the real question to ask is "are arabs treated with the same regard as israelis, or are they a sort of second class citizen"?

and in an expansive response to this, and this goes not only for israel, but also iran, and iraq too for that matter---this is a different part of the world. judging any of them strictly by western first world standards is not only unfair but also rooted in a mentality tinged by the colonial.

the true progressive standard "are they doing better than they were on these issues a decade prior?" is a better means of judging non-European nations on things like human rights and citizen freedoms. is that the case for israel? i don't know enough to say myself, an israeli would have to respond to that.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5740542&forum_id=2\u0026mark_id=5310486#49032661)