And yet, I find myself doing it so often. Two basic reasons for this. First, because unfortunately Israel keeps doing things that aren't so great and need nuanced (some would say overly complicated) explanations that too often take me down roads I don't like traveling. Second (and the the really compelling reason, for me anyway) is that so many people, especially on the left, seem to take a special amount of joy in pointing out that Israel does bad things.
I know Israel does things that are morally questionable. I recognize that there are many legitimate reasons for people to be angry with certain policies or policy outcomes. Look, I'm a peacenik. If I were living in Israel (which I am currently not) then I'd have been out there with these folks. But how come lefty blogs, including The Left Coaster, Daily Kos and others love to point out when Israel screws up (and that is what the Rafah incident is looking like, a big giant screw-up).
No doubt, some will say that the fact that the United States gives Israel $3 billion in aid each year demands that we pay closer attention to Israel. Ok, fine. I accept that. But let's also start paying as close attention to Egpyt (which comes in second in US aid with $2 billion). When was the last time any left wing blog talked about human rights abuses in Egypt? Is that because Egypt has no human rights abuses? Unlikely.
So, why is it that so many blogs and blog readers for that matter make a special case out of Israel? I'd love a genuine answer to this question.
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