According to a Gallup survey tracking attitudes about the “situation” in the Middle East, 63 percent of Americans today say their sympathies lie with Israel, while only fifteen percent express the same for the Palestinians. Which should be a comfort to supporters of the Jewish State, who have felt an icy breeze wafting from the White House over the past year, though it should not come as a surprise: Unlike the Brits, whose quivering Muslim-appeasing has lately produced a horrific rise in the anti-Semitism that poses as anti-Zionism, Americans know who their friends are. Or rather, Americans who are Republicans and Independents do. The Dems are another story:
Over the last five years, support for Israel has increased slightly among Republicans (rising from about 77% for each of the past several years to 85% today) and independents, but has stayed roughly the same among Democrats. Since 2001, however, there has been a more dramatic shift in partisan attitudes: a 25-point increase in sympathy for Israel among Republicans and an 18-point increase among independents. Even on this longer-term basis, support for Israel among Democrats has been relatively flat.
What is it about liberals and the longing for what Neal Kozodoy once so brilliantly called “the ratifying kick in the teeth?” Why do they despise their familiars and love The Stranger who hates them—and hates them all the more for their craven pursuit of him?
What is it about liberals and the longing for what Neal Kozodoy once so brilliantly called “the ratifying kick in the teeth?” Why do they despise their familiars and love The Stranger who hates them—and hates them all the more for their craven pursuit of him?
ReplyDeleteAh, that is the big question,is it not--and it applies to other situations, as well; criminals, for example. If I were a Freudian I'd say "The Death Instinct" but thank God I'm not, so as someone who loves life I am baffled. All I can do is end on a question mark just as you did. (?)
I think part of it has to do with the Bible--Republicans are statistically more likely to have read the Bible (or at least to have heard of it!). There are of course other excellent reasons for supporting and defending Israel, but believing in her right to that one particular place on the planet, and applauding the regathering of her people, is more important to people who have respect for the Bible -- be they Jews or Christians -- than it is to those who don't.
ReplyDeleteI think instrinsic Republican support for Israel has more to do with mutual affinity for the guiding philosophies of personal responsiblity, rugged individualism, and self-determination.
ReplyDeleteIt is not sympathy, but admiration, that I carry for Israel, which much like our own country, and against far greater odds, has far exceeded its initial prospects....
Barack Obama's election to the presidency, so largely due to the media's swaddling him in unquestioning adoration for two years, did make me wonder "what is it with liberals." I suspect that at some level, the personality type enjoys the sensation of being overpowered. (The kick in the teeth?) Perhaps that's very human ... but when that personality type is also totally secular, it won't recognize that being overpowered by man is not the same as being overpowered by, say, the divine. It will just lash out at those who don't feel correctly.
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