It's historical memory of Auschwitz, not identification with Ariel Sharon, that is one of the principal drivers of U.S. policy.
Brad DeLong
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Nice try and it might even sell in the white gated retirement communities of the US.
But the policy linkage is directly through US geopolitics of neoliberalism and its Israeli sycophants with the obvious European, white, and western identity of Israel set against the middle eastern, non-white, and non-western Palestinians---ie. the race card, plus the class war of Israeli bourgeois against the exploited dusty masses of proletarian and peasant Palestinians.
Since all of that is waay to analytical for US mass consumption, it comes down to a culture war in media stereotypes: western, white, middle class looking and peace loving Israelis, versus non-western, brown, not-middle class, foreign looking and violence prone Palestinians.
But this media war of race-class-cultural stereotypes has the potential to backfire, since the US is slowly becoming a mixed multi-cultural multi-racial society. Hence the potential for the recent demos with mixed groups especially black and middle eastern americans who start to publicly express their solidarity with the Palestinians---precisely because they identify with them as the oppressed. That kind of public support is critical because it opens a crack in the apparently seamless US consensus----which is only an apparent seamlessness because until this passed week of demos, there has been no other alternate public mode of expression.
It seems (to me at least) in anticipation of this rift in public consensus, along with growing awareness of its distorted middle eastern coverage, and Powell's failure, the US media shifted last week's headline focus to its runner up topic to war atrocities, that otehr old time favorite, child molesters of the cloth. Middle aged altar boys allege Father Barboso Flagrante, affectionately known as BiBi the Butt Buster, introduced them to previously unknown rites of the Apocrypha. Gosh, really?
And from the original post fwd by Carl Remick, on some US jewish intellectuals and their bonding with the US rightwing, again the race-class cards work (as Horowitz demonstrates), at least on the level of gut reactions, since the mutual enemies of both (self-identified as white and middle class) are the radicalized racial and cultural minorities (self-identified as not white and not middle class)---specially black and middle easterner americans who can always be labeled or suspected of anti-jewish sentiments whether they deserve it or not.
In addition, the use of a pro-Israel stance by the US rightwing works as a cynical subterfuge that both embraces and effaces racism as a concrete political force. In other words, like DeLay, any US politician can obfuscate their own racism (or whiteness) by embracing Israel (while ignoring its racialized policies) and call it supporting the war against terrorism. Then via the twisted logic of the US political arena, a valid accusation of racism against them, is tantamount to anti-Semiticism and support for terrorists. It is a kind of perfect political trap. Besides it has the further advantage for Republicans of siphoning off at least some Jewish votes that might go to the Democrats out of habit---and which might account for the Democrats trying to get on the right of the Right on Israel. There is simply no down side to vocal pro-Israeli support. And there is nothing very deep about it either: law, order, and racism as usual---not very cleverly disguised as supporting the war against terrorism with patriotic motifs and flourishes.
What is to like about a pro-Palestinian stance? You get: support for terrorism, implicit support for Islamic lunatics, support for the Taliban, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and all the usual enemies list of the Muslim world, indirect linkage with anti-globalization freaks, bucking the executive branch during war, bucking the Pentagon and the military industrial complex, the 24/7 howling denunciations of the rightwing media fanatics, the unleashing of untold reprisals through nasty smear campaigns in the home district come next election, and generally instantaneous political suicide.
I think the courageous choice of the US political establishment is clear.
Chuck Grimes