All those student protests on the US seem to be about stopping their universities from supporting the Israel government. But supporting a foreign government is not a normal thing for a university to do, why do they do it?
Is there some educational or research resource they get?
I will try to be as neutral as I can, though it seems impossible in this space.
A lot of Jewish people live outside of Israel for reasons going way back in history, we won’t get into the details of that now. Many of them remain closely tied with family / community / culture / religious practices & beliefs in Israel. These folks are sometimes called the Diaspora.
Some of them live in the United States (and are US citizens) and some of them are very successful / influential. Like almost any other demographic group, some of them can be found on the boards of colleges and universities, corporations, etc.
And some of these folks are still very much invested in Israel and care about what is going on over there, like other folks in the Diaspora.
I hope that helps. I am not taking a side with this answer, just trying to provide some general context on the how we got here.
I think this covers everything except for one last question the OP might have had. Israel was, and still is, a US ally. Trading is generally pretty open with those allies, so citizens are fairly free to invest with any company headquartered in those countries. Investing in an Israeli company was no different than investing in an Australian or UK company. Offshore investment can be smart too, as they can potentially insulate you from the effects of economic shocks in America (in the short term). I’m sure someone much more versed in economics or finances could give you a better summary of that end though.
Just in case they’re wondering whether/why it’s possible/common to have foreign investments in the first place. Your comment is a great explanation for why Israel specifically.
I think it needs to be said most Jewish people in the diaspora are not Zionists. And that Israel is and always has been a puppet state formed by the the US
I think we would need stats before making that first conclusion. I’ve seen a lot of favorability polls of Israel amongst Jewish people, but not sure I’ve ever seen an explicit ask for Zionism or its definition. I’m sure it’s out there, but I wouldn’t expect the OP to take that for granted without a source.
Your second sentence is arguably correct, but lacking a lot of context and really not presented from a neutral standpoint like the other commentor and I were trying to strike. I think when people are looking for raw information, it’s fair to provide that with as little bias as possible, especially on a heated current issue. And fwiw, I likely agree with you on that issue.
Yeah I’m Jewish so this isn’t a new issue to me. Zionism is viewed as a fascist ideology by a lot of Jews, there for I think its unneutral to say afluent Jews are why universities are invested in Israel. I’m being as neutral as possible, these are the facts as I know them and I wouldn’t trust an poll on this matter done now, personally. The fact that Israel was formed by America after ww2 and has been used as a political and military base for America since. Wikipedia has multiple articles on it.
All kinds of ideologies are viewed as fascism by all kinds of people, but that’s not a source. Just because you yourself are Jewish does not mean you have an understanding of Jewish people as a whole. If you want to assert something about Jewish views on Zionism, you need to provide a real source. It also doesn’t tie directly to your followup with “affluent Jews are why universities are invested in Israel”. Why would one follow the other at all?
I also know what Israel is and how it was founded. Your wording this time is much more palatable! “Puppet state” has connotations that I agree with, but would not say if I was trying to be neutral. On a different thread, I think that’s entirely fair. Again though, when people ask for raw info, I think it’s only fair to provide that from as neutral a standpoint as possible.
…formed by the US…among others.
That’s a wild jump to make.
There’s always someone who will question your neutrality. Regardless, I applaud your efforts.