Another ex-CIA guy, the great Michael Scheuer relates his expulsion from the Jamestown Foundation following a speech in December criticizing the special relationship:
My speech seemed well received, but in January I received a call from Jamestown's
president telling me I had been terminated as a senior fellow by the Foundation's
board of directors. Why, I asked? He responded by citing my comments about
Obama doing the "Tel Aviv two-step" and my description of Emanuel's
record, both of which he said might be in a speech by Rep. Ron Paul. My remarks
about Emanuel apparently sparked particular anger among the Foundation's directors,
as Jamestown's president referred to them at least three times in a short telephone
conversation. In any event, the president said several major financial donors
to Jamestown threatened to withdraw funding if I remained a senior fellow,
so I was getting the boot. Then he added that my every-other-week essays for
Jamestown's Terrorism Focus had attracted readers and praise for the
Foundation, so the directors said I could keep writing for the journal. I declined
this honor, which seemingly was a bribe made in the hope that I would not speak
publicly about being terminated as a senior fellow for saying the current state
of the U.S.-Israel relationship undermined U.S. national security.
I regret leaving Jamestown, as I have great respect for its analysis on several
vital U.S. security issues. But at the same time, I am grateful to the Foundation's
directors for terminating me. In the hardcover of Marching Toward Hell,
I condemned the U.S.-Israel relationship and those who take it "upon themselves
to decide who is and who is not a 'good American,'" based on his or her
views of U.S.-Israel relations, and "then mete out punishment to those
of their countrymen who do not make the grade." At the time, my view was
based on what pro-Israel U.S. citizens had done to Pat Buchanan, President
Carter, and Professors Walt and Mearsheimer.
Now, however, I have the personal experience of losing both position and income
for condemning Washington's status quo Israel policy as a threat to U.S. national
security. The introduction to my paperback, therefore, can be said to be credibly
written by an author with firsthand knowledge of how the Israel Lobby works.
After my experience with the "nonpartisan" board of directors at
Jamestown, I can only say of them what FDR said of his domestic foes: "They
are unanimous in their hatred for me – and I welcome their hatred."
Weiss adds: Beautiful statement. Thrilling conclusion. Welcome aboard. Where is the bandwidth? Let this go prominently into the file for when Ezra Klein who is wet behind the ears and others say that you don't get punished for taking this position. Note that in his original speech, Scheuer said that critics of the US-Israel policy should not be labelled antisemites. When I have time, I will look at those financial donors to Jamestown…
