Nadine, all of your points are thought-provoking.
My sympathies are not all with the Palestinians at all. I actually have considered your arguments before, and see some merit in them. The Europeans' historical claim (none!) to Wyoming etc. is not the same as the Jews' historical claims to the land of Israel. I do oppose the settlements in the west bank area as colonizing, and severely weakening Israel's moral arguments.
My main point, I think, was that many Americans smugly think that the US has "clean hands" in its historical past, and therefore can moralize over who is wrong or right in the mideast conflict. Can you imagine what the reaction would be if Arapaho suicide bombers blew up McDonald's restaurants in Cheyenne and Laramie? So, yes, I do have sympathy with the Israeli side, and have voiced it here before, but I also think that they have poorly handled the Palestinian question vis-vis establishing colonies that are difficult to defend (in all senses of the word). |
