[Rembrandt_fan]

You wrote, "US aid to Israel is laudable, but that alone does not erase the long and very ugly history of anti-Semitism."

It isn't intended to. Insofar as I know, the aid given to Israel is not meant as recompense for ages-old antisemitism.

Christian antisemitism has always baffled me, but even so, as a non-Jewish, Christian American, I feel no guilt whatsoever and no need to atone for the bigotry of others. The God I worship was a Jewish carpenter. He proclaimed His Jewishness often, loudly, and succinctly. While on this earth, He was addressed as 'Rabbi' by his disciples. As an individual, I support Israel partly because I think He wants me to, partly because I think the Jewish people are deserving of a homeland safe from persecution, and partly because Israel is one of the few allies we can count upon in an altogether hostile world. I can't presume to speak for my government, but I think implying the US is more or less paying reparations is way off the mark.

[zimdog]

Insofar as I know, the aid given to Israel is not meant as recompense for ages-old antisemitism.

I did not mean to suggest that that was the intention. I only meant to point out that the fact that we have given Israel billions of dollars in aid over the past 60 years does not mean -- as the original poster came close to suggesting -- that 1600 years of Christian anti-Semitism is no longer a fact.

I can't presume to speak for my government, but I think implying the US is more or less paying reparations is way off the mark.

That is not what I meant to imply. Sorry for the confusion.