Most Americans support Israel, but a trend of dissent is growing
Bottom Line: Anti-Israel sentiment isn’t the norm but then again you can find it in most aspects of society if you look for it. Close to home there’s the story of former Spanish River High School principal William Latson, a holocaust denier who became the principal in one of the most heavily Jewish communities in the country. Further from home you have Representatives Omar and Talib and their proposed BDS movement in Congress. In the middle of all of this is us.
I remember being shocked around 15 years ago when I saw polling of Germans indicating that 18%, nearly one in five, were sympathetic to the Nazi movement. With further thought it made more sense. Just because the war ended didn’t mean that all Germans who’d been supportive of the Nazi’s reversed their beliefs. So, fast forward to today and in the US. According to recent polling by accredited firm McLaughlin...
- 21% of Americans hold a negative view of Israel
- 34% of Democrats hold a favorable view of Rep. Omar’s BDS movement (with only 21% of Democrats holding an unfavorable view)
That second figure is holy crap territory. 45% of Democrats don’t have an opinion on the BDS movement? Of those who do more are supportive of it than not? What’s going on here. This is scary stuff. Dig down some more and you’ll find this.
- 30% of adults under 30 don’t accept that the Holocaust was responsible for the killing of millions of Jews
Umm, does that freak you out as much as it does me? It makes me think about what we take for granted. We assumed that younger generations would believe in God and now more than 20% don’t. Perhaps we’ve assumed that younger generations learned about the Holocaust and would inherently reject anti-Semitism? Perhaps they were taught by the William Latson’s of the education establishment? Regardless, it’s another reminder that we can’t assume the education establishment is comprehensively educating our kids. The education establishment is overwhelming run and taught by Democrats. A party which is now somewhere between ambivalence and support of the BDS movement. That should be a wake up call.