One of the best things to come out of the Chas Freeman affair is the combination of non-Zionist leftwing Jews and realist gentiles. The two groups have gotten over political/cultural differences and are beginning to feel real loyalty to one another out of a sense of an American interest and shared contempt for the neocons. This combination disposes of the anti-semitic smear entirely and encourages lots of folks to come forward. Best evidence of this is Glenn Greenwald's vigorous defense of Chas Freeman in this interview by Hugh Hewitt at townhall. It begins with a question about Freeman's role at the Middle East Policy Council, where he was bought and paid for, as Dershowitz claimed, by the Saudis:
GG:
No, I just don’t think that for a position that pays somebody, a
lifelong diplomat of that stature, $76,000 dollars a year, that there
ought to be an assumption that he’s been corrupted by that amount of
money. I mean, I think that it’s a reasonable issue to raise, I think
he ought to be asked about it, but the idea that that ought to be
disqualifying, if you look at the person who’s running the State
Department right now, and the involvement of her family with all sorts
of foreign governments, and like I said, the Bush family, I just think
it’s incredibly disingenuous to suggest that that level of ties to the
Saudi regime ought to disqualify somebody for a position like that….
HH:
Now you also write that what I find most mystifying is that,
“Israel-centric fanatics actually think it’s a good thing for Israel to
impose these sorts of Israel-based loyalty tests and orthodoxies on
American politics.” Is Chuck Schumer an Israel-centric fanatic?
GG: Oh, definitely.
HH: Is Rahm Emanuel?
GG: Yes, I think Rahm Emanuel is.
HH: Joe Lieberman?
GG: Yeah, absolutely.
HH: Hillary Clinton?
GG: No, I wouldn’t say Hillary Clinton is.
