From a cultural standpoint I think the successes of the Jewish people are clear. Every time a Jewish population is pushed or leaves a country they are always able to assimilate because there is a basic understanding that knowlege, learning leads to success. THis cultural attitude allows for any population to be successful in democratically run systems. Throw in the hard work aspect, and the outcomes are very good on the whole. The JDL and some other extreme groups exist, but they are small in comparison.

Just dont hear much about roving gangs of Jewish youngsters. That says something about family. The aforementioned cultural attitude can pull any group out of poverty. It has certainly also worked for Asian populations, in the US especially.

Guess I am biased... family, and the will to learn and better yourself to adapt to changes. Add a dash of hard work and determination and things just seem to work out, surprise, surprise.

I have always also been impressed with the humanity of the Jewish friends I have. Its funny because they always argue about how the Palestinians are treated so poorly and what Israel should do to help the Palestinians out of poverty, while the Arab world seems to use the Palestinians to create problems. Most Arab countries don't want anything to do with Palestinians in their own country.

There is also clearly a conflict between Israeli Jews and US Jews on many aspects of how Israel should conduct itself. There is an open dialogue (often very heated) and a real effort to try and solve problems. Gaza on the other hand now has Hamas to handle all their problems. Good luck with that.

The Jewish friends I have feel really bad for the Palestinians in Gaza. Hamas continues to send rockets into small villages in Israel, instead of worrying that the world is cutting them off. And the economics of this tiny piece of land could really work with the access to the sea. This could be a thriving place of commerce with a good port system. But no way. Kill any Jew you can.