[Peace-discuss] Poll confirms American Jews living in fantasy world

Fri Dec 23 11:53:32 CST 2005

This is an excerpt from the poll discussed below. It's
a remarkable accomplishment of a sort that
Jewish-American leaders and institutions at all levels
can convince so many Jews--few who have ever
experienced even one incident of anti-Semitism--that
it remains a pervasive threat in American life. While
identifying anti-Semitism as criticism of Israel is a
big part of that campaign, I'm not sure that it
completely explains the willingness of so many
well-educated people to indulge in this kind of
paranoia. Then again, maybe it's just easier to be
afraid of Muslims than to get your son/daughter to
marry a nice Jewish girl/boy. That's an even more
remarkable accomplishment.

______________________________________

Anti-Semitism remains a major concern, so much so that
a majority of
American Jews -- 62 percent -- consider it a greater
threat than
intermarriage to Jewish life in the U.S.

-- 27 percent indicated that anti-Semitism in the U.S.
is a very 
serious
problem, while 65 percent say it is somewhat of a
problem. Only 8 
percent
take the view that it is not a problem at all.

-- 25 percent think anti-Semitism on U.S. college
campuses is a very 
serious
problem, 54 percent somewhat of a problem, and 13
percent not a problem 
at
all.

-- 40 percent believe anti-Semitism in the U.S. will
increase over the 
next
several years, while 48 percent say it will remain the
same.

-- Muslims are viewed as the most anti-Semitic group
in the U.S., 
compared
with Asian, blacks, Hispanics, Catholics and
Evangelical Protestants.

Moreover, looking around the world, 76 percent think
that anti-Semitism 
in
the Muslim world is a very serious problem, and 22
percent say it is
somewhat of a problem.
_______________________________________

Message: 6         
   Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 21:46:25 -0600
   From: Burton Steck <brtn at comcast.net>
Subject: Poll of U.S. Jews

American Jewish Committee Annual Survey: U.S. Jews
Strongly Support 
Sharon
on Peace Process

12/21/2005

NEW YORK, Dec. 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- American Jews are
strongly 
supportive
of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's handling of relations
with the 
Palestinian
Authority and Israel's building a security fence, and
want Jerusalem to
remain united under Israeli control, according to a
new American Jewish
Committee survey. At the same time, there are
significant differences 
by
religious denomination on these critical peace and
security issues.

The 2005 Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion,
conducted just 
months
after Israel transferred control over the Gaza Strip
to the Palestinian
Authority, found that 67 percent support, and 26
percent oppose, the 
Israeli
government's handling of relations with the
Palestinian Authority.
Seventy-three percent support, and 24 percent oppose,
the Israeli
government's decision to build a security fence. And
60 percent say 
Israel
should not compromise on the status of Jerusalem as a
united city under
Israeli jurisdiction.

"American Jewish support for Prime Minister Sharon's
courageous 
leadership
in Israel's quest for peace and security is robust,"
said AJC Executive
Director David A. Harris.

However, there are significant differences among
Orthodox, Conservative 
and
Reform Jews across the U.S.

-- 48 percent of Orthodox, 77 percent of Conservative,
and 70 percent 
of
Reform Jews support the Israeli government's handling
of relations with 
the
Palestinian Authority, while 48 percent of Orthodox,
19 percent of
Conservative and 21 percent of Reform are opposed.

-- On the security fence, 91 percent of Orthodox, 80
percent of
Conservative, and 66 percent of Reform support the
Israeli decision to 
erect
the fence, and 7 percent of Orthodox, 19 percent of
Conservative and 29
percent of Reform are opposed.

-- On the status of Jerusalem, 83 percent of Orthodox,
70 percent of
Conservative and 50 percent of Reform Jews say Israel
should not 
compromise
on the status of Jerusalem as a united city under
Israeli jurisdiction,
while 12 percent of Orthodox, 28 percent of
Conservative, and 43 
percent of
Reform Jews say Israel should compromise.

-- The AJC survey, conducted annually since 1997,
gauges U.S. Jewish 
views
on the Arab-Israeli peace process, terrorism, Iran,
the war in Iraq,
perceptions of anti-Semitism, social and political
issues in the U.S., 
and
Jewish identity concerns.

According to the 2005 survey, 60 percent of American
Jews disapprove, 
and 36
percent approve, of how the U.S. government is
handling the campaign 
against
terrorism. In 2004, 52 percent disapproved and 42
percent approved.

Support for the war with Iraq also continues to
decline. Seventy 
percent
disapprove, and 28 percent approve, of the war. In
AJC's 2004 survey, 
66
percent disapproved and 30 percent approved, and in
2003 an AJC poll 
found
54 percent disapproving and 43 percent approving.

On Iran, which is pursuing a public campaign denying
the Holocaust and
threatening to destroy Israel, 49 percent of American
Jews would 
support
U.S. military action against Iran to prevent it from
developing nuclear
weapons, while 46 percent are opposed.

Although a large majority of American Jews -- 78
percent -- continue to
believe that the goal of the Arabs is not the return
of occupied 
territories
but rather the destruction of Israel, support for
compromise with the
Palestinians to achieve peace is strong. According to
the survey, 56 
percent
favor, and 38 percent oppose, the establishment of a
Palestinian state.

On the issue of settlements, 15 percent would support
dismantling all 
West
Bank settlements as part of a permanent peace
agreement with the
Palestinians, 46 percent some, and 36 percent none.

While a large majority -- 77 percent -- of American
Jews say they feel 
close
to Israel, 59 percent of those surveyed have never
visited the country, 
20
percent only once and 20 percent more than once.

Forty-nine percent of those who have never been to
Israel cited travel 
costs
as the reason, while 20 percent pointed to personal
safety concerns.

Anti-Semitism remains a major concern, so much so that
a majority of
American Jews -- 62 percent -- consider it a greater
threat than
intermarriage to Jewish life in the U.S.

-- 27 percent indicated that anti-Semitism in the U.S.
is a very 
serious
problem, while 65 percent say it is somewhat of a
problem. Only 8 
percent
take the view that it is not a problem at all.

-- 25 percent think anti-Semitism on U.S. college
campuses is a very 
serious
problem, 54 percent somewhat of a problem, and 13
percent not a problem 
at
all.

-- 40 percent believe anti-Semitism in the U.S. will
increase over the 
next
several years, while 48 percent say it will remain the
same.

-- Muslims are viewed as the most anti-Semitic group
in the U.S., 
compared
with Asian, blacks, Hispanics, Catholics and
Evangelical Protestants.

Moreover, looking around the world, 76 percent think
that anti-Semitism 
in
the Muslim world is a very serious problem, and 22
percent say it is
somewhat of a problem.

Among the questions on U.S. national affairs, the
survey asked about
nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The U.S. Senate should consider a Supreme Court
nominee's views on 
issues,
not just the candidate's legal experience, say 70
percent of American 
Jews.
Fifty percent think that a nominee who favors
overturning the Roe v. 
Wade
decision should be automatically disqualified.

The 2005 survey is the first of the annual polls to
ask about U.S. 
Supreme
Court nominees. "AJC does not take positions on
judicial nominees, but 
our
nonpartisan survey provides revealing insights into
the thinking of the
Jewish community at-large," said Harris.

On the issue of energy independence, the survey found
that an 
overwhelming
majority of American Jews consider achieving energy
independence 
important,
with 77 percent saying it is very important and 21
percent saying it is
somewhat important.

Asked what are the best ways for the U.S. to handle
its energy needs, 6
percent said encouraging greater energy production, 11
percent said 
greater
energy conservation, 72 percent said developing
alternative energy 
sources,
and 11 percent all three options.

The 2005 Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion was
carried out for 
AJC by
Synovate (formerly Market Facts), a leading
survey-research 
organization.
The 1,000 respondents were interviewed by telephone
between Nov. 14 and 
27.
The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage
points.

The complete AJC survey is available at
http://www.ajc.org.

http://www.usnewswire.com/
==========================================
12/21/2005

Poll: Most U.S. Jews oppose Iraq war, have never
visited Israel

By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent

NEW YORK - Approximately 70 percent of Jews in the
United States oppose 
the
war in Iraq, compared to 28 percent who support the
war, according to 
an
American Jewish Committee poll, which also showed that
nearly 60 
percent
have never visited Israel.
The poll indicates that 60 percent of U.S. Jews do not
agree with the 
manner
in which the U.S. government is conducting the war on
terror.

The poll, to be published Wednesday, includes a
special section on 
questions
examining U.S. Jews' attitudes on relations with
Israel. According to 
the
poll, 59 percent of Jews in the U.S. have never
visited Israel; 20 
percent
of those polled have visited Israel once, and another
20 percent said 
they
had visited Israel more than once.

Of those who have never visited Israel, 49 percent
cited the cost of 
the
flight as the main reason, while 20 percent said
security concerns were 
the
reason, and 18 percent said they had never visited
Israel due to "lack 
of
interest." 

Some 79 percent of those polled said that concern for
Israel is a main 
part
of their lives as Jews, while 19 percent disagreed
with this statement.

According to the poll, 36 percent of American Jews
consider themselves 
very
close to Israel, while 41 percent regarded themselves
as somewhat close 
to
Israel; 5 percent of respondents said they feel very
distant from 
Israel.

When asked whether they are more optimistic regarding
chances of peace
between Israel and the Palestinians compared to last
year, 21 percent 
said
they are more optimistic, while 19 percent said they
were less 
optimistic;
59 percent of those polled said their opinion had not
changed in the 
past
year. 

Some 32 percent of those polled said they were
Conservative Jews, 29 
percent
regarded themselves as Reform, 10 percent as Orthodox
and 2 percent as
Reconstructionist.

Only 16 percent of those polled said they were
Republicans, while 54 
percent
said they were Democrats; 29 percent said they were
Independents.

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