There is a real comfort with the position of the victim, which can either result in true empathy or deep paranoia.

Sometimes it seems like America is the Christian and Israel is the little Jew they love in this fetishistic way. Like, you're my little sister and I'll kick anyone's ass that messes with you. But when we're alone and no one's looking I'll harass you.

So much of the United State's political relationship with Israel is based on culture. Israel is the only Westernized culture in the region and the Middle Eastern countries bordering Israel are Arab, which is a totally different society. Even though Israel doesn't exactly feel like the United States, by comparison to its neighbors it's very Western.

I said to my parents that I don't even know if there should be an Israel. And they were just so upset and hurt.

I'm like a bit of a feminist, I have kinds of highly political dreams. I'm a dreamer about taking on the patriarchy and all that kinda stuff. So I actually have the secret belief that there are enough people who would consider themselves quote-unquote "other" to support my particular taste.

One of the things that feels so challenging is how questioning Israel and the idea of a Jewish state somehow opens the door for other sorts of questions - and wounds.

It's interesting to think about the history of Israel in relation to the history of the U.S.. There were Native Americans living here that U.S. settlers totally displaced, and that narrative is not connected with the Isreal-Palestinian struggle at all.