'Israelity Bites' Back on JBlog

Buzz off?? Yo? No, Señor
Dialogue can work wonders. After the sudden and pre-emptive disappearance of blog postings, a webmaster at the Israel Forum replied and then reinstated Israelity Bites on JBlog Central, the mosaic of 400+ Jewish and Israeli blogs in English. Note that most are decidedly conservative.

His message?

"it's a little difficult to distinguish between certain far-Left views and plain old anti-Israeli, anti-American, and possibly anti-Semitic views. Put simply, I don't mind giving a platform to Leftist blogs/bloggers with whom I disagree vehemently on the issues, but I do mind giving a platform to anti-Israel, anti-American, or anti-Semitic blogs."

Ouch. My sometimes biting commentary was misunderstood, obviously. Izzy Bee is not anti-anything here in the Land of Milk and Honey except hypocrisy, despicable suicide bombers, and the hideous separation fence that instills hatred and hardship on the have-nots. Israelis live in a first world country built smack dab in the Middle East, one of the world's hottest and holiest places. We must come to grips with the myriad contradictions of life in a young Jewish state which mingles outlandish customs from all over the diaspora. Many residents seem to exist inside a bubble that distorts their view of all outsiders.

What I value is peaceful coexistence, and I find humor a way to deal with the fear and fatigue in working towards this. I cannot ignore the Palestinians and Israeli Arabs in our midst, either. Frequently, I am called a naive peacenik, but this is the first time someone questioned my patriotism or hinted that I am an anti-Semite.

Why not join the fray and JBlog Me?