A Letter From A Concerned Arab American Regarding Helen Thomas
I am disappointed, but certainly not surprised, that the Jewish leadership and community find fault that the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn plans a sculpture in honor of the venerable journalist, Helen Thomas, a native Detroiter. As if that were not enough, there are those who want Wayne State University to remove her name from the Spirit of Diversity in the Media Award.
In the hope of circumventing the usual deluge of letters in response to mine accusing me of being anti-Israel, or worse, anti-Semitic, let me elaborate. I am of Syrian descent, and I am aware and more knowledgeable than most of the tragic history of the Arab-Israel conflict. There has never been a time in my 89 years on this earth that I have not had Jewish friends or business associates with whom I enjoyed good relations and broke bread together. I cannot be anti-Semitic because my origin, like that of all Arabs, is Semitic. I believe that if Israelis and Palestinians were left to themselves to solve their problem, then there would be peace in the Middle East and a minimization of anti-American terrorism. Arabs and Jews have more in common than they have to separate them. If American Jewry would allow them to do so, then the area could be restored as the World’s Holy Land to become the most popular and most prosperous tourist attraction with Jews and Arabs benefiting enormously.
What is disturbing is the well-funded, multi-faceted at almost every level, determination among pro-Israeli forces in the United States to quash any criticism whatsoever of Israel. It is not even possible to engage in a non-belligerent, intelligent, and unemotional discussion of the issues. The impression created is that Israelis are always right, and Arabs, as well as those few who openly support them, are always wrong. We are lead to believe that Israelis are a super race of human beings while Arabs are inherently inferior. Prominent Americans at all levels of society, politics, media, entertainment, religion, and education find themselves afraid to express honest opinions regarding the sixty-three year Arab-Israeli conflict. This is not out of fear of being criticized for what they may say contrary to Israel, but out of fear of being totally destroyed by organized pro-Israel forces in our country.
To my Jewish friends, I remind you that there was another time in history when the threat of silencing opposition impacted your lives, albeit to your detriment and devastation. Contrary to the impression your organized defense forces convey, not everyone who disagrees with Israeli policies is anti-Israel or anti-Semitic. Nor as you claim are the overwhelming majority of Arab nations seeking nothing more than the destruction of Israel. Most humans throughout this world yearn for an elusive peace.
Helen Thomas mistakenly made a poorly-worded remark expressing the frustration many of us knowledgeable about the subject make among ourselves. Her long and honorable career as a journalist need not be destroyed because of it. She does not deserve being denied recognition at Wayne State University nor at the Arab American National Museum. Her slip of the tongue and the reaction in the Jewish community should remind all of us that approximately twelve million souls, both Israelis and Palestinians, continue to suffer on either side of a concrete barrier. This disputed boundary exists because of the illusion created in the United States, Israel’s primary backer, that everything Israel seeks and does is deserved and proper while the other side is terrorist driven seeking nothing less then the obliteration of the Jewish State.
We need to end what has become America’s longest and costliest war which is not in Afghanistan. America’s most enduring conflict is the Israel-Palestine War created, engineered, directed, manipulated, and funded at enormous cost in public and private funds by the United States and individual supporters of both sides. Rather than creating another negative out of the Helen Thomas controversy, let us seize the opportunity for a totally open discussion of the problem rather than continuing to smother it as has been the case for far too long.
Walter C. Shamie
Southfield, Michigan