'He's family, but I want to slash his throat and drink his blood.'

Israel frees nuclear whistleblower

Gee, if your own uncle feels that way about you, I'd definitely want to leave the country, wouldn't you?

I don't know enough about this story to really sit in judgement, but that's a rather scary quote.

Despite the fact that I'm very pro-Jewish, I have some issues with Israel, especially in their treatment of the Palestinians. It's a place of such contradictions, where Jews, Muslims, and Christians of all bits of the political spectrum live together and apart. Frothing radicals, religious and secular, exist there. From an American point of view, it seems that some of the government's actions are downright draconic. But some feel it's the only way for a small country to survive, especially given the feelings many Arab countriess have for their neighbour.

I have a minor in Judaic studies, have taken classes on the Arab-Israeli conflict, and really can't say I understand Israel at all. Maybe if I lived there, I'd understand more, but frankly, I don't think I'd want to live there, but I've wanted to visit, but not for now at a time when walking through a marketplace or taking a bus could end the visit permanently.

I used to talk with a Palenstinian who owned a gas station near my house downtown and he mourned the loss of the Jerusalem he had known, where he'd attend seders at Jewish friends' homes, had friends from all faiths and no real fear of anything.

I just wish the hate could recede. I remember the situation when I was younger, the terrorism, the strained relations. Then it seemed there was hope. Now it's all been dashed again. I wish stability for the Middle East, but I don't expect it in my lifetime.