Are Any Fellow Jews Thinking of Changing Their Voting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, so this is ironic and funny. Biden’s gonna lose my vote because he supported Israel in genocide of Palestinian people. I don’t have a problem with U.S supporting Israel but I want there to be a red line that is morally in the right. Overall, I think Biden burned U.S foreign policy at the altar of AIPAC donations.

Now, OTOH you feel that he didn’t do enough for Jewish people and Israel. American kids have every right to protest against a foreign country, anybody who disagrees with that can move to the same country. The way American kids were treated to appease AIPAC donations, we will never forget.

But damn … Biden got it bad from both sides. He is a consummate politician and he deserves it.

Why are you referring to some of the 40 years old protesters as "kids"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay, so this is ironic and funny. Biden’s gonna lose my vote because he supported Israel in genocide of Palestinian people. I don’t have a problem with U.S supporting Israel but I want there to be a red line that is morally in the right. Overall, I think Biden burned U.S foreign policy at the altar of AIPAC donations.

Now, OTOH you feel that he didn’t do enough for Jewish people and Israel. American kids have every right to protest against a foreign country, anybody who disagrees with that can move to the same country. The way American kids were treated to appease AIPAC donations, we will never forget.

But damn … Biden got it bad from both sides. He is a consummate politician and he deserves it.

Why are you referring to some of the 40 years old protesters as "kids"?

Because 99% were college kids. Now OTOH, the pro Israeli mob that created violence at UCLA, they were in 30s and 40s.

[Anonymous]

I think if Trump wins, MBS is going to have a lot of influence with Trump. And I don’t think MBS is going to want Israel to exist. So best of luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay, so this is ironic and funny. Biden’s gonna lose my vote because he supported Israel in genocide of Palestinian people. I don’t have a problem with U.S supporting Israel but I want there to be a red line that is morally in the right. Overall, I think Biden burned U.S foreign policy at the altar of AIPAC donations.

Now, OTOH you feel that he didn’t do enough for Jewish people and Israel. American kids have every right to protest against a foreign country, anybody who disagrees with that can move to the same country. The way American kids were treated to appease AIPAC donations, we will never forget.

But damn … Biden got it bad from both sides. He is a consummate politician and he deserves it.

Why are you referring to some of the 40 years old protesters as "kids"?

Because 99% were college kids. Now OTOH, the pro Israeli mob that created violence at UCLA, they were in 30s and 40s.

Paid thugs and two-bit MMA pikers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think if Trump wins, MBS is going to have a lot of influence with Trump. And I don’t think MBS is going to want Israel to exist. So best of luck.

MBS wants and has pursued the normalization of relations with Israel. It's one of the reasons Iranian-backed Hamas attacked on 10/7 - to derail a comprehensive deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. But yes, MBS would have a significant influence in a Trump administration. If I recall, Saudi Arabia was Trump's first oversees destination as president. And the Saudis are heavily invested in Trump business ventures, from golf to real estate. I don't think that's a bad thing for Israel though. The share they same regional enemy - Iran.

[Anonymous]

OP said they only want to hear from fellow Jews. I'm not Jewish, so OP will not be listening to me. I don't know why OP is conflating Biden and the protests, for one thing.
Meanwhile, per the Council on Foreign Relations:
What military aid has the United States provided Israel since the October 7 attacks?
Israel has been using American-made weapons against its foes, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, for decades. Since October 7, the Biden administration has reportedly made more than one hundred military aid transfers to Israel, although only two—totalling about $250 million—have met the aforementioned congressional review threshold and been made public. The Israeli military has reportedly received expedited deliveries of weapons from a strategic stockpile that the United States has maintained in Israel since the 1980s. Shortly after Hamas’s attack, the United States also agreed to lease Israel two Iron Dome missile defense batteries that Washington had previously purchased from the country.

The extraordinary flow of aid has included tank and artillery ammunition, bombs, rockets, and small arms. In April 2024, news reports said the Biden administration was considering new military sales to Israel that are valued at more than $18 billion and would include fifty F-15 fighter aircraft.

Biden has also tried to pressure Israel to abide by international standards regarding its military actions, including specific military groups that have engaged in atrocities. Israeli political leadership takes offense.

Nobody should be surprised that students at (some, far from all) campuses protest. This is part of what happens and has always happened at college campuses (including as the US approached WWI and WWII, it didn't start in the 60s). Some of the protesters happen to be Jewish. Yes, extremists get into the fray (Proud Boys have, some pro-Hamas have). But there are also some Jews in Israel who regard Arabs (or "Palis") as inherently subhuman and are not shy about saying it. I do believe the majority of protesters are, in fact, not engaged in antisemitism--they are opposing the actions taken by a very right-wing Israeli government that has seen plenty of opposition in Israel itself. (Einstein and Hannah Arendt both opposed extreme Zionism in Israel--were they antisemites? )
The first attacks in the US were against a 6 year old boy--stabbed dozens of times because he was Palestinian-American--and 3 students shot in the US because of their Palestinian background (one, who is Palestinian-Irish-American, is now paralyzed from the chest down).

The most committed protesters opposing how Israel has responded in Gaza aren't going to be voting for Biden anyway.

[Anonymous]

I am a Jew and I cannot support Trump in any way. So I will be voting for Biden.

[Anonymous]

I’m a Jew too. I think some of those on campus are antisemetic, supporting Hamass, which is reprehensible. I also think that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is real and that many on campus are trying to bring attention to that issue. I also think that Netanyahu isn’t doing himself or Israel any favors there or on the world stage. He is bad for Israel and the Jewish people I can hold many conflicting thoughts in my head at the same time.

I’m supporting Biden because Trump would be so much worse for this country and the world. Pulling out of NATO, allowing Putin to take over Ukraine, abortion bans, right wing judges, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is definitely antisemitism in these college protests.

However, 99% of college students have nothing to do with these protests and are just trying to go to class. Don’t punish all these kids - or paint all these colleges as antisemitic - to send a message about a fringe cohort. Collective punishment is not the way to go.

Interesting... I wonder if that concept could be applied to a certain military conflict? 🤔

[Anonymous]

I’m the daughter of Soviet Jews. We’ve always voted Republican on account of having escaped Leftist antisemitism (and the Nazis, too). The only regret I have is voting for Bush the first time in 2000. I abstained in 2004. (I thoroughly believe that he and his daddy were antisemites, while Clinton and was not and Gore was completely ambivalent about Jews. And yes, Gore would have been a much better president.) The politicians are all pretty awful on both sides, but I genuinely think that most Conservatives are less antisemitic than most Liberals, just like most Conservatives are far less racist than most Liberals (including the Jewish ones).

Move away from the communists…come over to the other side!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You and me both. At this point, I cannot see myself voting for Biden. I’m still on the fence on whether that means sitting out, or voting for Trump, but I’m not seeing any policy from the democrats that takes the threats being made against Israel and the Jewish people seriously.

I generally agree with democrats on most issues, and find some of the right’s policies (especially on abortion, LGBT rights, etc) disgusting, but I cannot in good faith vote for a party that seems to believe supporting pro-Hamas actors is more important then protecting innocent Jewish residents.

So you are ready to through under the bus the lives of millions of women and LGBTQ instead of sacrificing a much smaller group of Jewish people? Your dear leader will not be happy with you.

You know Jews are not a mutually exclusive category of people. Jews are also women and LGBTQ. Also, let's not frame serious political reservations as "sacrificing" one group or another.

Fwiw, I'm a Jewish woman who will vote for Biden, but is also fed up with the Dems' left wing. I just in absolutely no way think the GOP will be better for Israel than Biden, and that they are so much worse domestically. If we were looking at a left wing Dem for president, this would be a different conversation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You and me both. At this point, I cannot see myself voting for Biden. I’m still on the fence on whether that means sitting out, or voting for Trump, but I’m not seeing any policy from the democrats that takes the threats being made against Israel and the Jewish people seriously.

I generally agree with democrats on most issues, and find some of the right’s policies (especially on abortion, LGBT rights, etc) disgusting, but I cannot in good faith vote for a party that seems to believe supporting pro-Hamas actors is more important then protecting innocent Jewish residents.

So you are ready to through under the bus the lives of millions of women and LGBTQ instead of sacrificing a much smaller group of Jewish people? Your dear leader will not be happy with you.

"There are fewer Jews, so they matter less" is a bad argument. Do better, random internet stranger. Do better.

[Anonymous]

Has everyone forgotten Charlottesville? And the very “fine people on both sides,”? It’s clear which party is the true antisemite and houses the man who is in bed with white supremacists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been a lifelong Democrat, but the protests on college campuses and the media responses from liberal groups I supported and who I thought supported me have got me thinking about changing my vote in November.

I can’t get over how much obvious antisemitism I see—even at my own child’s college—and how I’m being gaslighted and told by non Jews that what I’m seeing doesn’t exist or that since there are some Jews who agree, it can’t be Jew hating.

I can’t imagine voting for Trump, and I genuinely think Biden supports Jews. But I want to send a message to the left wing of the Democratic Party that they are taking Jewish support for granted.

Right now I would not give a blanket vote to any down ticket Democrat without looking at their record on Jews and Israel. And there’s a part of me that really isn’t sure I won’t vote for Trump just because I’m so angry.

Fellow Jew. Politically conservative. A vote for Trump will not yield what the Dem party is telling you it will. Sadly, the Dems have been lying to Jews for decades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You and me both. At this point, I cannot see myself voting for Biden. I’m still on the fence on whether that means sitting out, or voting for Trump, but I’m not seeing any policy from the democrats that takes the threats being made against Israel and the Jewish people seriously.

I generally agree with democrats on most issues, and find some of the right’s policies (especially on abortion, LGBT rights, etc) disgusting, but I cannot in good faith vote for a party that seems to believe supporting pro-Hamas actors is more important then protecting innocent Jewish residents.

So you are ready to through under the bus the lives of millions of women and LGBTQ instead of sacrificing a much smaller group of Jewish people? Your dear leader will not be happy with you.

Your argument is that women matter, and LGBTQ people matter, but Jewish people don’t?

I wish I could support all three, I am both a Woman and Jewish, and I have family (and dear friends) who are LGBTQ. I hate I am placed in a position where I have to place my loyalty, but that is where we are, and right now Jewish people are facing an immediate danger with the increasing level of anti-Semitism and violence toward Jewish people. And if the 1930s showed us anything, Jewish people are often the first and most loudly scapegoats used to vilify all groups. Do you really think the Islamist extremist groups that the current radicals are supporting will support women and protect the rights of LGBTQ people? They may be okay with just villainizing Jewish people now because hating Jewish people is “cool” right now, but how long until those same radicals attacking our collegiate systems will start decrying gay marriage, or call for the return of women to a place of marital servitude?

I am always surprise that history did not teach Jewish people anything. They massively voted for Biden despite the knowledge that Biden is not going to codify Row v. Wade and despite the knowledge that Biden (and Obama) sent billions to people who are killing Jewish now. Back then, American Jewish wasn't thinking that one day they will come for their children. This day came, your children are not only harassed but physically assaulted on US campuses, but Jewish people still will be in denial, just like they were in denial on their way to gas cameras.

1. I didn't think Biden could codify Roe, because that requires Congress, which is all sorts of messed up. But he supports and woman's right to make her own healthcare decisions and would sign it if Congress got their act together. He's also not going to appoint conservative, anti-choice Justices.

2. I was not better off as a Jew before Biden. Under the Trump administration, we had Charlottesville and Tree of Life and all the JCC bomb threats.

Biden is supporting Israel and the American Jewish community. I'm not sure what you (or anyone) think Trump would do differently to shut down these college protests, unless you're advocating for another Kent State, which I would hope we can all agree was bad.