Is Israel a "Jewish Nation"? Is the US an "American Nation"?

Ira Chernus @ Common Dreams - When Barack Obama referred to Israel as "a Jewish state" in his State of the Union speech, those three little words were meant to carry a very big message. In his effort to force Israelis and Palestinians to an agreement, Obama will apparently take the Israeli side on an issue that isn't get much notice but "may be even more intractable than old ones like security and settlements," as the New York Times' Jodi Rudoren recently reported: "a demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as ... 'the nation-state of the Jewish people.'”  Read more.