(quote)
"Well, I see what you are saying, but I think you are still drastically over-estimating the "peaceful" nature of Christianity compared to Islam or Judaism. ...."

Hold it right there. I specifically said *teachings* twice now didn't I ? The "nature of Christianity" as a religious identity , with all of it's divisions in Protestantism alone, is as subject to the failings of the humans that carry them forward as any religious group.
No argument "ever" on that point.
Now ,within the context Isreali/Palestinian conflict ,where the Christian inhabitants of their measure of "The Holy Land" have been made irrelvent and made to stay out of the dispute , one would want to know to what degree the "peaceful nature of Christianity" is even allowed to play a part. You didn't address that part.

(quote)
"There are many Jewish religious writings of peace and non-violence"

Ofcourse there would be only where are they in "practice".
As I said earlier it is a fair point to suggest an alternative approach seeing as how the Hebrew *teachings* have yet to produce . Need I remind you that the military hero, Yitzhak Rabin , who was leaning toward just that expression of the Isreali's was ruthlessly "asasinated" by a young right-wing Isreali student and Netanyahu ,whom fed upon this right-wing tribal fundamentalism in his opposing campaign and won election as Primje Minister; his opponent now murdered by an Isreali hand.

(quote)
"I think the actions of Israel have little to do with Jewish culture.."

This really is a gross oxymoron of a statement. Isreal was created to be "the" center of all that "is" Jewish culture of Jewish identity , its very Fountainhead "especially" expressed in the self-determination of sel;-government , and to try and segregate Isreali politic as somehow out of the loop of Isreali culture ,whom daily have no problem quoting the "Mosaic Law" in the Knesset and entertain the dream of one day reserrecting the Temple of Solomon, is hopelessly disingenuous to even attempt on your part.

(quote)
"It's not fair, I don't think, to blame their religions for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict..."

Well ,seeing as how their espective eligions are at the very heart and hearth and core of their "tribal identiies" and is used to justify each of their methods of addressing their side of the struggle I fail to see why you believe it "unfair". You're going to have to buttress this point of yours better. They don't separate out their religious tribal idnetities from their political policies of "self-determination" so one may well ask how you come to this conclusion. Fair enough?

(quote)
" You might as well blame Christianity -- if the Jews hadn't suffered centuries of Christian oppression in Europe, Hitler would have never been able to use them so successfully as a scapegoat,..."

Well if they ,at the hands of disparate warring regimes "professing" variations of adherence to Christian doctrine, were so thoroughly oppressed fro centuries ,one woders how they could've ever arisen to such prominence as to be "able" to be made a scapegoat of. How "European" culture mishandled the expression of their fractured Christianity for centuries speaks to how any religious culture can be "corrupted" for "political ends".

(quote)
" ...and the Zionist "terrorists" in Palestine would never have been able to get the support they needed from the west to sieze land for a Jewish state."

Well ,whom set the stage in that area really does directly fall upon the British Empire's shenanigans in the name of their brand of British State Chrisitianity. ;-)