Christine,
I also think most Americans see the Palestinians throwing rocks at the Israelis on television news broadcasts and think something like, how rude, no wonder the Israelis are so upset! They never go to the next step of wondering why the Israelis have guns and the Palestinians don't, or why the Palestinians always seem so angry! Really objective news coverage would cover these issues.
This is very true, but by no means limited to Israel. How many Americans ever wondered why the Iranians were so angry at the Americans back in the days of the Shah, or what goes on in the minds of any of those dark-skinned people who burn embassies. News coverage is slanted toward spectacle, rather than information; this runs across the board. For anyone curious enough to look deeper, accurate information is certainly not difficult to find. I have never heard, for example, of Jewish groups demanding that certain histories be removed from libraries, which Christians are constantly doing.
You are right in saying that the special relationship is fraying, which leads to another point which I will someday have to make to Emile, who will not listen. US support for Israel, especially in the Cold War days, was based less on Zionist propaganda then on the assumption that Israel was the only dependable and militarily significant US ally in a strategically significant area. This perception was reinforced during the oil crisis of the '70s, when all Arabs were regarded as enemies, and all enemies of Arabs regarded as friends. It is quite natural that with Soviet influence fading and US relations with the Arab world improving, attitudes toward Israel would change. The world is less one-dimensional than some paranoid individuals would like to believe.
Steve |
