Nader: ‘Anti-semitism against Arabs is rife’ in U.S.

Washington Post poll says that 91 percent of people are opposed to Helen Thomas's removal. Talk about the American street. And here is Ralph Nader on the Thomas resignation. Calls it a "professional execution." More:

She's a courageous journalist... blazed the way for women like no one did.... She set the standard for journalists, asking the tough questions... [to Bush] "Why did you invade Iraq?"

She also asked questions about the Israeli-Palestinian situation...

Do you know how many people [in Washington]... privately... say bad things about Arabs? Antisemitism against Arabs is rife in politics today... Ann Coulter... said horrific things about going over there and slaughtering Muslims....

More: the open-air prison that is Gaza, the USS Liberty too and the rubberstamping by the US of the Israeli investigation. Israeli nukes? Reporters are afraid to ask about them.

I like Nader's freshness about ethnic identification. "She's of Arab origin for heaven's sake," says Nader, who is himself of Arab origin. Put the shoe on the other foot, he says: Imagine a a massive Arab power was pummeling the Jews. What do you think Jewish-American reporters would do, he asks: they'd say a lot more than Helen Thomas...



(Philip Weiss)