"Wright said (with code words) that
Israel terrorizes Palestinians. I don't agree with that at all, do you? When
you hear that doesn't it sound slightly anti-semitic? "

No. Claiming that jews are an inferior race is anti-semitic. Saying that the Israeli state is abusive and "terrorizing" in its relationship towards Palestinians is a legitimate political opinion.

We're talking about two groups of people, the Israelis and the Palestinians, who both lay claim to the same territories and neither of whom seems interested in compromise and co-existence. The Israelis happen to be militarily stonger (the Palestinians have mostly thrown rocks or blown themselves up) and have stronger allies in the western world.

There have been reports, from retired israeli military officers no less, that many israeli soldiers abuse their positions to harrass and terrorize palestinian civilians. Even in Israel you can find Israelis who claim that Israeli authorities are "terrorizing" the Palestinian population. Would you label them anti-semites as well?

It's a political opinion, not a damn hate crime.

I happened to see a profile of McCain's pastor over the weekend.  No wonder McCain isn't pressing the pastor issue.  What a piece of work this guy is! 

What is it with these pastors and their hatefully worded rhetoric?

It would be better not to "use" people at all, especially without their permission. As intelligent voices pointed out again and again at the eve of the war, the only Iraqis who wanted a war were Saddam's ex-cronies and other shady, international criminals like Ahmed Chalabi.

Agreed.  But my time machine no longer works.  How do we unring a bell?  The question is what to do going forward in Iraq.  If you quoted my entire passage you would have noted that I also wrote: "We broke their country with our stupid arrogance we have a moral obligation to try to make the place better than we found it. It is up to our leaders (and our citizens) not to make the same mistake again."

No. Claiming that jews are an inferior race is anti-semitic. Saying that the Israeli state is abusive and "terrorizing" in its relationship towards Palestinians is a legitimate political opinion.

I wish it were that simple Knut but the fact of the matter is (in the United States) many people who speak against Israel do so with an Anti-Semitic Agenda.  Many of these people believe that Israel should not exist.  That is certainly the case with Louis Farrakhan -- who Wright has pointed to as a friend.  I think Wright was using code words.  My read of his statements.  At the very least its a completely false view of the situation.  It also feeds the myth that 9/11 happened because of US support for Israel.  Much of the fuel for these sentiments is anti-semitism.

We're talking about two groups of people, the Israelis and the Palestinians, who both lay claim to the same territories and neither of whom seems interested in compromise and co-existence. The Israelis happen to be militarily stonger (the Palestinians have mostly thrown rocks or blown themselves up) and have stronger allies in the western world.

Israel has been willing, and has shown a willingness to compromise.  For most of its existance the PLO has sought the eradication of the State of Israel.  Is that a reasonable position?  I stated that criticism of Israeli policy is fine -- but I don't believe Israel has "terrorized" the Palestinian people in the way the PLO has terrorized Israel.  Most Israeli actions against Palestinians have been a re-action.

There have been reports, from retired israeli military officers no less, that many israeli soldiers abuse their positions to harrass and terrorize palestinian civilians. Even in Israel you can find Israelis who claim that Israeli authorities are "terrorizing" the Palestinian population. Would you label them anti-semites as well? 

No, but you are trying to use an apple to define the orange in my orignial post.  As I said above (and in the original post), criticism of Israeli policy is fine.  Criticism of the Israeli military is fine.  But Wright did not make the point you are making.  He did not look to specific instances.  He made a sweeping general statement.  When you define Israeli policy as "state sponsored terrorism" you are not speaking to specifics.  You are defining Israeli policy as Terrorism.  And that definition often carries a palpable undercurrent of anti-semitism.

I'm an American of Chinese origin. The vast majority of people in China are Chinese. I personally believe that China has no legitimate right to govern Tibet*. Does that make me a person who hates my own race? Am I anti-Chinese? What BS,

Joe:

Thats not even remotely the same point or situation.  I fail to see the comperable analogy.  Would you like to flesh out the connection to your post and my statements because I see no corrollary to that and my comment that defining Israel's policies as "State Sponsered Terroism" seems somewhat anti-semitic.