It seems to me the answer is fairly obvious. "Fairly" because while it seems simple that answer seems to escape a lot of people.

It's "both-and". It's both American misdeeds and crass American commercialism, AND the agenda of others to find foreign demons against whom to rally their folks at home.

We in the US do that, too. Reagan and the Contras, Clinton and anyone who would take our mind off Lewinsky, and Bush and the Iraqis.

America is a great and venal country, as are many others. We're both big and small, selfless and selfish, and have a strong tendency to believe our own BS. Read the stuff from the American Armed Forces Network that keeps getting posted here. A couple of candy bars ("goodies", according to a few of the people here) and it makes up for all the terrorism of the Americans shooting at 'em. For their own good.

And there's a complicating factor.

For a democracy to work well it has to have a free press, one which isn't beholden to any interests except getting information to an informed electorate.

In the US that press is subject to selfish pressures. It needs to make money, and any concerted effort to boycott or protest will have an effect.

Anything which is regarded as critical of Israel or Israeli foreign policy is condemned by various Jewish organizations as "anti-Semitic" and a boycott is threatened. The Palestinians don't have a lobby such as that in the US. Therefore the US information regarding the Middle East is extremely one-sided, the Palestinian cause and concerns are basically ignored. (European news seems more balanced in this area.)

Therefore, in my not-so-humble opinion, an American public, which is as kind, generous and thoughful as any can be when given enough information, has been led down the primrose path regarding Arabs and the Middle East. The American public hasn't had a chance to be fair-minded.

(Look at Israel reaching into a Democratic primary in Georgia as it did recently, in a successful effort to control American foreign policy by electing friendly Congressional Representatives.)

Nope. It's "all of the above", but it takes a bit more effort to see that than if one can restrict themselves to an "either - or" proposition.

Arf