I have an inordinate number of Israeli friends and acquaintances myself. They are generally very peaceful, progressive minded people. However, I find when discussing the issue of the Palestinians, they suddenly lose all empathy and become very hard-line. Compared to them, you're quite liberal regarding Israel.

Amazing! Some of my best friends are -----, too! Aren't they just the sweetest people? I never understand why so many say they're ---- and -----. I don't see that at all!

They don't accuse me of being an anti-semite for criticizing the actions of the Israeli government -- they know me better than that and know how absurd that is. However, they occasionally have claimed that I'm playing into the hands of the anti-semites by voicing my criticisms.

This speaks to the larger question of ignorance. Dick Armey meant to be funny when he told a female guest on Chris Matthews that he qwouldn't want to wake up every day to hear her voice because it was "shrill."

Should we excuse Dick Armey for being ignorant about paternalistic sexism?

If you have even the foggiest understanding of bigotry, you'd know that the bigot rarely thinks they're a bigot. The entire crux of Rush Limbaugh's racism is that he thinks he's "simply speaking the truth," as many on this board claim when trumping up their "Zionist Power" conspiracy theories.

find that very annoying.

It's unfortunate that you don't examine whether or not they're correct.

Yes, anti-semitism definitely exists in this world, I know that very well.

That's very big of you to admit.

See, I'm familiar with real anti-semitism. That's why I know that when it gets thrown out so willy-nilly, it's really just bullshit, designed to provide cover in lieu of an honest argument.

But this excuse is always the province of the bigot. How many years do we listen to right wingers state that it's an "honest argument" to ask why so many Mexicans and darkies are coming over to take jobs away from "real Americans"? They just want to have an "honest debate."

And women? They're physically weaker and have babies, so they should be paid less than men. That's just an "honest debate."

And look, black people are on welfare and have babies out of wedlock. Look at the statistics! I'm just having an "honest debate."

How many years do we listen to the republican party, the now nearly exclusively white, Christian republican party, whine about how "political correctness" is trying to stifle their "honest debate"?

As a (presumably) liberal, how can you not understand this basic point? Or do we make an exception when we get to the Jews?

I think you assign that motivation with impunity where it isn't justified, due to your emotional sensitivity on this issue.

I've rarely specifically assigned an accusation of anti-Semitism because even daring to bring it up gets such an avalanche of outrage from the "some of my best friends are Jewish!" crowd that's it's not even worth it. It's why so few Jews even speak up when they hear it.

Your emotional investment causes you to see "anti-Israel froth" where it is not.

It's funny, you can be as critical as you like of Robert Mugabe's government, and you don't get accused of being anti-black. Curious, isn't it?

No, not really, and I've never denied there are legitimate criticisms of Israel. It's like Republicans who describe a "welfare queen" with clearly racist overtones, but this doesn't mean one can't legitimately criticize welfare as a system.