A small silver lining
Interesting poll from Rasmussen on American attitudes towards Gaza. Bottom line: while there’s somewhat more support for Israel than the Palestinians, popular opinion is much more evenly divided than you would think from watching the TV news, reading op-eds in the newspapers, or listening to Congressmen expound on how Israel must do whatever it wants to “protect” itself. I don’t know where the substantial minority that thinks Israel is blatantly over-reacting gets its views: they can’t all be reading Phil Weiss’s blog and Robert Fisk in The Independent. Still the poll is cheering for those who want Obama to actually change things: the Democratic electorate (and the president-elect hopefully as well) are way ahead of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
Scott:
Most of America thought we could stay out of WW2. Come to think of it that seems to be the Pat Buchanan position. But I digress. Can you please expand on my earlier question. Israel withdrew to the international borders on both Lebanon and the Gaza fronts. Recognized by the UN for Gods sake. Yet attacks continue to come from both areas. You say leave the west bank and allow Hamas a foothold in Jerusalem. Yet, you deny Israel’s right of self defense against attacks from Lebanon and GAza. And take the side of Islamic fundamentalists. Again, I ask you. Since the general feeling by you seems to be that this is all Israel’s fault it can certainly be wound up by the middle January if only Israel does A, B, and C. What would that be. If you were PM what would you do. And do you have any thoughts about what the Arabs, including Iran might do. Or are they obligated to do nothing. And keep in mind that in Israel the government has to eventually answer to the people. So, again, if you were in charge in Israel what would you do.
Scott,
Remind us why religious anti-Zionism based on the heretical and ahistorical notion that Jesus was a Palestinian, is a legitimate position.
While you are at it, remind us why conservatives should get in bed with communists. Hatred of Israel seems to lead to treason, at least as quickly as attachment to a foreign power.
There’s still a pretty strong non-interventionist undercurrent among most Americans. It comes from our history, way of life and the stories of American history that we hear in school.
Also, anyone who pays attention can also see that this is a vicious cycle that repeats itself every few years. It’s obvious that the creation of a Jewish state in 1948 that served as a magnet for Jews from Iran to New York City made animosity that was already there for millenia explode.
No matter what the commentators or Joe Lieberman may be saying, it’s hard for the average American to see why rooting for Israel is in our interest.
Huh?
That’s my response to the two comments.
Seems to me that the only way out of the Isreal/Palestine mess is to acknowledge that fault lies on both sides and that both sides have a right to exist as healthy, safe nations. If I was in charge I would tell the Isrealis that continued military support was contingent upon them refraining from attacks on palestine and upon the return of occupied areas to Palestine I’d tell the Palestinians that they would get humaniatrian aid from us to the same amount of military aid we give to Isreal contingent upon them refraining from attacking Isreal.
Then I’d cut off whoever misbehaved first.
I realize that my attitude is affected by my fourteen years as a middle school teacher.
Please excuse the typos! I hit “submit comment” too soon.