Israel's image where you live

A conversation I had with a pro-Israeli Irish girl I know made me think about Israel's public image and the way its actions are perceived worldwide. So, what do you think about Israel and all the stuff we do here? What's the public image and the way the media perceives us? :o

(New to the forums here, sorry if this topic was already discussed or something)

Hm, I'll try to give a short overview of how I think people see it here.

First, the public financed media:
While they are not oppinionated by themselves, I got the perception they got more critical of Israel over the recent years, i.e. more often reporting about criticism of Israel and bad things Israel (supposedly) did than before.

Oppinion of people here:
I see a strong split in comments and arguments I heard about the subject between people who think "Israel is teh evil" and "Palestines are terrorists and should be killed" (slightly exaggerating in both cases). A third, smaller faction holds the position of "why can't they just get along".

Politicians and parties:
A public discussion about this subject here is, as far as I see it, avoided as far as possible, but the main stream parties afaik support Israel with their actions. The left wing party here sees, in general, Israel as a violent oppressor, and two of their Mo Ps were on the "Freedom Flotilla".

I'm from Germany, for the record, and I didn't make a study or something like that, so take my judgement with a grain of salt.

Pour y voir clair, il suffit souvent de changer la direction de son regard www.xkcd.com/386/

Tough question.

Britain, historically, used to be one of the strongest pro-zionist countries. Most people nowadays don't think about it too much; amongst those who do, Israel faces a lot of strong criticism. They're far away from wanting to drive them into the sea however, and they're no fans of Palestines current leadership either. You'll find supporters and opponents of both sides dispersed amongst the populace, but most of us just want the two sides to stop poking each other for five seconds.

Government-wise, Britain is friendly. Our MP's have a large number of Friends of Israel in their ranks, something which not many of our citizens know about.

The media, or at least the BBC, tends to be fairly neutral. Both Palestinian and Israeli missteps tend to be presented as what they are. I can't speak for the papers, as I don't read them.

Overall, Britain is probably best described as neutral. Our government is friendly, the media and people a lot more conflicted on the issue.

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.

^Well put, GC.

I notice there's quite a bit of pro-palestinian sentiment in my town  ^*

, there was a protest regarding the flotilla organised by 'Friends of Palestine'.

For the record, I don't think the representatives of the Israeli government came off very well in some of their interviews and press conferences a few months back.

...is out to lunch.

It seems to me the average US opinion of Isreal used to be quite high but has since gotten worse. Though, this might have to do with where I moved too as Portland seemed like it’s had a lot more news outlets that would discuss the latest Israel shenanigans more readily that other cities I’ve lived in.

However, it seems to me that the current administration has distanced themselves from Israel a bit, unlike the Bush administration.

Justice is a joy to the godly, but it terrifies evildoers.Proverbs21:15 FimFiction account.

^ I've always perceived that even in Portland, people tend to be philosemitic and thus favor Israel.

One big exception to pro-Israel sentiment in the US is the universities.

“Love is the eternal law whereby the universe was created and is ruled.” — St. Bernard

KBOO seems to be fairly anti-Israel with what I’ve heard, but I listen to the radio way more than I watch local TV, so it might be that.

edited 3rd Oct '10 12:46:57 PM by Justice4243

Justice is a joy to the godly, but it terrifies evildoers.Proverbs21:15 FimFiction account.

I haven't heard about Israel in quite a while. But I would be delighted to hear that people aren't as friendly with them as they used to be. Israel has gotten away with doing some pretty nasty shit for years, and frankly, a lot of pro-Israel people frighten me. I mean...I haven't spoken with many of them, but the biblical reasons some folks give for supporting Israel...well, I assume you guys have read the book of revelations.

@Justice: Well yes, but stereotypes aside, most people in the Portland area aren't in KBOO's demographic.

“Love is the eternal law whereby the universe was created and is ruled.” — St. Bernard

I wasn't suggesting they where, but it's something that I've noticed that an anti-Israel mentality is at least a bit more noticeable here than anywhere else I've lived.

I couldn't say if it's mainstream or not.

edited 3rd Oct '10 12:57:49 PM by Justice4243

Justice is a joy to the godly, but it terrifies evildoers.Proverbs21:15 FimFiction account.

Yes. There are public anti-Israel and anti-Israel-lobby protests in Portland in Pioneer Square.

I have no clue what opinion of Israel is in Montana. Never seems to get mentioned in the newspaper. Possibly neutral?

@AC what biblical reasons? I mean, I heard about the whole "Israel must exist so there can be a rapture" thing a while back but I always thought people had... I don't know, legitimate, logic-based reasons besides "because the bible says so" :P

As far as I know, the whole Jewish homeland thing really revived during the Great War. I know little beyond that however. Anyway, this is off topic.

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.

General opinion (from my vantage point in the US) is still pretty positive, but it's definitely gone downhill since the withdrawal from Gaza.

^There is some irony to that...

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.

I find it amusing that while I've never met a pro-Israel individual in California, I've met plenty of anti-Israel individuals (framed as pro-Palestine, but generally of the "Israel should not exist" variety) who've complained about how common pro-Israel bias is.

That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful

Most people I know, except the conservative Jews, dislike Israel. I personally think it's a matter of Grayand Grey Morality.

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

Where I'm at, opinions of Israel frequently boil down to a resounding 'meh'.

Now opinions of the Palestinians are most frequently very negative. You know why.

To expand on the situation in Germany. The traditional supportes of Israel in politics are the moderate right (CDU, CSU and the right wing of the SPD). The left is israelcritic (moderate left, like most of the SPD) to openly anti-Israel (far left, like The Leftist Party and maybe The Greens). The far right (neo Nazis) is also anti-Israel anti-semitic.

Since the moderate right is neither very politically activist (dominated by far out groups) nor dominates the media (dominated by the moderate left today) pro-Israel demonstrations are rarer than pro-Palestinian ones and the media seems to be slowly shifting against Israel, although the image of Israel that they display is still diverse.

I think the major turning point was when they build the security wall fence (and later operation Cast Lead even moreso). People here just don't like walls...

Edit: There are also rabid pro-Israel far leftists and far right groups. The first due to their antipathy to the antisemitic Neo-Nazis and the latter due to shared antipathy towards Muslims. This represents an interesting fault line in the far off camps.

The people are usually indifferent towards the whole issue, unless our government gets involved in which case we are against it. Whatever "it" is.

edited 3rd Oct '10 4:00:33 PM by DasAuto

Now if you excuse me, Starfleet is about to award the Christopher Pike Medal to my dick. — SF Debris

They have some very nice lobbies in the US. The Palestinians, not so much. Only people who have an awareness of the international community (<10%) know about some of the nasty things Israel has done. Somehow, being pro Israel is connected to being Christian through shared religious heritage.

edited 3rd Oct '10 5:43:19 PM by Roman

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^ Many people here are aware of the bad things Israel can and has done. Most however find the other side's tactics to be far more despicable.

edited 3rd Oct '10 4:08:44 PM by MajorTom

Because they are.

Now if you excuse me, Starfleet is about to award the Christopher Pike Medal to my dick. — SF Debris

^^

There are people like that, and I'm one of them, but I would say this constituted a minority, even if it wasn't as small as I proposed.

edited 3rd Oct '10 4:11:51 PM by Roman

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The US has every combination of opinion on every topic imaginable in pretty well divided quantities.

We have lots of supporters of Israel, and lots of folks who are disgusted with them.

'sokay.

Fight smart, not fair.