There are certain points I find have to be made again and again regarding Israel. I’ll try to cover a few of them here and add more over time.

Your view is so one-sided! You only look at what Israel does. Don’t you care that rockets continue to be shot out of Gaza every day?!

My view is one-sided on principle. I bear no responsibility for what the Palestinians do. I am Israeli and as such feel I have to voice my opinion regarding the actions of my government. Of course Gaza is controlled by bloodthirsty dictatorial Islamists. Of course the Palestinians do many wrongs. But that’s their business to figure out. We can whine all day about how evil, or disorganized, or corrupt, or violent, or stupid other people are, and it’s not likely to change anything. Instead we can focus on what we can do to promote an outcome that is just, peaceful, and sustainable.

You seem to equate Israel with apartheid-era South Africa. It’s totally different. How dare you?

Clearly, many things are different. Nobody’s saying Israel is exactly the same thing as South Africa. But there are real similarities that should scare us. The West Bank is under de facto apartheid. There are separate roads, courts and rules for Palestinians and Jews. The state enforces separation with violence.

You may also be surprised at how similar the South African whites’ view of themselves was to that of Israeli Jews. Look into it. It’s truly disturbing.