Somewhere between 68 and 70% of American Jewish voters went for Obama, depending on whose exit poll you believe. Israelis that I talk to are mystified. “Are they crazy? What were they thinking?” they ask.
It’s not really mystifying. Here are some general facts about non-Orthodox and secular (the large majority) American Jews:
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Although they will say that they support Israel, they do not know the history of the Middle East and the 100-year old conflict over Jewish sovereignty. They are well-educated, which means that they went to universities where, if they studied the conflict, they are likely to have been assigned books and articles by the revisionist (read: anti-Zionist) historians. They will certainly have been exposed to numerous lectures and films presented by Palestinian advocates and student groups. If they are left-of-center and engaged in antiwar or other ‘progressive’ causes, they will certainly be bombarded with extreme anti-Israel propaganda as well.
They tend to be liberal, which means that they get their news of current events from sources like the New York Times, NPR, MSNBC, etc. What they will see and hear will generally confirm their mildly left-wing beliefs, but in one area — Israel — will be consistently and deliberately biased to an extreme degree.
They are very concerned about what they perceive as the danger of a Christian takeover of American society, in which Christian symbols and prayer will be officially sanctioned in public places, abortion and contraception will be prohibited on religious grounds, their children will be required to sing Christmas carols, etc. They associate Christianity with antisemitism — but do not seem to be alarmed by growing antisemitism on the Left, or in the black community.
They are less threatened by Muslims, whom they see as another minority in the US who suffer from discrimination, like blacks and Jews. They seek interfaith cooperation, and are not alarmed by the treatment of Islamist organizations as mainstream by the administration.
Although today many are financially successful, they are suspicious of “big business” and — not entirely incorrectly — feel that the population is being ripped off by corporations like banks, pharmaceutical companies, etc. They are pro-union. But they are not as worried by the fact that the tax burden on them is rapidly rising while government services that actually benefit people are falling. As liberals, they tend to be less concerned about the increasing power and intrusiveness of government than the loss of privacy to corporations.
Finally, as well-educated liberals, they find it hard to criticize Barack Obama, who presents himself as ‘black’, lest they be guilty of racism, a secular blasphemy punishable by total social ostracism.
Not everything I’ve said applies to all American Jews — there are conservatives among them, and some who take both conservative and liberal positions on various issues. There are Orthodox Jews who are more conservative, and even haredi anti-Zionists (who knows how, or even if, they vote). But I think my generalizations are, er, generally, correct.
So along comes Mitt Romney, a guy who represents corporate power if anyone does, who draws support from the Christian Right — at least, at the beginning of the campaign when he plays to the conservative base — and who complains about ‘big government’ and threatens to undo the only liberal success of the Obama Administration, Obamacare.
He is at a huge disadvantage from the start. And the issue of Israel has little or no power to sway American Jews, because, as I’ve argued, deep in their hearts they are not sure that Israel is not really a colonialist oppressor of third-world Palestinians. In an emotional sense, many of them are not with Israel.
We know that politics is mostly emotional, so when Republicans or pro-Israel Jews presented arguments that Obama was not a friend or Israel, they bounced off. Accepting and acting on them would mean going against their deeply felt liberalism andvoting Republican, something many could not bring themselves to do. And their pro-Israel feeling is not strong enough to push them over the edge. So they looked for reasons to justify their emotional position.
The Obama campaign presented simplistic talking points to ‘prove’ that he is pro-Israel. They did not have to stand up to analysis. Liberal Jews were looking for a rational excuse to justify their emotional stance, and the talking points provided one.
It’s remarkable that Jewish support for Obama — 78% in 2008 — dropped as much as it did!
Technorati Tags: Obama, Jews, Israel
God will never abandon Israel.
On the whole, ‘liberal’ American Jews today are not much different to the Roosevelt Jews. Roosevelt abandoned 6 million European Jews to their terrible fate under the nazi jackboot, and it seems that today’s US Jews would also abandon the 6 million Jews of Israel to Iran’s nuclear holocaust threat. But America’s Jews should learn from history that every galut/diaspora ‘Jewish golden age’ ended calamitously (e.g. Spain, Germany) and the remnants of those golden ages only had other galut/diaspora ‘havens’ to flee to.
If, God Forbid, Israel is ‘wiped off the face of the earth’ (i.e. another 6 million Jews are massacred in their only promised homeland) then where will American Jews go when their golden age is no more and survivors (if any) seek another (temporary) haven? This goes for all Jews who insist in remaining in the galut who also will run out of galut havens to flee to. What then? Semitic refugees aboard a Fleet of Rockets to another galaxy?
The
night before the election, Mitt was very confident and told Ann “this
time tomorrow night, you’ll be sleeping with the President of the United
States.” After Mitt’s concession speech, they headed to
bed. Ann was getting undressed when she asked, “so how does this work?
Is Barack coming over here or I am supposed to go over there?”
It is such a shame really that they would take positions contrary to God’s moral will.
It is well known that many Americans are naive and believe everything they read and hear in the media. American Jews are more liberal than genuine liberals. They are more interested in free abortion and gay marriages than in being Jews. Just to show how open minded they are it is a shame that they are so open minded that their brains are in danger of falling out
Out of misunderstood self-interest, the American Jews are either indifferent to IL or fundamentally anti Zionists. This weakens every Jew wherever she/he lives. Voting being secret, how can someone be intimidated? When the mass media are “controlled”, the gvt of the country has too much power and ideology is the enemy of the people!
based on the O’s micro-targeted campaign, you can bet that a lot of verbal intimidation was going on. They really do have your personal data.
The good news is that no one is blaming the Jews for either Obama’s win or Romney’s loss.
except here 🙂
American Jews are no less the dhimmi than the Jews of Iran. I’m not sure if the latter are as clueless regarding this fact.
Link to my quotes above.
I do suspect that many Jews do not know better. Jack Marshall pointed out that the broadcast and print network distorted coverage of the campaign and issues.
I will submit that the media’s distorting “coverage of both the campaign and the issues to an obscene degree” enabled his “his cynical divisiveness strategy ”
Hell, the media so distorted the issues that David Duke thinks that Obama is pro-Israel and pro-Zionist.
yamit82 Said:
Most of the jews that are wedded to the demo party today, in my experiences, evolve from the pre-60’s Jews of cities like NYC. Those Jews were total loyal DEms then. In those days there was hardly any such thing as a WASP liberal. WASPS were republlican except in the south where they were mainly the southern Dems who were not liberal but were working class. The Jews were then a mostly working and lower middle class group and still reflecting immigrant values. They shared the Dem party with urban white immigrant groups primarily Irish and Italian, who at the time displayed a lot of anti semitism. If anything WASP liberals followed on the jews. The Irish and Italians were liberal mainly insofar as being union working class immigrants, not really liberal in social values. It was the younger generation of Jews which really heralded the liberalism of the 1960’s and was closely associated with civil rights. WASPS were the establishment. Nowadays you get a lot more WASP liberals and also more Republican Jews.
yamit82 Said:
Jews didn’t seem to mind taxes if accompanied by benefits(SS, etc). The Jews went through a similar problem in the 60’s when, after supporting blacks civil rights with their lives, were turned upon by black anti semites(which still exists). I think is a matter that old habits die hard and with the younger generation there is ignorance. I never knew the details of the swindle of Jewish settlement rights and YS until the last 10 years. I blame the Israeli govt and Jewish institutions for this travesty in not educating younger Jews to the facts. They dont even do it in Israel. If any place should have kept the truth alive it should have been Israel. It is one thing to say we were under duress, we had to acquiesce, but to keep jews in ignorance is despicable. yamit82 Said:
From the outside Israel has never mentioned even the legal rights to YS, jewish settlement and little on jewish refugees. When the loudest jewish voices in Israel are siding with the pals and shouting apartheid what do you expect diaspora jews to think? I only got facts because I read a lot of alternative internet sites but had it not been for 9-11 I would not have read those sites. Yamit, Israelis need to take responsibility for the confusion outside of Israel resulting from their behavior. Most Diaspora Jews would support what Israelis support if they knew what that was. The most published Israelis in the diaspora are haaretz writers who have repeatedly called for the US to strong-arm Israel. What about livni and Olmert, considered Israeli leaders by diaspora jews, who are almost tripping themselves over in the frenzy to be touted by the foreign pimp? Who is going to call for a jewish JS when Israeli govt and most parties call for 2 states and withdrawal?
yamit82 Said:
The jewish diaspora would turn if Israeli jews turned. The behavior of Israeli govts, de facto, is that jews do not belong in YS and are an occupying force. How many Israelis protest this govt policy, not as much as the social protests?
I agree, there is a fear that they could easily turn around again.
I think he is doing what diplomatic circles expect and giving Obama the opportunity to step away from hostility(I doubt that will happen)
@ Bernard Ross:
Bernard Ross Said:
I don’t think it’s so much as the Dem party that Jews are loyal to but Christian WASP liberals. If that group were to make a 180 degree reversal of positions the Jews would follow in lockstep. I believe this to be true although few of those Jews have or can Intellectualize this phenomenon.
Why would Jews vote against their own self interest even to the illogical extent of voting for de-facto an increase in taxes to themselves, supporting the very hate groups who hate the Jews the most in America? Why would they side with positions against the interests of the Jewish state regardless of who is leading our government and regardless of a mltiplicity of views here in Israel after all 3 Jews 5 opinions has always been our law handed down from Sinai? No it has less to do with the democratic party than to those liberals Jews seek favor and acceptance from.
The silent other reason is Jews have a built in bias and fear of anything smacking of fundamentalist Christianity. They may be ignorant about many things but instinctively understand who is our enemy for the 2000 years. This group of Jews has not been taken in by We Love you looove Jews and Israel which is reinforced every-time they meet a Christian missionary on the street and all those messianic synagogues sprouting like clover after a rain. Most young American Jews brought up in multicultural America do not see any more than their liberal social groups as a threat to them.
Pls read: http://www.jewishmag.com/9mag/plaut/plaut.htm
Obama will mot likely seek to unseat BB like Clinton did by supporting Barak. BB already started his ass kissing by praising Obama and stating that his government is so tied to Americas apron strings that nothing will break them ties.
Why haven’t WOMEN been blamed yet?
There’s been plenty of blame to go around for Romney’s loss. But what about women – Jewish and otherwise?
Women who voted for Obama should be held to account for betraying their own much touted international feminine solidarity – for the sake of US gay marriage and “choice”, as they call it.
Knowing what Islam does to women and girls, American women of all colors should be outraged by the government’s support of Islam, and its implicit acquiescence to Muslim “customs”.
They applaud as the president, the secretary of state, and other officials extols the goodness and peacefulness of Islam while keeping silent about atrocities committed against women in its name – not by Al Qaeda alone, but by regular Muslim folks and their governments.
@ keelie:
Actually it’s well documented. It’s called Stockholm Syndrome and after over 2,000 years of persecution by the nations of the world, it is epidemic to the Jewish people and nation.
“We know that politics is mostly emotional, so when Republicans or pro-Israel Jews presented arguments that Obama was not a friend or Israel, they bounced off. Accepting and acting on them would mean going against their deeply felt liberalism andvoting Republican, something many could not bring themselves to do. ”
Don’t agree. what is confusing American Jews the most is the Israeli Jews lack of unity on the issues. Most US jews would leave the evaluation of the facts to those on site: the Israeli Jews. However, Israeli Jews are so divided it becomes very confusing as to what are the facts. On top of that, Demo Jews are wedded to their Demo party loyalties and echo the Israeli leftist jewish position. If the Israelis presented a unified view then the US jews would mostly follow. Furthermore, Israeli govt has not shown any consistent position and has abandoned Jewish rights in the settling of YS. The govt of Israel is seen to be the spokesman for Israel. Now we have opportunistic Israeli Jews(Livni, Mofaz, Olmert) jockeying to be pimped in Israeli elections by Obama.
“They are very concerned about what they perceive as the danger of a Christian takeover of American society, in which Christian symbols and prayer will be officially sanctioned in public places, abortion and contraception will be prohibited on religious grounds, their children will be required to sing Christmas carols, etc. They associate Christianity with antisemitism — but do not seem to be alarmed by growing antisemitism on the Left, or in the black community.
They are less threatened by Muslims, whom they see as another minority in the US who suffer from discrimination, like blacks and Jews. They seek interfaith cooperation, and are not alarmed by the treatment of Islamist organizations as mainstream by the administration”.
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Jews feel threatened by Christians but not muslims. This is beyond mystifying, it is completely irrational and borders on mental illness.
“As liberals, they tend to be less concerned about the increasing power and intrusiveness of government than the loss of privacy to corporations.”
I think this is an underestimation. It is not just a “loss of privacy” to corporations it is a belief that corporations and the rich have looted the economy of the nation and that the taxpayer is now paying for that looting. Who sent the jobs, production and capital to Asia; Top 20% of households(who run the economy) took 80% of income gains since 1975; corrupt corps and individuals repeatedly causing financial meltdowns while repubs call for deregulation. This is much bigger than privacy.
@ yamit82:Ted, I agree, how does one quote the main article using a blockquote tool??? there is only provision to quote other comments.
Ted, I don’t like the changes you made in the comments. You tried these changes before and it wasn’t successful then and even less so now.
@ Canadian Otter:
Canadian Otter Said:
“Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad” Euripides
@ Canadian Otter:
Canadian Otter Said:
Euripides
Jews need to relearn how to hate their enemies. 2000 years of non Jewish influences have corrupted them.
“Everything has an appointed season, and there is a time for every matter under the heaven.” Kohelet – Ecclesiastes – Chapter 3
” A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.”
“And I saw that there is nothing better than that man rejoice in his deeds, for that is his portion, for who will bring him to see what will be after him?”
…so that they can kill lots more people like his sister and his father…
This person is simply insane; no other word to describe it.
Too kind. Like a loving parent trying to find excuses for her dysfunctional child.
Every Jew or part-Jew who knows anything about the persecution of Jews through the centuries and about the Holocaust knows that it was a collaborative effort. It wasn’t just the Tzar, or the thugs in town, or the Church, or the Nazis in uniform who were involved. The Holocaust itself could not have taken place without the collaboration of their neighbors and – very importantly – the complicity of countries the Diaspora today calls home.
In the absence of any other sense of Jewishness, this awareness of historical discrimination, persecution, and genocide against Jews should be the key factor in placing support of Israel as a first priority.
But it’s not. And it’s not due to any of the above excuses. Something else is at work.
That something else is at work in Israel as well, prompting many Jews to side with the Arabs – the same ones who have killed so many of their own and who are intent on finishing the job.
There was an article on YNET yesterday about Eyal Shiran, whose sister was killed by Arab terrorists, and whose father eventually succumbed to injuries sustained in the same bombing attack – and who is now running in the next election for the ultra-left and Arab-loving Meretz party. The bombing did not destroy my world view, he says, it reinforced it.
This tendency by some Jews to side with their enemies is not an exclusively Jewish aberration. It is now afflicting many whites in the Western world who seem oblivious to Islam’s threat to their culture and their lives, and who oppose any national measure of self-defense.
Wow thanks. I’d always wondered why Jews went Dem.