I have been reviewing comments on both HuffPost and Free Republic. The Freepers are almost to a person unhappy with Thomas’s “go back to Poland” statement. There is little to no support for her position.
Meanwhile, it seems quite popular at Huff Post. I’d say about 1/2 the posters support some variation of her claim that the Jews have no right to remain in Israel.
Possibly another benefit of the Obama presidency is that it is clearly demonstrating that the main home of anti-Semitism in America is the left and left-leaning institutions, including academia and the media.
It will be interesting to see if this effects Jewish voting patterns in 2010 and 2012. [LA replies: I think it’s a waste of time expecting/hoping that Jews will give up their loyalty to the Democratic party.]
It may be that the majority of Jews in America are not really that concerned with Israel, or perhaps even don’t support it for some reason. That wouldn’t be completely surprising to me. Many American Jews family history in America date back to the later 19th century immigration.
I don’t make my political choices based on candidates’ positions on Poland or Ireland, the homes of my great-great grandparents. [LA replies: the comparison is not relevant. Poland and Ireland did not come into existence 60 years ago as a refuge for a slaughtered people who had no other place to live; and Poland and Ireland are not existentially threatened by enemies who are supported by the entire world.]
Of course the history of the Holocaust is usually thought to create a special bond between Jews worldwide and Israel, but perhaps this is not so, or it is not a simple easy-to-understand relationship.
If in fact Jews still vote overwhelmingly for Obama in 2012 it would mean that the true foundation of American support for Israel is not with the Jews, but with American Protestants (who make up the majority of Republican voters and officials).
It will be fun to watch the Paleos deal with this reality. [LA replies: They’ll never notice it. They openly state that they oppose Israel in order to get back at the American Jews, not noticing that most American Jews are left-liberals who are not supportive of Israel. The anti-Israel paleocons live in a pathological dream state, and nothing can bring them out of it short of some radical awakening and repentance.]
Here are selected comments at HuffPost:
CH0001 Let me put this debate in proper perspective for all of you …
Ari Fleischer’s words have been instrumental in the extermination of over 500,000, mostly innocent, Muslims.
How many people have Helen Thomas’ words killed?
Raedwulf It is time to take the terrorism label of convenience off of Hamas, the legally elected representatives of Gaza, so talks can begin. Three years of punishment and a few thousand killings is enough punishment for Gazans.
rabrophy Israel is a European Colony, and it will survive as long as it can subjugate or exterminate the indigenous population or be assimilated into the indigenous culture, or overthrown.
Examples of successful extermination are: The United States, Canada, Australia, Examples of assimilation are: Mexico, Central and South America Examples of being overthrown are: India, Africa and South East Asia.
The last European Colony in Palestine were the Crusader States, and they were overthrown
Tissa Palestinians are the only natives to Palestine. They are Canaanites and only Canaanites are native to Canaan or Modern Day Palestine. They used to speak only Aramaic before Arabs occupied them and changed their language. They are ethnically NOT arabs. Jewish people migrated there and are not Native to that area at all, and that includes Jesus. Abraham (the father of Jews and Arabs) is originally from UR, IRAQ…. And that is the truth, historically and anthropologically speaking. Period.”
sparky73 its not hateful at all. They (Jews) were given that land and now its time to take it back. They have proven as a people that they will scr*w anybody to gain land or wealth.
OMG1 I tend to agree with Helen. I don’t understand why jews need a special state just for them and why we had to kick the Palestinians off their land and create Israel.
If your going to say that jews lived there before the Palestinians, lets remember that according to ancient myths, Moses and his followers slaughtered their way to the “promised land” killing everyone in sight but kept the little girls for themselves.
Let’s also force all white people into stinking rotted starvation camps and give the US back to the Native Americans. The Native Americans migrated to the US occupied areas more than 12,000 years ago predating the jews.
Tecumseh The creation and continued existence of the zionist State of Israel is too ridiculous to stand as good science fiction. But, there you have it. Truth is stranger than fiction. Helen should be allowed a little hyperbole in her few seconds with the microphone. A Jewish state established in Bavaria after World War II would have made a lot more sense than a Jewish state in Palestine