I never said you were racist. I said "You obviously harbor some deep Islamophobic sentiments"... which you just proved by listing all the things you fear about Islam.

Blaming solely Islam (or Palestinians ) for all the world's violence is absurd. As I've stated before, all religions have their fanatics and their lunatics. All have justified violence in their names. I personally think religion in general is one of the greatest barriers to peace, because it has historically been used cynically by those in power to divide/conquer, justify atrocities, etc.

The fact that the Bible can be merely 'rewritten' to explain away all of Christianity's sins, but the Quran cannot is.... an interesting idea I must admit. Either you're admitting all religion and scripture are ultimately man-made (which I believe as an atheist) and can thus be revised by man..... or Islam is somehow more legitimate because they haven't changed their book to adjust to the whims of politics and government.

Ultimately, I think it is you that is falling into the lesser-evilism trap which I explain in my article:

https://pontifico.medium.com/apologists-and-abolitionists-a74b847cce0a

This conflict ultimately is not about Israel vs. Hamas or Jews vs. Muslims. It is about US Imperial conquest, its support for a regional power that is a mutually-beneficial arrangement (for now) and profits for the ruling class. Both 'sides' (Palestinians and Israelis) are pawns in this. Americans too, because we foot the bill for a significant amount of Israel's weaponry (about 3-4 billion/yr)

This is one major reason why I highlight Israel - because as an American taxpayer, I am directly contributing to Israel's military actions. My tax dollars aren't paying to drive Christians from their homes (that I'm aware of), so there's not much I can do about that. But.. I can protest US involvement in this conflict.

" Israel has every right to pound them into hell"... Sure they can do that and they are. But that does nothing to solve the root issues of this conflict, and will just make the situation worse for them in the long run. Public opinion is already turning sharply against them. Not because people love Hamas, but because Israel is actually starting to seem like the 'greater evil' to a lot of people at this point... and whether you agree it's evil or just 'collateral damage', it's something Americans are paying for with their tax dollars, so a lot of us are starting to wonder if this is actually a good investment.

Israel is acting recklessly with the weapons the US is providing. Just in the past few days, They bombed and killed Western humanitarian workers and bombed the Iranian embassy in Damscus, which risks setting off a much wider conflict. I think it's the responsible thing to do as a citizen in the country arming another that's acting increasingly deranged and mad to question if maybe continuing to do so is a good idea. So that's why I 'highlight Israel'

Sure, it would be wonderful and ideal if Hamas released the hostages. I'm all for that. Here, I'll say it right now: Hamas - release the hostages!

However... that does nothing to address the fundamental root causes of this conflict, or the role of western imperialism and expansionism in the region in exacerbating the violence.

You're doing the equivalent of demanding that the rebelling slaves stop killing plantation owners. Sure, that would be ideal. But it does nothing to address the fundamental root issue: The institution of slavery - which I explain in my article.

You say: "no other culture has instruction to wage war, to conquer lands...".... Have you heard of this country called the United States of America? It wages a lot of war, and has conquered land. I nearly fell out of my chair laughing at the suggestion that no other culture wages wars or conquers lands. Are you familiar with capitalism? Imperialism? It represents an entire ideology of expanding markets, expanding territory, using violence when necessary to do so. And the US does just that in spades.

So, to pin all the blame of violence in the world solely on Muslims is ridiculous. And I don't say that to defend the tenets of the Muslim faith. I think all religion has aspects that are ridiculous - not just Islam. For example, Jews and Christians also engage in ritualistic mutilation of male genitalia (circumcision).

"Your support of Palestinians is direct support of Hamas policy. You are partly responsible for the suffering currently underway in Gaza."

Ah yes, the lesser-evilism trap. I address this in my article too. You're doing the same thing slavery apologists did in the 1800s in the US: Accusing abolitionists of 'defending' or 'supporting' the violence of rebelling slaves to smear them in an effort to protect the slavery you defend.