Based on mainstream media (MSM) coverage and on comments by the religious right (read republican party), one gets the sense that the Jewish public is supportive of the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq and of its other policies in that region of the world. Of course, as with anything that comes out of the right wing (read republican party) and its supporters in the MSM, the facts demonstrate a liberal bias that simply don't support the claim.
The Gallup Poll is reporting: Among Religious Groups, Jewish Americans Most Strongly Oppose War -- opposition goes beyond Jewish Americans' political affiliations.
That bears repeating, because of how it refutes what seems to have been the conventional narrative over the past couple of years, that is: the right wing's (read republican party) claim that Jewish Americans are abandoning the Democratic party (and their commitment to Progressive values) and joining the republican party due to Bush's Middle East policies, including the Iraq war. So lemme repeat the Gallup Poll headline and quote from their poll: Among Religious Groups, Jewish Americans Most Strongly Oppose War.
PRINCETON, NJ -- An analysis of Gallup Poll data collected since the beginning of 2005 finds that among the major religious groups in the United States, Jewish Americans are the most strongly opposed to the Iraq war. Catholics and Protestants are more or less divided in their views on the war, while Mormons are the most likely to favor it. Those with no religious affiliation also oppose the war, but not to the same extent that Jewish people do. The greater opposition to the war is not simply a result of high Democratic identification among U.S. Jews, as Jews of all political persuasions are more likely to oppose the war than non-Jews who share the same political leanings.
Gallup's findings:
United States Made a Mistake in Sending Troops to Iraq,
by Religious Affiliation, 2005-2007 Gallup Polls
Religious Preference | War a mistake | War not a mistake | Sample size |
| % | % | |
All Americans | 52 | 46 | 12,061 |
| | | |
Protestants | 48 | 49 | 6,747 |
Non-black Protestants | 43 | 55 | 6,073 |
Black Protestants | 78 | 18 | 674 |
Catholics | 53 | 46 | 2,896 |
Jews | 77 | 21 | 303 |
Mormons | 27 | 72 | 203 |
No religion | 66 | 33 | 1,242 |
[...]
Of these major religious groups, three show more opposition than support for the war:
- Jewish people oppose the Iraq war by a better than 3-to-1 margin, 77% to 21%.
- Americans without a religious preference are twice as likely to oppose (66%) as to support (33%) the war.
- Catholics are somewhat more likely to oppose (53%) than to support the war (46%).
[...]
[C]loser analysis of the data show that Jewish war opposition goes beyond their basic political leanings. Jewish people are more likely to oppose the war than non-Jews of the same political persuasion. For example, 89% of Jewish Democrats oppose the Iraq war, compared with 78% of all non-Jewish Democrats.
For the full poll visit the Gallup Poll.