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Source: http://jta.org/news/article/2009/03/10/1003589/the-freeman-fight-is-it-all-about-israel
What Was Behind the Freeman Fight?
[JTA] Eric Fingerhut - Lawmakers who led the successful campaign against the selection of Charles Freeman said their concerns always had less to do with his criticisms of Israel than his financial ties to Saudi Arabia and a Chinese oil company with business dealings in Iran. Freeman had lashed out at his critics Tuesday, releasing a statement blaming "the Israel Lobby." Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) focused on Freeman's ties to the China National Offshore Oil Company and China's purchase of oil from Sudan throughout the Darfur genocide, as well as his use of the term "race riot" to describe a protest in Tibet. Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), a member of the Select Intelligence Oversight Panel of the House Appropriations Committee, said Freeman is "entitled to be a strident critic of Israel and be a strident defender of China. He is not entitled to hold those opinions and make judgments on intelligence matters."