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| The Times, They Are A-Changin': Latest Survey of Am. Jews | ||||
| 2010-04-12 | ||||
Released on Friday, ahead of Obamas nuclear summit in Washington, the survey found that a majority of American Jews have little faith that the Iranian regime would abandon its nuclear program; 68% of those surveyed said there is “little' or “no' chance that sanctions and diplomacy will curb the Islamic Republics nuclear program. A slim majority – 53% – would support American military action against Iran, while 63% would support Israeli military action. Overall, those surveyed gave the president a 57% approval rating on a range of issues, including health care, the economy and homeland security. Sixty-three percent characterized US-Israel relations as “somewhat positive,' while 10% said they were “very positive.' Fifty-five percent of respondents approved of the Obama administrations handling of US-Israel relations, compared to 54% who approved last year. Some 57% of respondents approved of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahus handling of the relationship, and 30% disapproved. On a main point of contention between the two governments – the future of Israeli settlements – 8% of American Jews surveyed said “all' and 56% said “some' settlements should be dismantled as part of an agreement with the Palestinians.
The survey clearly depicted a strong bond with Israel felt by American Jews. Thirty percent of respondents said they feel “very close,' while 44% said they feel “fairly close.' Orthodox Jews expressed stronger levels of identification, with 77% saying they were “very close' to Israel. Younger Jews also eclipsed older counterparts in this regard: 40% of Jews under 40 feel “very close' to Israel, compared to 24% of Jews between 40 and 59.
Respondents were split regarding a Palestinian state – 48% favor one and 45 oppose this – but 80% said Israel cannot make peace with a Hamas-led government. The survey showed deep suspicion of Arab intentions, with 75% saying the goal of Arabs is the destruction of Israel. The concern extended to anti-Semitism in the Muslim world and beyond. A full 98% said anti-Semitism is a problem in the Muslim world, including 87% who said it was a “very serious' problem. Ninety-five percent said it was a problem in Europe; 91% said it was a problem in the US, including 25% who said it was a “very serious' problem and 66% who said it was “somewhat of a problem.'
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| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #23 There is a very old, very southern Jewish community, that predates the Civil War. One of their noteworthy members is conservative columnist Paul Greenberg, of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, one of the last of the "real" newspapers in the US, having been kept on an even keel by a wealthy benefactor. Here are some of his past columns. Pretty good reads. http://townhall.com/columnists/paulgreenberg/archive.shtml |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-04-12 22:10 |
| #22 So, how long will Rham Emmanuel stick with it? |
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Posted by: |
| #21 So irrational fears about deliverance are what keeps people trapped in NY? Haha that's freakin pitiful No. That's freakin GOOD! Listen to him Blue State Yankee Liberals, we Southerners are all Rednecks. Stay up North in your Liberal Utopias, and you will be safe. For real. |
| Posted by: Secret Asian Man 2010-04-12 19:54 |
| #20 I'll tell you a funny story. I was at a family gathering. Some of the people attending were doctors and one was a retired dentist. I thought I would learn something from the medical folks about the chances of the health care bill passing. This was in November of last year. I threw the question out to a group of people of which the retired dentist replied: "G_d damned Republicans; if it were up to them all of us would die for lack of health care." I figured there was no rational discussion occurring here and I walked away. I told my wife this story and she said: "You didn't know about this family member?" I said what don't I know?" She said he smokes dope most of his waking moments and most likely was stoned at the time." So there you go. Not much to learn there. Other than just SAY NO to drugs. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-04-12 17:12 |
| #19 These are not discussions that I can generally have at family gatherings. Wise. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2010-04-12 16:52 |
| #18 Thing fromSM: Those policies are immensely bad for Israel, and while there are republicans stupid enough to support them, their main support is overwhelmingly from the Democratic party. This is true. Assume for a minute the rest of which you have said is also correct. One has to ask: What's the point and benefit to the American Jewish people of voting Democrat? From what I understand the people of Israel are not in lock step with American Jewish people? The former tend to be nationalistic while the latter tend to be liberal. The Democrats tend to show less tolerance for Israel and the Republicans tend to be more supportive of Israel. So my question still exists? Why do Jewish people vote Democrat? This doesn't make much sense--at least to me. I am married to a Jewish woman and we have these discussions. She is bright and tends to be conservative in the political sense. Her family tends to vote as 78% of other Jewish people in America vote. These are not discussions that I can generally have at family gatherings. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-04-12 16:51 |
| #17 Judah Philip Benjamin (August 6, 1811 – May 6, 1884) was an American politician and lawyer. He was born a British subject in the West Indies, became a citizen of the United States and then the Confederate States of America. After the collapse of the Confederacy, he settled in England and died in France. Benjamin held the following posts: * Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives; * U.S. Senator from Louisiana; and * Three successive Cabinet posts in the government of the Confederate States of America He was also a distinguished barrister and Queen's Counsel in the United Kingdom. He was the first Jewish Cabinet-member in a North American government, and the first Jew seriously considered for nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court (he declined an offer of nomination twice). He was either the first or second Jewish U.S. Senator (after David Levy Yulee of Florida who became a Presbyterian). |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2010-04-12 16:51 |
#16 I seem to recall that the Fed Banker equiv. of the CSA was Jewish and that he had major input into CSA policy. You can't get more "South" then the CSA but I have never heard a liberal own up to this.... It is occasionally remarked upon by the Nation of Islam and similar groups. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2010-04-12 16:25 |
| #15 Well, because whenever it comes time to vote they overwhelmingly vote to export the energy industry to Saudi Arabia and countries like it, and disparage anyone who doesn't want to do so. The economic policies they favor and vote for by a 4:1 ratio favor the Mullahs of Iran and Saudi Arabia with roughly half a trillion dollars cash profit a year. That's money to buy TV networks on both the "left" and the "right," that's money to say "If you sell the Israelis oilfield equipment and you'll never sell any in the other Middle Eastern countries," which means a pretty big hit when they're shutting down leasing here too. (BTW, today the Zero Administration added recent leases in Montana to those in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming that they were putting on hold. Oh, and that's in addition to the ones in Alaska they cancelled during their fake offshore drilling announcement). That's also money to buy uranium from anywhere, centrifuges from Malaysia built with the blueprints the Pakistanis got from the Netherlands (and money to get the blueprints), money to buy IRBM's from China (which Saudi Arabia has done)... ...and money to buy elections, both in the west and their immediate area. I remember Turkey used to have a good relationship with Israel, for instance. Those policies are immensely bad for Israel, and while there are republicans stupid enough to support them, their main support is overwhelmingly from the Democratic party. Four out of five of 'em, you can't even talk to about these sorts of things; too many cultural assumptions about Deliverance and non-archdruid-of-Canterbury Protestantism and a grasp of economics that comes from having watched late-70's-reruns of Dallas. (And, probably, I can't talk to you about this either because to say that it's hard talking to them here about this stuff is antisemitism; in addition,you've divided the world into people who believe in your particular brand of realpolitik and liberal idiots who don't, as if everyone's brand of realpolitik is going to wind up looking like yours.) |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-04-12 16:21 |
| #14 So Jews are stupid because Republican administrations have been so much better for Israel than Democratic ones? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-04-12 15:34 |
| #13 I seem to recall that the Fed Banker equiv. of the CSA was Jewish and that he had major input into CSA policy. You can't get more "South" then the CSA but I have never heard a liberal own up to this.... |
| Posted by: 3dc 2010-04-12 12:58 |
| #12 if some crazy who can be shoots up place corr: if some crazy who shoots up the place Most likely, I'm fitting into someone's stereotype since I'm from Tennessee and corrections are necessary at times. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-04-12 12:31 |
| #11 ...And yet what garners at best a page four or back page story is the drive-by shootings seemingly at random in the New Orlean's French Quarter or some cafe in California. However, if some crazy who can be shoots up place can be termed right wing or right wing nut, the main streamm news media will hover on that story for days making it front page. If they happen to be southern all the better for them and their agenda. For example the programmer who flew his plane into the IRS building in Austin; initially it was reported he was right wing until it was realized that wouldn't fly--no pun intended. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-04-12 12:27 |
| #10 So irrational fears about deliverance are what keeps people trapped in NY? Haha that's freakin pitiful. |
| Posted by: Richelieu 2010-04-12 12:26 |
| #9 I think the fear of Southern Rural types goes beyond Jews and includes Northeast urdan folks of any religion. There are any number of Hollywood movies of the "Deliverance" type about New York college kids running into murderous Southerners while driving through the countryside. |
| Posted by: Almoral 2010-04-12 12:04 |
| #8 In America a lot of the explanation for the JFK and Obama worship has to do with American jews' deep attachment to civil rights and a visceral fear/loathing of anyone remotely (or intimately) connected with the legacy of racial discrimination, most notably southerners with heavy accents and/or evangelical leanings. There is an instinctive revulsion among many or most jews for the Foghorn Leghorn southern type, hence the hostility to LBJ-- despite his having done far more for the cause of civil rights than any elected pol before or since. |
| Posted by: lex 2010-04-12 11:26 |
| #7 Anymoose, I'm not saying you are irrational and schizoid, I am agreeing with what you said: Basically, this embracing of charismatic spellbinders seems to snag many Jewish people in the U.S. 78% voted for BO in 2008. Why? I don't have a clue. I do think LBJ was viewed as George W., not very classy or sophisticated or smart. None of these things were really true. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-04-12 10:28 |
| #6 Sorry TW; it was Anymoose who said that. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-04-12 10:21 |
| #5 In modern times, American Jews had near glassy eyed adoration of JFK, and his imaginary "Camelot", wrapped in a cult of personality. Yet shortly thereafter, they utterly despised LBJ, who actually tried to bring about much of what they wanted with his Great Society. TW: Go figure. ??????????. I don't understand things any more than I did before. But thanks for trying. Adored JFK but despised LBJ? Sounds a little irrational and somewhat schizoid. Such adoration of a man like JFK or any man for that matter can lead to embracing dangerous narcissistic demagogues or dictators. They certainly may not have the best interests of Jewish. Oh, a little like today. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-04-12 10:20 |
| #4 I'd agree about voting patterns. As a people, Jews are very susceptible to messianic idealism, as was demonstrated in the 17th Century with Sabbatai Zevi, who conned the European Jews into thinking he was Mesach. Importantly, this is not so much a religious desire, as it is a cultural offshoot of their religion. So even bitterly atheistic Jews are often fanatically idealistic, embracing any philosophy, especially Marxism, that promises Earthly paradise. In modern times, American Jews had near glassy eyed adoration of JFK, and his imaginary "Camelot", wrapped in a cult of personality. Yet shortly thereafter, they utterly despised LBJ, who actually tried to bring about much of what they wanted with his Great Society. Such adoration for empty and idealistic promises, and such revulsion with what was real and practical, is part and parcel to this messianic idealism. This is why for years of trying, and failing, to find a JFK clone, so much so that Democrat presidential candidates all had to have "JFK hair", the messianic idealists, and not just Jews, found their Mesach in Obama. A man literally created from scratch, with no real history, background, or character. He was everything they wanted, as long as he had no face, and blathered empty idealism. But since such people are bound to disappoint, unless they are absolute dictators. Yet the Democrats keep trying to put forward messiah candidates, to appeal to Jewish and non-Jewish idealists. The Republicans don't, and won't. This guarantees that the vast majority of the Jewish vote will remain wholly owned by the Democrats. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-04-12 09:00 |
| #3 All very well, but when it comes to voting, it's dems or those nasty, right-wing conservative Christians. These stats are irrelevant to the voting patterns. |
| Posted by: Richard Aubrey 2010-04-12 08:02 |
| #2 and how did they know who to call The survey was commissioned by the American Jewish Committee, according to the article, lord garth. From their website: The 2010 survey was conducted for AJC by Synovate (formerly Market Facts), a leading research organization. Respondents were interviewed by telephone between March 2 - March 23, 2010; no interviews took place on the Sabbath. The sample consisted of 800 self-identifying Jewish respondents selected from the Synovate consumer mail panel. The respondents are representative of the United States adult Jewish population on a variety of measures. The margin of error for the sample as a whole is plus or minus 3 percentage points. For perspective, this page has links to the AJC annual surveys going back to 2000, plus a number of other surveys of greater or lesser interest to non-specialists. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-04-12 01:56 |
| #1 based on 800 respondents to phone calls made during about 3 weeks in March and how did they know who to call |
| Posted by: lord garth 2010-04-12 00:25 |