There is a vast misconception among the Jewish-American population that George W. Bush supports Israel’s cause more than John Kerry does. It’s true that Bush does support Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism by means of the security fence. In fact, President Bush is even against stopping Jewish settlements on Palestinian territory. In the eyes of many Jews, this is a clear message that Israel and the U.S. are bound to work hand in hand together to preserve the solidarity of the state of Israel and work toward fighting terrorism in the Middle East. But not many Jewish Americans are aware of the ulterior motives that our kind and benevolent president has. President Bush aligns his views with conservative Christians who believe that the only way the second coming of Jesus Christ can occur is when every piece of land that use to belong to the Jewish nation is reclaimed by the Jewish people. To many Jews this might sound like a Christian belief that happens to benefit Israel’s benefit. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
To many scholars’ understanding, in the second coming, more than half of the Jews will be killed off while the other portion will be forced to convert to Christianity. This doesn’t sound very appealing. I’m not knocking on Christians for what is prophesized by a certain right-wing conservative portion of the population, but how can Jews living in America consciously accept this kind of support from people who only want them to get their land back in order to finish them off when J.C. arrives?
Aside from the religious concepts that entail this discussion, the Bush administration refuses to move the American embassy to the Israeli capital of Jerusalem. This is because if they do so, then they will lose face with neighboring Arab countries that do not recognize the state of Israel.
John Kerry is no less of a friend to Jews all around the world then George Bush is. In over 60 congressional votes in regards to Israel, he has voted 100 percent to support Israeli interests. And unlike our current president, Kerry doesn’t have any tricks under his sleeve as to why he would support Israeli issues. Jewish Americans also need to consider that just because Bush says he supports Israel, it should not be the only deciding issue as to whom we are going to vote for. We all need to remember that there are more pressing issues as to how this current president has failed us.
Slava Borshchukov can be contacted at v.borshcukov@umiami.edu.