Why I support Israel.

The other day I was asked a deeply relevant question regarding why I chose to stick my neck out in support of Israel the last couple of weeks. It's worth addressing.

This is multifaceted.

First and foremost, there are at least three people who I love who live in Israel. There are several more who I at least like and would be heartbroken to find out that they've been harmed or killed by a rocket. That's not to say that I don't know Muslims who I love and deeply care about - I do. I can't honestly say that I know anybody who lives in the Palestinian territory or has ever lived there. What I can't deny is that there's a personal stake in Israel not losing this fight.

Beyond that is the ethical issue. Even if I knew nobody in Israel, I'm sure that I'd still be taking my stance. When there's one liberal democracy in the region and it's surrounded by theocracies, I'll support the liberal democracy. When one side is spending a hundred times more per missile meant only for defense than the other side is spending on rockets meant only for offense, I'll defend the defensive side. We're presented with a Jewish state with Arabs on her Supreme Court and an Arab territory that will murder a Jew who happens to enter its territory. Which side should I take? One side kills civilians accidentally and the other has the goal of killing as many civilians as possible. Which side should I take?

Finally, yes, I feel compelled to attack stupidity. Israel is not an apartheid state. Just stop it. The number of deaths on each side isn't a measure of ethics to a person with a functioning brain. Yes, Hamas uses human shields and they've been out and proud about it for years. Stop pretending that this isn't a fact. You can't tell people that you don't care about Hamas in your commentary about the conflict. Hamas is the fucking conflict you dolt.

I make this an issue for the same reason that I defend everything that I can find which I deem to be right whilst being clearly unpopular. This needs to be a priority for anyone with a moral compass.