meant more as insults than as requests for information. Still, presidents and journalists alike bowed and scraped before her, as if she were the Queen of All Media. >>> Brent Bozell | Wednesday, June 09, 2010

THE TIMES: Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas quits at 89 after Israel outburst: It is always dangerous for a reporter to become the story. For Helen Thomas, two months before her 90th birthday, it has meant the end of her career.

The daughter of Lebanese immigrants who could neither read nor write, Thomas was covering the White House 11 years before its current spokesman was born.

Yesterday she resigned in disgrace after telling a Jewish online news service that Jews should “get the hell out of Palestine” and “go home”. >>> Giles Whittell, Washington | Monday, June 07, 2010

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Veteran White House Reporter Helen Thomas Retires After Israel Remarks
LOS ANGELES TIMES – BLOGS: Helen Thomas, the legendary White House reporter who broke down barriers against female journalists covering politics, will retire after controversial remarks criticized by many as anti-Israel.

Hearst News Service, her latest employer, on Monday announced the immediate retirement of Thomas, who will be 90 in August.

Thomas told a rabbi at a White House event last week that Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and go back to Germany and Poland or the United States. Her comments were caught on videotape and widely distributed.

The remarks caused a furor even though she immediately apologized. Her invitation to speak at a local graduation was rescinded. Jewish groups called her remarks ignorant and insensitive and said her apology did not go far enough. Read on and comment >>> Michael Muskal | Monday, June 07, 2010

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Pro-Arab Bias in Downing Street! Gaza Flotilla Attack: William Hague Attacks Israel Over Arrests
THE TELEGRAPH: William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, has launched an outspoken attack on the Israeli authorities over their arrests of British detainees from the flotilla.

As the detainees were deported from a prison camp via Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Mr Hague said he was "seriously concerned" at the seizure of British nationals in international waters.

He added that nine had still not been seen by consular staff, and complained of the difficulty in gaining access to the other 28.

"We are urgently pressing the Israeli government to resolve this situation within hours," Mr Hague said. "There is real, understandable and justified anger at the events which have unfolded.

"In some cases consular staff have been having to go to the prison at Beersheva, hammer on doors and ask people if they are British. It has been a chaotic situation, it is completely unsatisfactory."

Earlier in the day the prime minister, David Cameron, used question-time in the House of Commons to call the Israeli attack on the flotilla "completely unacceptable".

Together the attacks on Israel and its government amount to a new low in the rapidly deteriorating relationship between Britain and Israel.

While the Foreign Office has often notoriously been criticised for pro-Arab leanings, the Israelis have always been assured of an understanding ear in Downing Street, particularly under the governments of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. That may now have changed. >>> Richard Spencer and Murray Wardrop | Wednesday, June 02, 2010

BBC Rebukes Its Middle East Correspondent Jeremy Bowen for Anti-Israel Comments
Ruling: Jeremy Bowen was today found by an editorial standards committee to have breached the BBC's guidelines on accuracy and impartiality. Photo courtesy of MailOnline
NAME: BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen breached the corporation's guidelines on accuracy and impartiality, an official report found today.

Complaints about two pieces by Bowen - one online and another on Radio 4's From Our Own Correspondent - were ruled on by the BBC Trust's editorial standards committee.

Three references in the web article broke BBC rules on accuracy, the committee said.

They were the references to 'Zionism's innate instinct to push out the frontier'; Israel's 'defiance of everyone's interpretation of international law except its own'; and Israeli generals' sense they were dealing with 'unfinished business' left over from the 1948 war of independence.

The Radio 4 broadcast inaccurately claimed the US considered a particular Israeli settlement to be illegal, but had not breached impartiality rules, the report found.

Bowen used the online article, published on the BBC News website on June 4 2007, to put the present-day Israeli-Palestinian conflict in context by explaining the events of the 1967 Six Day War.

But the committee said the subject was very controversial and Bowen, the author of the 2003 book Six Days - How The 1967 War Shaped The Middle East, should have done more to make clear that there were other views on the matter.

Ruling that the article had breached the rules on impartiality, the committee said: 'Readers might come away from the article thinking that the interpretation offered was the only sensible view of the war.

'It was not necessary for equal space to be given to the other arguments, but... the existence of alternative theses should have been more clearly signposted.' >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Wednesday, April 15, 2009