I would suspect that this may actually have something to do with the prominence of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as a 'left issue.' Growing up in a Jewish household, in a Jewish community, perhaps especially as a post-'67 era, it is near inevitable that the issue of Israel and Zionism was a regular topic of conversation in some fashion, be it in the home, the synagogue, youth groups, summer camps, BBYO, AZA/USY, Hebrew school, etc.
Leftist, progressive Jews, who grow up in this milieu and begin to question these hegemonic understandings of Israel within their community, are 'naturally' going to include the issue of Israel/Palestine high on their agendas as activists, just not in the way that their community expected.
andie nachgeborenen wrote:
> On the contrary, it's been my
> experience that Jews have been not merely welcome but
> overrepresented in every capacity of activism and
> leadership on the left in ever group I've had contact
> with on the left from DSA to Marxist-Leninist outfits.