Alex,

Thank you for returning civility to this discussion.

In looking back over the postings, I would like to call your attention to one of your statements:

"Unfortunately modern Israel has shown that even the world's most horribly persecuted underdog ethnic group can become a brutal oppressor in one short generation."

I must give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you are not anti-Semitic. However, your statement equates the actions of an entire world-wide Jewish community with those of one state. As a Christian, I'm sure you would not want to be tarred with every brutality committed in the name of Christianity. Many Jews around the world, and many Jews within Israel, work hard for peace and social justice every day. Your statement was, whether intentional or not, hate-mongering and counter-productive to finding a solution.

Regarding the woman in your church that you wrote about. Yes, some Arabs were forced from their homes in 1948. Many more left at the encouragement of the surrounding Arab countries who pledged to "drive the Jews into the sea." Many more than that stayed in Israel. While their lives in Israel are not perfect, they enjoy greater rights and freedoms, and in most cases, prosperity, than the citizens of any Arab country in the Middle East.

Furthermore, it's not as well publicized as the plight of the Palestinian refugees, but you should also be aware that the number of persecuted Jewish refugees that were forced out of the various Arab countries after 1948 far exceeds the number of Palestinians forced out of Israel. The difference is that Israel accepted all of the Jewish refugees as citizens while the Arab countries forced the Arab refugees into squalor as a political tactic.

By the way, Ariel Sharon's Likud political base in Israel is largely made up of the Jews, and their descendants, who came from the Arab countries allied with the religious right wing. In other words, people who suffered at the hands of the Arab regimes.