h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I thought Israel was supposed to be an Holy Place. Seems to me that these days its more of a bun fight!!
Where are the references to dare I say it ----Christianity?
by the way good luck with the exams.

Any country is too complex to be accurately described in one short (or even long) paragraph. And given its long, complicated history; its relationship to three very widespread religions (which directly influenced much of Western culture); the present struggles with most of the region; the improbable outcomes of many of its wars;
and the extreme diversity of the local population, Israel is WAY too complex to be accurately described even in several paragraphs.

Nevertheless, this article does summarize, in typical Guide (over)simplification, many of the social struggles in Israel today. While mostly correct, the article misidentifies the moderate group. There is a whole group who are Orthodox (meaning that they strictly follow all the rules of Judaism) and yet modern, living in the secular world. In Amercian the group with this philosophy is called Modern Orthodox. In Israel, they are Dati Leumi, or Religious National.

A more balanced view is provided in the other article on Israel, at http://www.h2g2.com/A60841. I'm almost tempted to write a third, objective, accurate one, but it would probably be way too long, especially relative to the entry for Earth. And it would fit the spirit of the Guide.

You should not get the impression that all is doom and gloom in Israel. There are many positive aspects to the country.

Israelis are very proud of advances made in many fields over such a short history - health, technology, agriculture - to name but a few. And everybody benefits, regardless of religeon or degree of belief.

Hate is certainly not as widespread as the author of the article would have you believe. True, there is friction between certain groups, on occasion, but this should not be interpreted as general animosity. It is no worse than the friction between ethnic groups in other parts of the world (Balkans, N.Ireland, to name but 2).

I would also like to redress the bad impression given of the "orthodox" who do not have "hate" as their middle name, as the article implies - rather the opposite. A lot of misunderstanding is going on here (on both sides).

With regard to Christianity, it is represented by several factions with a rich history in the country - there are Christian Arabs, Greek Orthodox, Catholic, etc.

It's true, Israelis on the whole are a cocky and impatient lot, but they (we) have their good points.