Mariya, perhaps I should clarify? I am not against Israel, in fact I was raised within a denomination that was very much for Israel. Recently as I've engaged here in TAW and explored more research it's become pretty clear to me that the Israeli government is just as complicit as Palestine when it comes to crimes and human rights violations, but I think sadly that because the U.S. has typically favored Israel they don't see repercussions the same way that some Arab states would if the same charges were leveled against them.
I support a two-state solution, I support peace in the Middle East. I believe there are some who consider themselves "zionists" but take a much more holistic approach to the political issues and desire peace in the Middle East as well and I would align with them. My issue, my disdain, for zionism arises from the more fundamentalist extremist evangelicals (think John Hagee, Hal Lindsey, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Chuck Missler, etc) who essentially view Palestinian/Muslim rights as subordinate to those of the Jews, and even look at the Jews themselves as pawns in their eschatological schemes, it really dehumanizes both groups. In fact, some evangelical communities even "adopt" and fund illegal Jewish settlements in the Palestinian occupied territories, all because they think it will accelerate their understanding of the end of the world.
As Christians I think we have just as much of an obligation to stand for justice for the Palestinians as we do justice for the Israelis, we have Christian brethren on both sides of the barrier.
I apologize, my initial statement in my prior post was a bit daft and a sweeping generalization. I hope this presents my position a bit more rationally.
Oh and I agree with gurney, that picture is beautiful. The Middle East does indeed produce some fine products, especially with textiles.
