I Support Israel
I'm not going to even try to cover current events. For that, you might want to head over to Meryl's or Dave's places.
If you'd asked me a few years ago what I thought needed to happen in Israel, I'd hem and haw. I believed in a two-state solution, but didn't necessarily have a good roadmap. While I acknowledged the suffering of the Palestinians, I didn't blame Israel alone for their condition.
When Ariel Sharon began the disengagement, I did not think that Gaza would turn out well - but believed that it was a long term, win-win situation for Israel - either the Palestinians would take the opportunity presented to them to behave as a sovereign nation - a partner in a peaceable process - or they would behave in a fashion that no rational person - for very wide definitions of rational - would be able to rationalize as being a reasonable reaction to Israel's activities. My wife and I were in Israel last year, and I heard many different viewpoints on disengagement; I believe it was a good idea simply for the reason I stated above.
And now, the drama is unfolding. Israel is a sovereign state, under attack by terrorists operating across international borders, almost certainly receiving material and personnel support from other nation states. Israel's reaction has, so far, been entirely rational. Mine would not have been.
So I support Israel. If Israel chooses to take a page from the "prisoner's plan", and implement a one-state solution from the Jordan to the Mediterranean, I support that. If Israel chooses to defend itself by confronting Syria and Iran on their own soil, I support that. If the United States is drawn into this war, I support that.
Just to be clear on where I stand.
Am Yisrael Chai.
