It's sad how Israel is judged as an "apartheid" state while there are far worse nations that treat their political opponents much more cruelly, such as in various African and southeast Asian nations. Israel has the right to exist, even though it may seem like an anomaly in the Middle East. It's rather hard to understand why the Arabs can't take the rest of the Middle East and leave Israel be, since it is probably big enough for both. Hence, Israel is neither occupation nor apartheid, and it has been clearly stated what the land is in the Jewish bible, whereas the Quran has no mention of neither Israel nor Jerusalem to make their settlements. Israel promotes more religious freedom than its Arab neighbors do, yet it tends to get outcast as an apartheid/occupied land of Palestine--there never was a recognized Palestinian state, even before Israel gained its independence almost sixty years ago, as it had previously been occupied by the British Ottoman empire.The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), among other sources, understands Israel's commitment to peace and peacekeeping. The wall to the Palestinians can go down as long as Israel is recognized as a democratic state, not apartheid. Unfortunately, the mainstream media, among other news sources, tends to take Israel out of context, even in videos that most likely give one-sided arguments. Thus, the culture divides in Israel are probably what sparks a lot of misconceptions, or that peace talks haven't been addressed well enough in the Israeli/Palestinian governments, in which there can be a discrepancy between a nation's people and a nation's leadership that gets confused to determine what is a democracy and what is apartheid. Most of the US doesn't like the leadership of Bush, most of Iran doesn't like the leadership of Ahmedinijad and many Israelis don't necessarily like the leadership of Olmert, so it's best not to judge a whole nation as an oppressed state. Peace is possible as long as we share similar goals that can go hand-in-hand, and which are compatible with peace agreements between two sides.

Nick Rosen

Great Falls, VA