I don't intend to continue this dialogue as we obviously disagree. But let me make a few final points.
(1) You apparently don't believe that the Jews are the Chosen People, but many Orthodox Jews (and fundamentalist Christians) certainly do. The continual seizure of West Bank lands is often justified because they were part of ancient Judea and Samaria and therefore promised to the Jews. By the way, you haven't justified what probably troubles me more than any other one Israeli action: that Israel has kept building and expanding settlements on the West Bank. What do you think of that?
(2) I am pro-Israel. Israel, however, will not survive if it continues to thumb its nose at the rest of the world. The UN keeps voting resolutions by overwhelming votes - opposed usually only by US and Israel and a couple Pacific islands, etc - condemning Israeli activities, but the US vetoes them. It's like drinking. True friends tell friends that they ought to stop drinking when it puts them in serious danger. The problem: the present government of Israel doesn't pay attention.
(3) Arab terrorism is outrageous. I trace the main origins of it to mistaken US policy in the Middle East. Had we properly and generously compensated the displaced Palestinians after 1948 the problem likely would have gone away. Instead the US always backed Israel financially, militarily and diplomatically. Why? AIPAC influence on our politicians plus the impact of Christian fundamentalists who believe that the resurgence of Israel meant the end times when Jesus would come back, the battle of Armageddon would be fought in the Holy Land, and the Jews who survived would finally accept Jesus as their Messiah.
(4) What if Mexico, which owned California, New Mexico, Arizona, etc., demanded that they have a right to take those states back (and only after 150+ years)? Would Americans say, fine, you have that right? Of course not. This idea that the Holy Land belongs to the Jews after nearly 2000 years is questionable. If they had bought it gradually, as early Zionists were doing, okay. But seizing it by military force - no. It smacked of old-fashioned European imperialism to much of the world.
(5) Everyone should read the book "The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy" by two professors, one from Harvard, the other from the University of Chicago, to get a fuller picture. Our media obviously is very biased on this issue - again, because of pressure from AIPAC, advertizers, etc. All I ask, frankly, is that both sides be presented, that the matter be debated freely. That's where much of my frustration comes in.
(6) Europeans - Nazis, especially - were responsible for the Holocaust, and certainly not the Palestinians. But they are the ones who continue to suffer because of it.
(7) There is no separation of 'church and state' in Israel even though perhaps much less than 25% are religious. I recall how buses don't run, television wa suspended, and much else on the Sabbath. There are restrictions on Christian evangelism, on religious intermarriage, etc. Only Jews can come to Israel and become citizens there. What kind of democracy is this?
(8) Fortunately, there are many Jews, in Israel and in the USA - more and more here, it seems - who recognize that the Palestinians have been treated unfairly. Jews have been admired because of their humanitarian work, and how sad it is that this one issue has so clouded that reputation. When I was in the civil rights movement - jailed twice as I said earlier - Jews were represented well above their percentage. But when it comes to Israel, there seems to be a moral blackout. I think I understand it in light of Jewish history and the tendency of people the world over to be tribal, but I don't share this so I feel that I can be far more objective.
(9) I have spent time in Bethlehem on four occasions when I was in the Holy Land. I found the Christians there strongly anti-Israel. True, they also were concerned about growing Muslim pressure, also. The Christians are suffering in part because they often are identified with the US. You will find that many (maybe most?) Arab Christian leaders and organizations in the Holy Land have spoken out sharply against Israeli policies there. It's true that the Maronites in Lebanon have generally been more sympathetic to Israel, but they are the exception. There is a Christians-for-Israel group that I visited while in Jerusalem, but they turned out to be Christians from the US and the West, not Arabs.
(10) That's all. I pray for the peace of Jerusalem. That will not come fully and finally until there is justice for the Palestinians. The Arabs have made serious errors, also, and if you were defending them I would be presenting other arguments. But you are an Israeli apparently, and you need to know how many quiet Americans feel. We are inclined to say 'a plague on both their houses' but keep hoping for a two-state solution that can bring reconciliation. Our constant backing of Israel cost us so much, including our problems in Iraq and Afghanistan. And now Israel holds out the possibility that it may bomb Iran! I try to follow Jesus, a Jew, who sought to lead us to love one another. I believe it would work, but it has never been really tried. All my life I have known wars, families who lost loved ones, huge expenditures for 'new and improved' means of killing, and I'm tired of it. There is a better way. Sadly, the US and Israel haven't tried it. And don't bring up the canard about 2000 and giving the Palestinians all they wanted! That is typical of the spin we get all the time in our media.
Having said all this - my final commentary on this subject - I wish you and the people of Israel, the Palestinians (who, you seem to deny really exist), the Iranians, the Americans and all God's children faith, hope and love.
If the Jews are God’s Chosen People(a posit I happen to agree with),why have they suffered and been persecuted for millenia?.Especially during the Holocaust?