"...Well, this explains why you don't mind lying about facts to further your opposition.

By the way, are there any other states in the world which you "oppose"? Moslem states? Christian states? Shinto states?

Or is just the states of the Jews?"

Let me first say that I have always supported the creation of an independent viable Palestinian State, and I think that Netanyahu's intransigence will hurt Israel in the long run.

Having said that, JonathaninTelAviv raises a good point. It does grate on the ears of free people everywhere when we hear a democracy(?) like Israel claim that its a "Jewish" State, thus relegating all non-jews inside its borders to second class status.

But it is hardly unique on that score. Many muslim countries, even those considered moderate, enshrine in their constitutions that they are Islamic states. And they mean it. Apostasy is criminalised, criticism of Islam is off-limits, non-believers are to conform to Islamic codes of conduct on interaction between the sexes, voting, driving cars etc. They are second class citizens too, and if furtail opposes the existence of a "Jewish" state, it should follow that he ought to oppose Islamic states as well. Arab states cry bitterly about the marginalisation of their Palestinian brothers while maintaining a stony silence about their own domestic religious/racial repression.

But JonathaninTelAviv does not answer furtail's further point. So we have concluded that Israel is not unique in relegating whole sections of its citizenry to second-class status. Does it matter? As an American, it should. The orthodox reason trotted out for America's unflinching support for Israel is that it is supposed to be a liberal democracy which respects human rights in a neighbourhood that doesn't. That argument rings hollow if Isreal practises apartheid-lite. Why throw your support behind Israel to the tune of billions of dollars yearly if they are only slightly less grubby and vicious than their neighbours, and all it gets you is endless geopolitical grief and an easy rallying cry for your enemies? How does that serve America's interest?

If there is no moral justification for supporting Israel with so much aid (military and otherwise), then we are left with only the political. America supports Israel because AIPAC can rain seven different kinds of sh*t on politicans who don't toe the line. Not exactly the most inspiring rallying call is it?

In short, when we give Israel grief for insisting its a "Jewish" state, we are holding it to a higher standard. But America is entitled to that higher standard, so long as Israel still wants aid, guns, missles, tanks, UN Security Council coverage etc.

Well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later. HRC disses China by demanding that they publish lists of the dead. Obama's willingness to raise the issue so publicly notwithstanding the leverage China has over America's tentative economic recovery is ballsy, possibly even foolhardy.

I just got one question.

Why do we observe so vigilently the remembrance of the Tiananmen Massacre, but whisper nary a peep about Chechnya? Any way you cut it, the Russians are a more ruthless lot. Will we be observing rememberances of the invasion of Georgia? Or demand an explanation for exiled foreign dissidents assasinated?

Why does Russia get the "kid gloves" treatment? China continues to brutalise Tibet. But its actions are as nothing compared to what the Chechyen people have had to go through. Tianamen students have been elevatd to sainthood. By contrast, during the War on Terror, the State Department obligingly labelled Chechen separatists as 'terrorists'.

Good point. Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is shameful, but its hardly unique in the region. There are far more glaring examples of repression in the Middle East and North Africa. Darfus is the obvious example. In a world full of repressive dictatorships, Israel has perhaps been singled out unfairly.

Why then should America bother to put pressure on Israel to give the Palestinians a fair shake?

Because its in America's interest. For better or worse, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the cause celebre in the Muslim world. It is the most potent rallying cry for America's enemies. It is the moral fig-leaf that oppresive Arab regimes trot out so they have a foreign power to demonise, rather than focussing on domestic problems. Its a vote-winner every single time (hence Hezbollah's consistent popularity in Lebanon). If America resolves the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it will go a long way towards rehabilitating its image in a region which we depend strongly on for our energy needs. If nothing else, it will deflate Al Qaeda, perhaps fatally. Remember that Al Qaeda enjoyed only moderate support in the Arab street until it cynically chose to adopt the Palestinian cause for its own.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict represents a rare opportunity for America to further its own interests while at the same time doing the right thing. By contrast, what does America get out of its alliance with Israel? Nothing but grief, while at the same time giving America's enemies a chance to tar America for Israel's excesses. Someone on this post mentioned that they are a dependable ally. As I understand it, they actively spy on America, and even when we ask them for something reasonable (e.g. stop settlement expansion) we get the cold shoulder. But for some reason, we end up standing shoulder to shoulder with them when they decide to do something stupid, like invade Lebanon. Oh, and we also give them aid to the tune of billions of dollars yearly. If thats a dependable ally, give me an enemy anyday.