-Israel is not "worse" than other states, it is, quite -simply, just as bad - no more, no less. If Egypt -engages - as Egypt does - in internal repression Cairo -should be condemned. The same is true of Tel Aviv. I -would hope this would not be a contentious point.
The principle is not contentious, but the facts are. Israel is better than most states in the region in some areas, namely elections. Not only do Israeli muslims get to vote in elections where they live within pre-1967 borders, but the reason Hamas' election victory is such a phenomena is that other governments in the region other than Iran have blocked democratic election by Islamicists.
Israel is worse than some of course in occupying another people's land, but Iran, Turkey and Iraq have all jointly sat on Kurdish areas for years while repressing self-determination. So the issue on debate over Israel is always why does the discussion on it -- pro and con -- have a different energy and tone than on other countries will comparable characteristics and often worse actions.
Part of it is the US relationship with Israel, part of it is anti-semitism no doubt, part of it is realpolitick that Israel has no oil, and so on.
My attitude on Israel is that US policy in support of its repression stinks and we should force Israel to end its occupation immediately on threat of withholding our veto at the Security Council. Israel would fold the next day upon such a threat. But that said, I find all the Zionism=Racism style rhetoric to reflect an antisemitism that treats Israeli nationalism as completely different from other kinds of nationalism. In a sense, all nationalism is a form of racism, but then that should be the issue, not Israel specifically.
Nathan Newman