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                                              July 20, 2006

  It took me a long time,
  but I've finally lost
  all sympathy for the
  Israeli government.       It's possible that this
                            means I am "anti-Zionist",
                            but it could be that there
                            are nuances of that phrase
                            that still ellude me.


                              It doesn't mean
                              I'm anti-Israeli.      There are many Israeli
                                                     citizens I'm in complete
                                                     agreement with, notably
                                                     the members of the
                                                     perpetually unreported
                                                     Israeli peace movement.

                              It doesn't even
                              mean that I'm
                              anti-Israel.           Whatever solution, if any,
                                                     arises in the middle-east,
                                                     it seems unlikely that
                                                     eliminating Israel is
                                                     going to be it, nor does
                                                     it seem to me like that
                                                     should be it.

    I sincerely hope that at some point
    it will become possible to address
    the Israeli-Palestine issue in the
    United States without going through
    this tedious rigamarole of standard
    disclaimers.


            One can be opposed to
            Israel without being
            against Judaism.

            One can be opposed to
            Israel's land-grabs
            without being opposed
            to Israel.

            One can deplore Israel's
            assaults on civilian
            populations without
            shrugging off the attacks
            on Israel's own civilians.



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