Check out this poll graphic. I was expecting a much bigger gap between the US and France on the region; oddly it’s Spain that’s the inverse of the US when it comes to who likes who.
Another interesting thing about that graph is the width of each bar. It looks like about 80% of French respondents have “chosen sides” whereas it is maybe only 60% of Americans, Germans, and British have done so.
The UK and France both have significant Muslim minorities. Given that, the support shown for Israel is actually fairly surprising.
I wouldn’t call 3% of the population all that significant. It’s not much higher than America. Britain has less Muslims than Germany, and they have a much greater sympathy for Israel. If you took out the Muslim vote here, the balance of favour in Britain would remain almost exactly the same.
I guess there was a reason the Inquisition happened after all!
Those Spaniards sure do love the Jews. ;)
Spain was ruled by Arabs once.
I wouldn’t think that would make them love the Arabs.
Like in the Manchurian Candidate, they can’t help it.
As well as Visigoths. And Romans. And Etruscans. Carthaginians. Greek Colonists. Little green men, etc. Maybe a few Gauls even.
I was expecting a much bigger gap between the US and France on the region;
Ah yes, because the french are such a culturally superior, enlightened people.
Mind telling us where you are trying to go with this?
Sometimes it was even ruled by Spaniards.
Maybe you’ve been sleeping through the last 20 years of US rhetoric about the perfidious anti-semitic French? Thought it was interesting that they weren’t that far from US opinion.
It’s 50-50 in France because they hate everyone. The feeling is mutual.
Contrary to your impressions, the French are more like the Americans than either group would like to believe. See that beautiful half-and-half split? That’s the result of half the population being terrified of darkies and towelheads, and the other half hating the government. Sound familiar?
No. Doesn’t really sound like the French, either. I’m willing to concede that it’s at least as much a case of what is similar between them and us driving us apart (nationalism, for instance) as our differences. But the dichotomy you draw is far too simplistic and arbitrary to be anything but an amusing throwaway line rather than an insightful summary.
I think you’re too quick to write the parallel off, but I’ll take what I can get. Amusing throwaway line it is!
We even hate ourselves.
That explains Sartre.