Joe:

You reminded me of something else I've heard. That American Jews when visiting Palestinians are treated differently from Israelis. Palestinians think of 'Americans' in a different niche and from the folks I talked to (some time ago) they were startled and reminded their Palestinian acquaintances they were Jews the response being: "Oh, but you are Americans".

On the other hand, the first Palestinian I met, also some time ago, was when I cooked dinner for him as the guest of a family I was cooking for. I got some face time with him after dinner, and, being interested in Arabic music I was trying to get him to explain some songs but I made a point of 'dropping the hint' so he knew I was Jewish. He couldn't resist telling me the hadith of the final war between Muslims and Jews when guess who gets finished off. I knew him on a friendly basis for years after that, but I never forgot that the Palestinians not only feel displaced, but they feel like displaced masters with a destiny. Ah, the power of religion!