Why do so many Americans side with Palestinian Arab terrorists against Israelis?
JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin believes the answer to that question lies in an understanding of how progressive ideologues have largely taken over American education and culture. They have helped indoctrinate a generation with false ideas that cause them to view the conflict in the Middle East through the prism of American race relations. That led them to wrongly believe that Israelis and Jews are “white” oppressors rather than the objects of a Palestinian Arab obsession with destroying the Jewish state and the genocide of the Jews.
He’s joined in this week’s episode of “Think Twice” by Uri Kaufman, author of the new book, American Intifada: How the Progressive Left learned to Hate Israel and Love Hamas. According to Kaufman, the problem lies in the cognitive dissonance experienced by many Americans who are prepared to see the world through their distorted ideas about “privilege” and race, even if it requires them to ignore the facts about Israel, the Palestinians and what happened on Oct. 7, 2023.
Kaufman asks us to imagine that the people of Gaza were Germans, white South Africans or white supremacists. “Do you really think that the Biden administration would have budgeted billions of dollars for the white supremacist ‘innocent civilians?’ ”
And now hold the thought for a moment. Let’s carry this all the way through. Let’s assume again in this parallel universe that white supremacists, not Arab supremacists, but let’s assume they murdered 1,200 black people and raped black women. And then they said, blacks are apes and pigs, as Arabs say of Jews. And they budgeted billions of dollars to those innocent white supremacist civilians who say blacks are apes and pigs. They’d be rioting in the streets. People would go crazy. So, the bottom line is what we have here is a classic textbook case of cognitive dissonance.”
Kaufman also believes the problem is caused by leading political figures like the late President Jimmy Carter, former President Barack Obama and opinion leaders like New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and so-called human rights groups like Amnesty International, who, as Kaufman says, “ought to know better.” Their faith in their own failed ideas has led them to promote myths about Israel being responsible for the lack of peace when the real cause all along has been Palestinian intransigence and opposition to the existence of a Jewish state.
Kaufman is full of praise for the war leadership of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he describes as “the most unfairly maligned politician on the face of the earth.”
He is also optimistic about the future of the U.S.-Israel alliance because of the basic fairness of the American people. Kaufman also thinks that, worries about negotiations with Iran notwithstanding, “I have a lot of faith in President Trump when it comes to Israel. He’s proven himself. Whatever one thinks about his other policies, he’s certainly proven himself on Israel.”
Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.
This episode of “Think Twice” is sponsored by The Jewish Future Promise—ensuring a vibrant and thriving future for Jews and Israel.
Sign the promise: https://jewishfuturepromise.org/jns/
