A reminder to those who think Israel is a unique oppressor: there are many countries like Israel.

The United States also has a founding mythology and state that cements the privilege of one ethnic group at the expense of others, one that uses military force to settle occupied lands that were previously inhabited by indigenous peoples, and one that uses rhetoric of self-defense and military aid to justify extreme levels of violence towards other groups. The state of Israel is not inherently unique.<br><br>Why is mainstream discussion of Israel so often more critical than mainstream discussion of the United States? Why, then, do we hear so much more about Israel than other countries with similar military dynamics? This is often because the politics surrounding the region is often based on self-interest (petroleum, real estate, etc.) and often based on assumptions about those with Middle Eastern backgrounds as people with inferior ways of life.<br><br>I’m not equating Israel to the United States, but I am saying that the same forces driving criticism of Israel should also drive equivalently critical discussion of the United States.<br><br>Edit: I should clarify that my intention is not to shift blame away from Israel but to highlight the double standard in public discourse surrounding other countries with similar situations.<br>Edit 2: For those who keep saying that the US is also widely criticized, consider the public perception of Israel compared to public perception of the US, and more importantly, consider the public’s concern for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict compared to concerns about other conflicts involving other countries in this post. <br><br>From Wikipedia: “In 2021, a Gallup survey of 31 European countries found that 4% of those polled saw Israel as the greatest threat to world peace, compared to 1% that saw the US that way, and 1% that saw the EU that way. Twenty-seven percent saw the US as the greatest threat, 8% saw China that way, and 1% saw Russia that way.”