Why do you support Israel or Palestine? Are your reasons grounded in objective evidence?
If you are a Christian, you’re likely to support Israel.
If you are Caucasian (white) North American, you are unsurprisingly 6/10 likely to support Israel. That’s a drop from the 1980s and 1990s. Support for Israel, even in North America, is dwindling.
“Western Europe is, by all measurements, the fairest place on earth.”
If you are a Caucasian Western European white, surprise, surprise, you are often likelier than not to be unbiased towards either. There is a complete divorce between the Western European populace and the establishment. Western Europe is, by all measurements, the fairest place on earth. It has produced a generation that disagrees with their government and would rather be seen as fair than just.
If you are South American, you are the closest to Western Europe. Though to a certain degree religious, South Americans are often capable of separating religion from their decision-making. South Americans are the world’s most religiously friendly and tolerant, surpassing Europe. Muslims and other diverse religions face the least persecution on the continent.
If you are Arab or a Muslim from the Middle East, Israel is the unequivocal embodiment of evil. The Middle East is the most religiously intolerant place on earth. It has succeeded in wiping out the Jewish population in the area, and Christianity has also been pushed to the wall. No other religion is as intolerant of other religions as Islam and the Arabs.
If you are from South Asia except India, a sentiment similar to that of the Arabs is replicated. Religion dictates one’s relationship with Israel or Palestine. The dominance of Islam in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and the Maldives has done what it does best: push out opposing religions. You are either Muslim or not tolerated.
“Islam cannot coexist with other religions when Islam is in the majority.”
Islam cannot coexist with other religions when Islam is in the majority. The feeling in India is different; it has had quarrels with Islam for centuries; thus, its support for Israel is mainly to spite Indian Muslims rather than grounded on evidence. A similitude of India’s support for Israel is present in sub-Saharan Christian Africa, where many are not even aware that Israelis are not Christians.
Israel is your darling if you are from sub-Saharan Africa and a Christian. The Bible reinforces your decision-making. Black Christian Africans are likely to stand with Israel (7/10). Black Christian Africans find it hard to separate religion from anything else. Religiosity on the continent is so intense that it stifles overall judgment. Support for Israel is strong amongst black sub-Saharan Christian Africans.
If you are a Muslim sub-Saharan African, you are the exact copy of Christian black sub-Saharan Africans. Why is Africa so polarised by the duopoly of the Abrahamic (Christianity and Islam)? The case can be mild to hardcore, depending on what sub-Saharan African Islamic country or region you are from. In northern Nigeria, it is hardcore; Israel is the bad guy and must be wiped off. Meanwhile, a mild approach is pervasive in Côte d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Tanzania, Kenya, and other southeastern African countries where Islamic adherence is more cultural.
By Ikechukwu ORJI
