I will not uncritically defend either side in this conflict.  Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it.

Palestinians farming the rocky soil near Efrata, in the West Bank

This, it seems to me, is a legitimate criticism of Israeli treatment of Palestinians.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/383670/proxy-punishment-west-bank-jason-lee-steorts

(I sometimes wonder whether the biblical descriptions of Palestine as a “land flowing with milk and honey” were written by an ancient real estate agent.)

And this is simply depraved.  It’s utterly indefensible.  (Thanks to Jabra Ghneim for bringing it to my attention.)

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/gaza-graveyard-sing-joyful-israeli-youths

Daniel C. Peterson, professor of Islamic studies and Arabic at BYU, is editor-in-chief of the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative, founder of MormonScholarsTestify.org, chairman of ”Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture” and a blogger for Patheos. His views do not necessarily represent those of BYU.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/2014/07/israel-is-scarcely-without-fault.html