OK - after the lovely "Israel is a POS roach in the salad of America" - and the troll-bashing recipie-fest that ensued - someone asked: why can't we talk about Israel in a mature way on this site?
What does it take to address real concerns about Israeli policies without killing each other and troll rating?
I tried to outline my thoughts on Israel, as an American Jew, who lost (yes, obligitory Holocaust reminder) about half of my family to very real anti-Semitism. But that lovely diarly got killed before I could post my response below.
But I'm an American way, way, way before anything else, and I don't just automatically jump to the defense of Israel all the time....More after the jump >>
I'm an American Jew who doens't like the policies of Israel as a nation. In fact, I think that the British Partition was bullshit, and has caused much of the grief we see in the region today.
But I'm not calling for the abolition of Israel, or the abandonment of it by the US, because I think that is short-sighted and signing the region and the world up for far more harm than good. Israel truly alone would react from a place of irrational self-preservation - just like the Palestinians are doing...
Do I think that the US should pressure Israel to trade land for peace? Youbetcha. Do I think that characterizing the whole nation as a piece of shit is appropriate. Nope. Not for any nation, no matter how badly run.
I believe that the existence of Israel is good and necessary in the world. I might not have put it where it is, but nonetheless, that's where it is...Israel has whatever passes for national karma to do good in the world. And the nations that surround Israel have some kind of karma to try to accept circumstances that they can't change and move on.
Nobody's innocent in the little passion play that is the Middle East, but nobody is beyond redemption, either.