If the UN guaranteed Israel a piece of land, why all the Presidents before Trump were (maybe i'm mistaken) in favor of Palestine?

America is almost always on the side of Isreal not Palestine. Bush Sr and a few others may not have 100% embraced it, but many did.

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/02/world/americas/02iht-bush.2363483.html

Mistaken !

None of the US Presidents have been “in favor” of Palestine or Palestinians, much the opposite, which is why we give Israel so much money.

What some have seen as a way to a lasting peace is recognition by both sides of the right of the others to exist in their own areas.

It’s because the Jewish vote goes a looooooooooooooong way! Campaign money, too!

^^It’s a very small population. The Jews are only 2% of the country, there are much larger minority groups. The Jewish vote only really has significant impact in Florida regarding the presidency, because it’s a swing state. If we did away with the electoral college that wouldn’t even be the case.

It’s because the Jews squeal the loudest when the bad guys bust their chops! And money talks!

@kritiper I agree money talks, but there is plenty of money in the hands of people who aren’t Jewish. Buffet, Gates, Oprah, Koch, Bezos, the Walton family, Steve Jobs (now deceased, I’m not sure if he was raised Muslim or Catholic maybe? I think he was part Lebonese or Syrian??) to name a few. Some of our biggest recognizable corporations are not “Jewish” Marriott, Hilton, Hobby Lobby, Ford (Henry Ford was considered to be an antisemite) Publix, Kroger, Exxon (and probably most of the oil industry) Dominoes Pizza (the founder is building a “Catholic city” in Florida) the list goes on.

Plus, it’s the Christians who blindly support Israel, since that’s what you seem to be referring too. They have screamed the loudest. The right wing talks about how Obama supposedly was a Muslim and didn’t support Israel. That right wing is not full of rich Jews in general, but there are a few Jews in the right wing, especially the orthodox. Most Jews are liberals. The very religious Jews are conservative like the evangelical Christians, but they typically don’t have the big money you are talking about.

Lastly, as I stated before, each person only has one vote, so no matter what, the numbers matter. Seeing the Jews as the boogie man in control of everything just is not the case. We are a very small minority. Right now a lot of non-Jews have a lot of control. Trump, the majority in Congress, are you going to tell me the Jews put Trump into power?

I think you might have some stereotypes about the rich all being Jewish, you might want to check yourself. That gets us Jews killed throughout history.

I agree with @JLeslie. It is the evangelical christians whose vote matters more since there are more of them; they are who the politicians are pandering to.

The reasoning behind the Christian support is the belief in the Bible which, in Genesis. 12:1–3, says:

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”. .

This is interpreted to mean that God promised the land of Canaan to the Jews forever and consequently America cannot fundamentally disagree with whatever Israel says or does because if we do not we will be cursed by God.

Here is a National Review article on the subject.

Oh, and while they will deny it, many are hoping that supporting Israel will hasten the end times and the Second Coming. The Temple in Jerusalem must be rebuilt a third time in order for this to come about but right now the land they need is the site of the Dome of the Rock and is in Muslim hands. This was one reason the Israelis wanted to have Jerusalem as the capitol.

Then I ask a new question: Gaza is represented by the United Arab Emirates?

@JLeslie The Jews aren’t the only ones getting slaughtered around the world, so quit talking like the poor Jews are the only ones. (I don’t have anything against Jews, or any other group. But the squeaky wheel gets the grease!)

@luigirovatti The UAE, for the most part, is supportive of Palestine
, but they do not represent Palestinians.

I don’t think any one organization represents the Palestinian people at this time. They have a Permanent Observer in UN but no Representative. Other Arab nations will bring things up in that body when the Palestinian Government requests they do so.

For more information on the ongoing troubles and why they came about you might check out this Vox article about it.

I don’t fault the Israelis for their skillful leveraging and mastery of lobbying and propaganda techniques in the United States. After all, the United States is certainly the most important and necessary ally for Israel. The United States also holds the distinction in being the only nation that allows Israel to get away with it, to the considerable consternation of our other allies and foes alike.

But this must be a truly unsettling situation in regard to long term strategic planning for those Israelis interested in such matters. How long can plucky Israel continue to foot its existence on its one and only knuckleheaded (but malleable) friend? Eventually the Palestinians will learn to play the PR game, and things will become interesting indeed. This is the only place left that somehow misses the point that the days of colonization are over. How tough should it be for any campaign of reasonable competence to sell THAT concept, even to a blockhead?

@kritiper We are talking about the vote in America and the very small number of Jews, and that you seem to think we have a ton of power, but in a democracy there is power in numbers, and the Jews don’t have big numbers. I agree money matters too, but you seem to not want to acknowledge that Jews don’t have all the money and Jews are a small group. I acknowledged and agreed with your money point, but it’s not the only valid point in what creates policy and politics in America. The far right speaks primarily to Christians, not Jews. Do you not agree with that?

America has geopolitical reasons to keep Israel as an ally, it’s not just some sort of wanting to help the Jews thing. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East.

I was upset about the Christians in the Middle East being attacked and their churches being taken over years ago, I talked about it on fluther way before it became a big thing in the media. It’s horrible. I was saying then America has to do something.

I worry about the anti-Muslim sentiment and some of the violence we have seen against them in America.

I talked about learning from history on another Q you and I went back and forth on, that genocide can happen to any group. I certainly can not be accused of only talking about the Jews! Give me a break.

I’m talking about you saying the Jews have the money and the power. Seriously? You do realize that’s part of a stereotype right? It’s true Jewish people do statistically well as a group, but they don’t represent a majority percentage of the richest people. Those are two separate statistics. One is a percentage of how many Jews make over a certain amount of money, the other is of the wealthiest people in the country what percentage are Jewish. We are a minority among the wealthiest. Believe me. Look it up.

In America the Jews still have the most religious hate crimes than any other group. That’s just statistics. Here’s a link https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2016/topic-pages/victims

I don’t feel you overemphasize the Jewish people or faith. Frankly I never understood why everyone is so down on them as a race. Yes, to me they are my saviors people, which is special to my faith, but what’s with all the hate towards them @Jleslie?

@KNOWITALL It’s probably best to ask the haters why. We don’t accept Christ as our savior, so I guess that can make us an enemy?

We tend to be a minority group, small in numbers as I’ve said above, so easier to pick on. It’s very effective for politicians to name an enemy. If they unite their people against a group or country, they are more likely to stay in power.

Present day America we are visibly successful, in the public eye, we are in show business, and politics, lawyers, doctors, which are all professions out in front of people. There are plenty of poor Jewish people, but the ones that are prominent are what people fixate on if they already start from a point of some antisemitism or skepticism. People do this with all groups. Believing black people are criminals, believing Christians hate gay people, etc. people have a stereotype, and then things happen to reinforce their belief.

Jews were also in the banking business. So, when the bank took away your land or home when you couldn’t pay, it was the Jews. Not that all bank owners are Jewish, of course they aren’t, I’m just saying historically there were Jewish people in that business. I think it harkens back to when Christians weren’t supposed to make a financial gain from lending for some reason. Something in the Bible about usury. I don’t remember. They couldn’t be in banking for religious reasons way back in history. Now, the church defines usury differently, and I would argue some churches are way off the deep end in the other direction. Promoting greed as a wonderful thing sanctioned by God.

Regarding the South and antisemitism, a lot of the lawyers from the north that came down to march for civil rights, and fight in the courts were Jewish. I’m not saying all southerners are anti-Semitic, I have never had a negative experience living in the south, but as we both have said, right now, most Evangelical Christians are very supportive of Israel, and accepting of Jews right now, but the KKK still uses Christianity as a way to control members, and the KKK and similar is obviously antisemitic.

Jews value education, and they are statistically more educated than most groups. In America the more educated you are the more likely you will make a higher salary (not always true of course). I think most people value education, but Jews it is a religious tradition to question. Other religions it is a tradition to be obedient and follow. Harder to control people who question.

@Jleslie We have temple in the next farm town over. I’ve only heard Jewish slurs on tv and in books tbh. My christian mom dated a very nice Jewish man. I don’t know why those old sterotypes matter now. Ignorance I guess, sorry people suck.

@KNOWITALL Some people do suck.

@JLeslie Jews don’t need big numbers. They’re just people. No better or worse than anyone else. If there were 10 million (or so) more of them it wouldn’t make any difference.

^^If they were divided equally and living in Florida and Michigan it would make a difference. Lol. Assuming they were voting age.