Regarding Abby Martin: there's so much that's factually incorrect I would need to write volumes, and most of what I have to say has already been written and is freely available if you're interested in actually reading it.

From my personal experience, I have lived in Israel for twelve years, including some time spent living with Palestinians, and I spent six years serving in the armed forces. I know first-hand just how miserable the Palestinians' lives are, and I also know just who is responsible for that. The Israelis in general want peace, Palestinians who haven't succumbed to brainwashing and want peace are unable to speak out without heavy punishment by the Hamas (beheadings, lynchings and the like), and the Israeli government has for decades been unable to navigate the complexities of defending its population from terrorism without hurting the Palestinians - for which the Hamas have successfully created a catch-22 wherein Israel simply cannot win in the war of public opinion.

The saddest part, in my opinion, is that the more polarized the responses of those who aren't involved, whether it's the "pro-Palestinian" camp or the "Israel can do no wrong" camp, the worse life gets for the Palestinians. The Hamas is fueled by the sympathetic response to its propaganda and blatant lies (see "Pallywood"), and they're funded by other Arab states who have a vested interest in occupying Israel with a weaponized people without getting their own hands dirty.

The irony is that none of the pro-Palestinian narrative is actually serving the Palestinians.

At the same time, the Israelis need to learn how to protect themselves while proactively finding solutions to the Palestinians' problems (not that I'm sure there are real solutions, but we should at least be thinking about it).

There are terrible human beings on both sides of the borders (but if you buy into the propaganda, you wouldn't agree that there are legitimate borders or that the Palestinians have any autonomy).

I'd like to think those terrible humans are minorities on both sides, I can vouch for the fact that most Israelis don’t like what the settlers are doing or the fact that the government has given them full support over the years in a particularly anti-democratic way.

Israelis would feel more confident voting for peacemakers if they weren't constantly under attack. I would say the same of the Palestinians, except that they're run by a terrorist regime and they really don't have voices.

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Criticizing Israel is fine, when accompanied by real criticism of Hamas and other terrorist organizations. Demonizing Israelis is a morally bankrupt activity that continues a long tradition of antisemitism, especially when only listening to one-sided rants without verifying facts.

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Well done, now I've written out a whole long thing just trying to avoid writing out a whole long thing and potentially getting dragged into another internet debate with people who've already made up their minds anyway... hope you've found something useful in here!