C Span anti semitism

mitic Exchange on C-Span
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz Anti-Semitic Exchange on C-Span

A caller on a C-Span interview program Monday complained about "all these Jews" having "way too much power" in America and pushing the U.S. into wars with the Muslim world. He found his comments echoed and expanded upon by the studio guest.

Michael Scheuer, the former director of a CIA unit assigned to track down Osama Bin-Laden, calmly expressed the view that American soldiers are now dying in Iraq for the sake of Israelis. He further claimed that any debate of American support for Israel is squelched in the public sphere.

The interviewer for C-Span's Washington Journal program did not react to the blatantly anti-Semitic exchange. Several other callers praised Scheuer for his position regarding Israel, adding their own condemnation of the Jewish State and its supporters.

An excerpt of the initial discussion follows:

John (on the phone from Franklin, New York): "Good morning. I, for one, am sick and tired of all these Jews coming on C-Span and other stations and pushing us to go to war against our Muslim friends. They're willing to spend the last drop of American blood and treasure to get their way in the world. They have way too much power in this country. People like Wolfowitz and Feith and the other neo-cons - that Jewed us into Iraq - and now we're going to spend the next 60 years rehabilitating our soldiers. I'm sick and tired of it."

C-SPAN host (to Scheuer): "Any comments?"

Scheuer: "Yeah. I think that of course American foreign policy is eventually up to the American people. One of the big things we have not been able to discuss for the past 30 years is our policy towards the Israelis. Whether we want to be involved in fighting Israel's wars in the future is something that Americans should be able to talk about. They may vote yes. They may want to see their kids killed in Iraq or Yemen or somewhere else to protect Israel. But the question is: we need to talk about it. Ultimately, Israel is a country that is of no particular worth to the United States."

C-SPAN host: "You mean strategically?"

Scheuer: "Strategically. They have no resources we need. Their manpower is minimal. Their association with us is a negative for the United States. Now that's a fact. What you want to do about that fact is entirely different. But for anyone to stand up in the United States and say that our support for Israel doesn't hurt us in the Muslim world, or our support for Hosni Mubarak's dictatorship doesn't hurt us, is to just defy reality."

[Watch the video clip here or the full interview with Scheuer here

Earlier in the same interview, however, Scheuer made it clear what he felt should be done regarding Israel. In his opinion, the U.S. should "persuade" Islamic terrorists threatening America "to focus their anger" on Israel and on oppressive Middle Eastern regimes.

American Jewish Groups 'Hurt' Critics of Israel

Scheuer also later elaborated on what he said is the way criticism of Israel is prevented.

A caller named Nicki from Maryland thanked him for his comments on Israel and asked, "Why is it that the United States does not want to talk about Israel?" Prefacing his remarks by asserting that "Israel has every right to do what it needs to do" to defend itself, including the development of nuclear weapons, Scheuer said that the U.S. has no real interest in either Israel or the Palestinian Authority. "That is a religious war in which we have no stake," he continued.

Scheuer: "Why don't we talk about that? Because AIPAC and other influential American Jewish groups are extraordinarily involved in the funding of American political campaigns and have the ability to reach out and make sure that people lose their jobs, or are otherwise hurt, if they dare to criticize Israel."

Scheuer went on to claim that he lost a job with the Jamestown Foundation think tank for saying that then-presidential candidate Barack Obama was "doing what I call the Tel-Aviv Two Step". As a result, he claimed, "the donors to that foundation" ordered that he be terminated. He concluded the discussion of Jewish political influence by saying, "You know, you always talk about the Israel Lobby and its power, but to see it up close and personal aimed right at me was very educational. In fact, it was worth the experience of losing a job."