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Grand dame of US journalism retires

Other News Materials 8 June 2010 09:09 (UTC +04:00)
Helen Thomas, the White House reporter of the lengthiest employment has resigned after advising the Israelis to leave the occupied Palestinian territories, Press TV reported.
Grand dame of US journalism retires

Helen Thomas, the White House reporter of the lengthiest employment has resigned after advising the Israelis to leave the occupied Palestinian territories, Press TV reported.

Helen Thomas retired on Monday, a week after saying during the Jewish Heritage Celebration, "Tell them (Israelis) to get the hell out of Palestine," AFP reported.

"Remember these people are occupied and it's their land, not
German and not Poland," she said. "They can go home, Poland, Germany, and America and everywhere else."

However, the 89-year-old veteran reporter later posted an apology on her website.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Monday that the remarks were "offensive and reprehensible."

She worked as a correspondent for United Press International (UPI) for 57 years from 1943 to 2000.

She then joined Hearst Newspapers as a columnist, covering national affairs and the White House.

Ms. Thomas was the first female officer of the National Press Club, the first female member and president of the White House Correspondents Association, and, in 1975, the first female member of the Gridiron Club.

Helen Thomas has been a fixture at White House press conferences for decades and was often allowed to ask the first question.

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