Helen Thomas at the White House , September 30, 1976 (age 56) Veteran White House journalist Helen Thomas , 89, announced her retirement yesterday with immediate effect, ending her fifty-seven year career, amid criticism over controversial remarks. Thomas has been a correspondent for over fifty years and has covered every president from John F. Kennedy to Obama . Thomas, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants, who blazed a trail for female reporters in politics in the United States, has ended her career after apologizing for saying that Israel should "get the hell out of Palestine." Her departure as Hearst Newspaper columnist was announced after she was captured on video saying: "Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not Germany, it's not Poland," and that Israelis should "get the hell out of Palestine" and "they should go home" to Poland, Germany, the US and "everywhere else." Thomas was absent from Monday's White House briefing. She was dropped by her public speaking agency and a high school commencement address was canceled. The White House Correspondents Association called her remarks "indefensible". The Hearst statement came shortly after White House press secretary Robert Gibbs called her remarks "offensive and reprehensible." Thomas has been a correspondent for fifty-seven years, she had worked for decades as a White House correspondent for United Press International and became a columnist for the Hearst newspaper chain in recent years. She 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 .
at the , September 30, 1976 (age 56) Veteran White House journalist , 89, announced her retirement yesterday with immediate effect, ending her fifty-seven year career, amid criticism over controversial remarks. Thomas has been a correspondent for over fifty years and has covered every president from to . Thomas, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants, who blazed a trail for female reporters in politics in the United States, has ended her career after apologizing for saying that Israel should "get the hell out of Palestine." Her departure as columnist was announced after she was captured on video saying: "Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not Germany, it's not Poland," and that Israelis should "get the hell out of Palestine" and "they should go home" to Poland, Germany, the US and "everywhere else." Thomas was absent from Monday's briefing. She was dropped by her public speaking agency and a high school commencement address was canceled. The White House Correspondents Association called her remarks "indefensible". The Hearst statement came shortly after White House press secretary called her remarks "offensive and reprehensible." Thomas has been a correspondent for fifty-seven years, she had worked for decades as a White House correspondent for and became a columnist for the Hearst newspaper chain in recent years. She was the first female officer of the , the first female member and president of the , and, in 1975, the first female member of the .
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