Meyrav Wurmser

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Born in Israel, Meyrav Wurmser is described as a "leading scholar of the Arab world" on her profile page at the Hudson Institute. Wurmser is the cofounder of MEMRI and a columnist for the Jerusalem Post. She is married to the neoconservative analyst David Wurmser. Since 2002 Wurmser has been director of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC. She has been described as an "ardent Zionist"[1] for her role in helping to draft the now infamous "Clean Break" document proposing the overthrow of Saddam Hussein as a step towards reshaping Israel's strategic environment.

History

Wurmser wrote her PhD thesis on Revisionist Zionism and received her doctorate in political science at George Washington University. She has taught political science at Johns Hopkins University and the US Naval Academy.

Wurmser contributed to the infamous "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm" report, a paper prepared for Likud party leader and then incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Other contributors include Wurmser's neoconservative colleagues Richard Perle, David Wurmser, and Douglas Feith.

Projects

"Obssession"

Since 2008 Wurmser has been listed on the advisory board of the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), a group which describes itself as the "first unabashedly pro-Israel and pro-American think tank and policy shop on Capitol Hill."[2] EMET was involved in the distribution of over 20 million DVDs of a film called "Obsession" in swing states prior to the 2008 US Presidential election. Called "controversial" by some, the 60 minute film was also criticized for being deeply Islamophobic:

Critics allege that the movie "Obsession" is "hate propaganda" which paints Muslims as violent extremists and, among other things, explicitly compares the threat posed by radical Islam to that of Nazi Germany in the 1930s.[3]

Affiliations

  • Brian Whitaker, "Language Matters", Guardian, 28 September 2005
  • EMET, "About EMET", EMET Online, accessed on 1 October 2010
  • Ali Gharib and Eli Clifton, "Neo-cons, Ex-Israeli Diplomats Push Islamophobic Video", IPS News, 24 September 2008