Why Israel Matters to Americans

There’s undoubtedly a very special relationship between Israel and the United States. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in the British Mandate of Palestine, the two countries have had deep ideological, political and spiritual ties. This unique relationship between the two has resulted in shielding Israel from criticism and accountability for its occupation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians for over seven decades. Yet can this relationship be explained simply by the role of Zionist lobbying? By U.S. foreign policy objectives? Can American support for Israel be simply explained as continued empathy for the horrors of the Holocaust? Or is the truth closer to home and in the mirror?

In the season finale of Backspace, Sana looks at how the story of Israel has been constructed in the United States — and the very American story at its root, where the indigenous of the land are rendered visible in a very particular way.

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