Constitutional Law

Helen Thomas blasts university for pulling award

By By The Associated Press

DETROIT ? Longtime journalist Helen Thomas blasted her Detroit alma mater for pulling an award named for her because of comments she made that the university called anti-Semitic.

The Wayne State University alumna told the Detroit Free Press for a story Dec. 6 that the school "made a mockery of the First Amendment" by ending the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award.

The university cited comments Thomas made while speaking last week in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn. She said major American institutions were owned by "Zionists."

"Congress, the White House, and Hollywood, Wall Street, are owned by the Zionists," Thomas said Dec. 2. "No question, in my opinion. They put their money where there mouth is."

Thomas resigned in June as a Hearst Newspaper columnist after she said Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and "go home" to "Poland, Germany."

Thomas was born to Lebanese immigrants in Kentucky and raised in Detroit. She worked much of her career as a United Press International reporter.

"The leaders of Wayne State University have made a mockery of the First Amendment and disgraced their understanding of its inherent freedom of speech and the press," she told the Free Press. "The university also has betrayed academic freedom ? a sad day for its students."

The First Amendment Center Online contributed to this report.

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on December 07, 2010 (boomark / email).