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Jewish vote was not homogenous

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Also by Jonathan Mandell:

by Jonathan Mandell

Friday, December 10, 2004

Fayyad Sbaihat’s editorial in the Dec. 2 Badger Herald was based more on faulty political speculation than hard evidence. Mr. Sbaihat made a number of claims that are categorically false. The largest and perhaps most outrageous claim is arguing that the Democrats supported the war in Iraq to please their pro-Israel Jewish constituency. The problem is that while most Jewish Americans are indeed pro-Israel, the majority of them are also against the war in Iraq.

Mr. Sbaihat used as an example of war hawks that are both Jewish and pro-Israel, such as Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Pearle, and attributed their views on Iraq to all Jewish Americans. That approach is not only the very essence of stereotyping, it is just plain wrong. The American Jewish Committee in its 2004 annual survey found that 66 percent of Jewish Americans disapprove of the war in Iraq and only 30 percent approve.

Mr. Sbaihat goes on to say, “the flawed intelligence of which the pretext for the war consisted was largely Israeli-sourced.” But Mr. Sbaihat does not offer one bit of evidence. In fact, President Bush and his administration relied on two main arguments that Saddam Hussein was trying to revitalize his nuclear weapons program. In his 2003 State of the Union address, President Bush said, “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production.”

The uranium intelligence came from the British government and the aluminum tubes evidence were a product of the CIA — neither Israeli-sourced.

As for the election, Mr. Sbaihat made the claim, “Betrayed, the liberal vote stayed home,” because of Kerry’s support for the war. They stayed home? I assure you that there is no way Mr. Sbaihat can provide a figure for this assertion. Is he referring to liberals like Michael Moore and Howard Zinn that supported Ralph Nader in 2000 but supported Kerry in 2004? The numbers do not add up either. In the 2000 election, Al Gore received around 50,500,000 votes and Nader received 2,900,000 votes. In the 2004 election, Kerry received over 57,000,000 votes and Nader received around 400,000 votes. So, Kerry got almost seven million more votes in 2004 than Gore, and Nader received in 2004 a fraction of what he got in 2000. I wonder where those Nader votes went?

Lastly, Mr. Sbaihat writes, “Florida, the battleground state with the largest “Jewish vote,” did not buy into the Democrats’ claims, and being largely in favor of the war, it voted for the war party.” This contradicts Mr. Sbaihat’s earlier contention that the Democrats were in favor of the war. Furthermore, when Florida did go to the president, it most certainly was not because Jewish voters favored him there. According to CNN, 80 percent of Jewish voters supported John Kerry in Florida while only 20 percent supported George Bush.

Since the November election, many people have tried to explain the outcome for a variety of reasons. The Israeli-Palestinian problem was a non-issue this election because a large majority of Americans do support Israel. Mr. Sbaihat would like the Democrats to take a position in which he very strongly believes. The problem is he has a viewpoint that is in the minority of the party and among most Americans. Trying to convince people of your viewpoint by distorting the record and grouping American Jews together on separate issues like Israel and Iraq is disturbing.

Mr. Sbaihat complains of constraints on the freedom to criticize Israel in the United States. His very article serves as a reminder that as Americans, we are free to speak our mind — even when the criticisms are ill-founded.

Jonathan Mandell (jrmandell@wisc.edu) is a sophomore majoring in political science.

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Anonymous (December 10, 2004 @ 7:56am):

Good point, John. Shame on you, Fayyad. Why do you spell your name with two y's?

Anonymous (December 11, 2004 @ 7:38am):

With all due respect, I believe that Mr. Jonathan Mandell completely missed the point in a recent article by Fayyad Sbaihat. In addition, I was deeply troubled by the comment made by Mr. Mandell that the criticisms of this particular issue are simply "ill-founded." Perhaps if he could look beyond his narrow scope of political analysis (pretentious as it may be) he would be aware of the severity that lies within the Israeli-Palestinian issue, especially considering that the United States contributes to the atrocities and grave human rights violations committed by Israel. I will simply end by stating that his opinion is not factual, simply a refute to an article that has obviously caused Mr. Mandell to think beyond the cushy campus walls. As a Jew, I feel that he does not represent my opinions, nor does he represent the majority. I would hope he would take the time to critically think and anaylze the article rather than simply skim and become angered.

Anonymous (December 11, 2004 @ 8:29am):

"As a Jew, I feel..."

Yeah, so why are you posting anonymously? How are we supposed to believe you are really Jewish?

Anonymous (December 11, 2004 @ 7:43pm):

too cheap to register an account

Anonymous (December 11, 2004 @ 8:50pm):

"Perhaps if he could look beyond his narrow scope of political analysis (pretentious as it may be) he would be aware of the severity that lies within the Israeli-Palestinian issue, especially considering that the United States contributes to the atrocities and grave human rights violations committed by Israel."

Now who's being pretentious? When Palestinian terrorists target innocent civilians, particularly children, in an attempt to murder as many Jews as possible, why doesn't this poster protest? When the US restrains Israel from carpet bombing Palestinian areas, as the US would do if faced with similar circumstances, how is the US encouraging human rights violations? When Palestinians transport suicide bombers across the Green Line in ambulances, why doesn't this poster protest?

"As a Jew, I feel that he does not represent my opinions, nor does he represent the majority."

He might not represent your opinions, but he does represent the majority. If you bothered to pay attention to any public opinion polls, you'd know that. Just because you disagree with him doesn't mean that most people do.