First, let me say that what #Israel is doing in the #Gaza strip is wrong.

But if we truly want peace in the Middle East - not just a temporary ceasefire, but for generations to come - then we must understand the primary fear that drive so many Israeli Jews to support #Zionism . And that fear is that if they ever give up any amount of control, if they trust anyone else with guaranteeing their security, if they let go for even an instant - then they will be killed.

That fear is very real, and can we really argue that this fear is unwarranted?

It's not just the Holocaust and the many, many other pogroms in Europe - the Islamic world has had quite a few pogroms as well. In 1947, Egypt was home to 50,000 Jews. In the 1950s, about 300,000 Jews lived in Morocco. Now there are almost none. Zionism will have meaning for a large portion of Israeli Jews as long as Jews cannot feel truly safe elsewhere.

None of this excuses the actions of the Israeli government, but we need to understand the context in which we act if we ever want to find peace.