Logic: I think the main reason why most Moslems do not distance themselves from their fanatical brethren is that they live in countries where "agreeing to disagree" is not part of the social fabric, as it is in those parts of the world which inherited the European Enlightenment. Europe's colonising history has forced the Arab/Moslem world into a subordinate position which leads directly to a fortress mentality, in which dissident opinion is seen as dangerous to the common weal. In some respects Israel shares this mentality -- and also not without reason.

This does not explain the attitude of the left. You would think that they would have more sympathy with a slightly socialist Israel than with theocratic dictatorships with a landed upper class and poor attitudes towards women. Perhaps they just automatically oppose anyone that the US supports.

I think that some of them have simply boxed themselves in with a self hate of their own societies and that to examine new facts might leave naked with their opinions.

Logic: There is Left and there is Left. I have long been associated with this broad current, but I abhor the brutal treatment of women in many Moslem-ruled countries as well as the primitive feudal dictatorships which rule those countries. I also have great sympathy for Israel, though I believe many of its policies and attitudes are short-sighted and make it more, not less vulnerable to attack. Of course it has a right and a duty to defend itself -- but it's a question of HOW.

The first thing Israelis need to understand (many already do) is the main source of Palestinian Arab resentment -- land dispossession. Of course the Palestinians need to understand a few things about the Israelis too!

There are some on the Left, though, who do see such matters in primitive black-and-white terms, and it is unfortunate that these people seem to get the most publicity. More colourful, I suppose.

There was land dispossession on both sides. The Palestinians (and the Left) need to see that too. There is also the issue of the Islamic world wanting everyone to be Muslims. A Jewish western state in the middle of what they see as their territory is an affront to them. The Israelis are only just starting to see that. But then on the positive side there is the half of Israel who stem from Arab countries. They are growing in influence, (there are many Arab Jews) and this is a force for understanding.

The Jews were probably the worst victims of dispossession: loss of land and property, and worst of all, the greatest loss of life to befall almost any one group in history. If this were some kind of ghastly game, victims vs. victims, the Palestinian Arabs would lose hands down. But precisely because of geography, they cannot be expected to feel as strongly about Jewish dispossession as do the Jews themselves. For them, the loss of their land, homes etc. is of far greater moment. The reasons why Jews have taken over their territory is of almost no importance to them. This helps explain why, for instance, a bizarre tissue of lies such as "The Protocols" can have such explanatory force for them.

Logic, don't know why you call yourself Logic, because you fail to take lessons from history.

1. First. Believing that a large nation like Iran should be made a mess of like the Americans are doing with Iraq, just because they believe in Sharia Law, does not sound very logical to me. Or maybe you have just got a set on the present leader.

2. Also your concept of the Promised Land seems a bit hazy. You did not state that that the Promised Land was God's promise in the Old Testament to His Chosen People that they could destroy the occupants of the Promised Land because they were unbelievers.

3. Although the young Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount spoke about loving your enemy, or having respect for unbelievers, the Christian Church finally gave into the greed for the strong to slaughter and conquer in the name of a classical elite, eventually mostly white. Could recommend you do a study of the CFR, Council of Foreign Relations, which plainly states how a newer classical Anglophilic elite was originally the love-child of the ageing Cecil Rhodes, some say also the original Zionist.

Must say personally the way the world is going, would tend more to believe in Socrates, who gave the original quotation - Out with the Gods and in with the Good