I'm fascinated that you're having trouble connecting the dots, to be honest, especially considering the current explosive wave of explicit antisemitism that's erupted all over the globe, in western democracies that claim tolerance and diversity as virtues. We need a defensible safe space, because we're the most scapegoated and demonized people in history, regardless of our attempts to keep our heads down and "do as the Romans". It doesn't matter how you define Judaism, it makes no difference to us whether you choose to see it as a religion or an ethnicity, we are one people, full of diversity in both genes and thought, united by our history and united by the world's ever-present hatred of us.

Why this strip of land? Because it's always been our strip of land, and even during the two thousand years of exile we have remained indigenous to it, and even maintained a constant presence.

One thing that needs to be understood is that our modern Jewish state is founded on principles of tolerance and freedom of religion. The Arabs and other ethnicities that live in Israel are given equal rights and are free to practice as they choose. That does not extend to the Palestinians, and that's not because of "apartheid" - which is a term I particularly detest because I grew up under actual apartheid and I know all about it. The Palestinians are not Israelis, they have never accepted Israel's legitimacy or Israel's laws, and we have no choice but to separate ourselves from them. This is not one country, it is not one state, and any cries of "apartheid" are disingenuous at best.

Just like describing our actions in Gaza right now as "collective punishment" are disingenous. That's not our intention, and it's outside of our control. We have to protect our people, and Hamas has done everything in its power to make it look like we're the villain. Not only by over-counting casualties, but by counting their operatives as civilians, by forcing the Palestinians to remain in danger, by shooting them themselves and blaming us.

I will say this, though - what's happening right now is awful for both sides, and although the rest of the world doesn't understand what's going on, we over here do; right now there's a unifying force for both the non-Jihadist Palestinians and the Israeli population (Jew and Arab alike), and that's the need to free the Palestinians from Hamas. There are signs that once this horror show is over, we may actually be able to move forward with the Gazan people for the first time since the Arab world decided to subjugate them and use them as pawns for their attempted genocide.

Let's all pray for a real miracle - for real peace - and an opportunity for some healing for all of us.