Democrats losing moral clarity on Israel

[name not needed]

The Pew Research Center last week released a new survey of American attitudes in the Middle East. The results weren’t surprising. In the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, 51 percent of Americans say they sympathize more with Israel. Only 14 percent feel greater affinity for the Palestinians.

Pew’s findings demonstrate the strength of pro-Israel feeling in the United States. The poll was conducted amid the current fighting with Hamas, but the bottom line hardly changed from Pew’s last survey in April, when it reported that in the 36 years it has been sampling public opinion, “sympathy toward Israel has never been higher.”

But below the surface, America’s Israel-friendly consensus is splitting along the same left-vs.-right fault line that has polarized so many other issues. While support for Israel is overwhelming among Republicans and conservatives, it has been shrinking among Democrats and liberals. “The partisan gap in Mideast sympathies has never been wider,” reports Pew, with 73 percent of Republicans sympathetic to Israel in the ongoing conflict, but just 44 percent of Democrats. Respondents identifying as liberal Democrats were five times as likely as conservative Republicans to sympathize more with the Palestinians.

Thus is the Democratic Party losing its way on one of the great moral issues of our time.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/07/21/israel-democrats-are-losing-their-moral-clarity/0Mx4k2WoZfyVhdCtEObP6O/story.html?p1=Article_InThisSection_Bottom

[BillZBubb]

1. The Democrats are finally finding their moral compass.

The right wing is immoral, hence, they support anything Israel does.

The great moral issue here is the illegality and brutality of the Israeli occupation.

[2banon]

8. Exactly. Not enough of them, but there does seem to be a bit more progress, at long last.

[Mass]

2. Jeff Jacoby - No surprise he would think so - He is a neo con and a GOPer.

[msongs]

3. supporting oppressed people is not "losing moral clarity" nt

[whatchamacallit]

4. Unholy Shit!

[lilithsrevenge12]

6. Don't bother wasting your time reading the article.

I only know the essentials when it comes to this debate, but even I know this article was extremely one-sided and bias.

[Crunchy Frog]

7. So you're saying that Dems have less moral clarity than Repubs?

Maybe it's time to switch.

[AndyTiedye]

9. It is Becoming Clear to Democrats that the Israeli Government is Not Acting Morally