I want to thank you for the temperate and thoughtful response to my comment. Would that many others on this thread would address these terribly difficult matters in the same spirit.

I wrote quickly and did not really edit, so I can understand how my meaning was not as clear as I would like. In fact, I rarely discuss the Middle East with anyone because (a) I am not sure of some my detailed facts , and don't know where to turn to get reliable information (b) the discussion usually turns ugly, even with other Jews and no good comes of that and (c) I haven't the slightest idea where a practical resolution might be reached or even what it would look like. So what have I to say? Little.

My basic point was that neither Israel no the world Jewish community is monolithic in its opinions or feelings here (nor, based on a few Palestinians I know, are they). That is why it distresses me to see people talk about "The Jews" as some sort of unified body (that was the reason for my reference to the fraticide in Jewish history), and those who glibly do so might take into account that such a reference has often carried with it a whiff of the "Jewish conspiracy" theory which was a great motor of antisemitism, the real thing that ends in mass industrialized murder, as opposed to run-of-the-mill Jew-hating. I didn't get around to my actual feelings, since as usual I sidetracked myself --- I am a musician and not a writer --- but I can't find the words to express how torn I am. I have heard Israeli settlers talk like the worst racists...and am ashamed. But I also know Holocaust survivors and empathize with them ...after all, with some different turns of fate I and my whole American family might have ended up in an oven too. I cheered the 1967 victory (we can argue about the legalities of a "pre-emptive attack" in response to a declared blockade some other time) for reasons I did explain --- and I wasn't privy to the thoughts of Moshe Dayan at the time and so didn't know that I wasn't supposed to be scared. I was was so sickened by the Lebanon invasion in 1982 that I called H'aaretz long distance (from Lenox MA) to protest. Is it holier-than-thou to feel that since I as a Jew may well be lumped with other Jews whose actions I strongly disapprove of, that I would want my people to be better than that? If so, I plead guilty and will try to find a better way to word it. But AIPAC does not speak for me.

That Jews can be as stupid, violent, and bigoted as anyone else would argue, I think, that they (we) are as human as anyone else (as some would deny).

Finally, as biblical archeology is one of my interests, I find it fascinating that there is a group of well-regarded (professionally) Israeli archaeologists, led by Israel Finkelstein, who argue on the basis of physical and documentary evidence that has come to light in the past few years, that the original Israelites were also native Canaanites...in other words, we have all been there all along. I agree that historical claims don't mean much, especially since all of our "tribes" have been so mixed and blended over the centuries. As for claims that God willed the land to Israel, I am an atheist (which would not prevent a Jew-hater from regarding me as a Jew) and think that is self-serving bunk. If you find all this confusing, it is because I am truly confused.

Google the phrase "dry drunk" and read the article by an MD alcoholic abuse expert on George W Bush. An alcoholic who just stops drinking is not recovering from anything, he is just an alcoholic who doesn't drink. The arrogance, the denial, the grandiosity, the habitual lying (even when it isn't necessary) the self-pity, the blame game, refusal to accept responsibility....all part of the behavior of a dry drunk. Which many of us who have worked hard in recovery to alter ameliorate those behaviors ( a never-ending work in progress, BTW)recognized in the man from the first time he appeared in the public eye.

on all sides: if you had power to impose your own solution to the Middle East catastrophe , what would it be?