http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/09/03/world/03jerusalemB.ready.html

Here’s something you made me think of with your comment (something I can unfortunately only tell using my own life as background). I grew up with no real knowledge of people of other races and in a town with like, 20 non-white people. I had the mainstream media as my main source of information.

And yet, upon learning about the conflict later on (college, let’s say), I understood it as you do.

So, what is it REALLY about Americans that makes them think this way? I would argue that – again, save for Jews and fundie Christians, who have the Biblical argument – anyone who does learn about the conflict genuinely would feel the way we do. I live in Boston, where I find that, more often than not, people agree with me (though they’re not actually DOING anything about it, which is another story). So what are we looking at when we say “those Americans?” The people who rely solely on the mainstream media for news, and the religious folks!

(An aside: I highly recommend you institute a feature on your blog that allows people to subscribe to comments. It’s practically a built-in in WordPress. I would’ve responded two days ago, had I remembered.)

atw i’m not disowning your comment, i’m merely stating – this is not a forum to discuss the merits of zionism or islam. i hear enough of that in lebanon.

Very intriguing thought process and very accurate. I’d like to add my 2 cents if I may: that the root of the problem is really the stealing of Palestinian lands by Zionists! This was stated by the founders of Israel (quotes posted on my site) or Haartez articles confirming such facts or even Israeli historians and professors attesting to this: as in Illan Pappe and Dr. Sand’s findings!

In simple terms, Ashkanazi and Sephardic Judaism, has nothing to do with Palestine or the origin of the Hebrews. Yet the Zionist movement succeeded in manipulating the truth and convinced us that these Jews are really descendants of the Israelites! Hardly true!

The other problem is religion: that Abraham, we were taught was Jewish! Excuse me? Judaism started really after Moses and NOT before! According to Islamic and Arabic History, the early inhabitants of Palestine are bani-Israe’el (Israelites) and these are the 12 tribes. They, according to Islamic history, are Muslims in their beliefs and as such hold Abraham, Ismael, Issac, Jacob (Israel).. David and Solomon and all the way to Moses in the highest regard and respect.

But Zionism also convinced us that those people were Jewish!

As Dr. Sand pointed out, (http://attendingtheworld.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/on-israels-bestseller-listwhen-and-how-was-the-jewish-people-invented/)

“It is not taught in Israeli schools but most of the early Zionist leaders, including David Ben Gurion [Israel’s first prime minister], believed that the Palestinians were the descendants of the area’s original Jews. They believed the Jews had later converted to Islam.”

ATW

but you fail to ask yourself how it is that they can become terrified.

It’s a lot of things unfortuately; Racism, Guilt complex, Induced states of fear, Disregard for real world education, distance, the culture of convenience…. the compiling of issues continues.

All of these psychological elements will eventually bring the construct down, the fear of a bomb under a guy’s jacket is a good destraction from what their real enemy is I think, and that is their own unfathomed levels of utter stupidity.