Bill H, Playing the anti-semite card with me, no matter how subtly (or unsubtly) you employ it, isn't going to work. And I would suggest that it is a counterproductive thing for anyone to do if done as recklessly as you have here. Remember the boy who cried wolf?

What makes you think I was talking specifically to you when I said what I did about friends?

I don't want to get into a debate about this with you. Suffice it to say, I hear a lot of fear in the words of Jewish people whom I know and care about, and some whom I don't know so well, but I care about anyway. This fear seems to be centered around the idea that another holocaust can happen to Jews throughout the world, and that unconditional support of Israel is the only way to prevent such a thing.

And I think, based on things I've heard people say, and things I've read, that a lot of Jews connect any unwillingness to support Israel with anti-semitism. This thread might have been started by a troll. On the other hand, this thread might have been started by someone who was genuinely afraid. Innocent Jews are being targeted with violence in many parts of the world today. I think a lot of people are quite rightly afraid.

However, I also think that most people who don't support Israel in the way it has been conducting itself, are not anti-semites, and their disagreements with Israel are based on humanitarian concerns.

So. Why did I post what I did? Because I think when people have fears that are at least partly based on actual circumstances, it's helpful to make sure that those fears are aleviated to whatever extent they have been generalized to circumstances that don't apply.

And I've already done plenty of reasearch on the subject of the middle east. You and I have very different understandings of the history and reality of the region. I'm not interested in trying to convince you to think differently than you already do. What you think and believe is up to you.