Soccer Dad

Do I agree with that? NO. Thanks for asking.

Its the kind of mind that sees nothing wrong with comparing Israel to odious regimes that can't see the fallacy in the comparison. I'd say Israel's critics can't or won't bring themselves to evaluate Israel on its own merits. And if you have to drag Nazism and Apartheid into the discussion, you're not understanding Israel today. Such people need to deal with their own demons instead of taking it out on the Jewish State.

NormanF - The world would really like to go easy on Israel, in reality. It's the underhanded use of housing permits and basic services that warrants the comparison to South Africa. From what the world can see, Israel has no legitimate claim to East Jerusalem but uses methods that would be condemned if used by any country to encourage Jews to move there and to encourage Arabs to leave. I personally take great exception to the obstinate obsession with the phrase "Jewish State."

Xenophobia is a reviled character trait for any nation, not just Israel. If Israel is a Jewish State, where does that leave the non-Jewish minority who are legal citizens of Israel. Would any Jew not be insulted at living in a Gentile State or Aryan Nation? The devil is in the details and Israel seems to grasp at silly ones which will only turn the world against it.

The comparison to Nazi Germany comes both from the lack of respect for the value of human life which appears to be very virulent in Israeli cultural norms regarding the view of Arabs and from the use of Gaza as a dumping ground for undesirables where they are imprisoned in filth and squalor and cannot leave. It is, in the most basic sense of the word, a ghetto, complete with barbed-wire fences and sadistic guards who seem to feed on others' suffering.

It's not a desire to dislike Israel that motivates the world, but a deep wish to state our opposition to the inhumane treatment of the Palestinians and thereby cleanse ouselves of any guilt. We don't support Hamas, but we do think that two wrongs make a right either.

In the end, the biggest problem with Israel is that it is one of a number of states, including Iran, China, North Korea, Sudan, and others which are fervently nationalist and insist on unilateral action rather than building international consensus. Israel and Iran have a bad relationship because they're cut from the same mold but using different material. They share the same bizarre "the rules don't apply to us" mentality.

Samayavajra:
Jews lived in the Jewish Quarter in eastern Jerusalem uninterrupted for 3000 years, except from 1948-1967, after they were ethnically cleansed from there. The Jordanians blew up 57 of the 58 synagogues there. Jews have every right to Jerusalem.
Nazi Germany murdered tens of thousands of people per day, had killing fields, concentraion camps with gas chambers, people held in slavery and worked them to death, death marches, used babies for target practice, and did medical experiments on unwilling people who weren't given anesthesia. How does any of that compare to Israel?
If Israel is "fervently nationalist," why does it have a growing Arab minority (among others)? Shouldn't you call the Arab states "fervently nationalist," since they expelled their Jews, are expelling or persecuting their Christians, and it is illegal for a Jew to even visit most of them? Now that the Jews have fled, and the Christians are disappearing, the Sunnis and Shiites are starting to attack each other.
There are no Jewish guards in Gaza. There are border guards on the Israeli side of the border.
If you are so concerned about the Palestinians, why don't you complain about the treatment that they get in Arab countries? They are confined to ghettoes, get no jobs or education, can't vote, and have no rights.

Iran is fervently nationalist and Saudi Arabia is one of the most despicable nations on the planet. That is not the point, however, because they are not supposedly staunch allies of the U.S. with an indestructible bond. I'm not saying that Israel is as bad as those two, just that the comparisons are not baseless. I don't exist in some sort of Highlander goes to the Middle East, "there can be only one" world. I think it's intellectually dishonest to portray the situation as a choice between wanting to finish what Hitler started or supporting Israel no matter what they do without question. There's a middle point where you recognize that every nation's first allegiance is to its own interests and then use a little logic and common sense to see when they are full of you know what. It is not in the U.S. interest to let Israel drag us into another unnecessary war nor to shield Israel from war crimes prosecution and having to abide by international law. If we want China and Russia to put pressure on Iran and North Korea, we must do the same.

With regard to Jerusalem - this is not about the past, nor about who's old book says that an invisible man gave the land to them: It's about peace and living without constant fear. It's about the reality on the ground. When Israel declared itself a state, East Jerusalem was not part of that state. At that very moment, Israel relinquished any claim to East Jerusalem. Is the land really worth all the suffering and fear and bloodshed? Is it really?