Exceptionalism Means Shooting An American Citizen Four Times In The Head And Having Our Representatives Blame The Victim

"They hate us because we are free. And they are not."
Remember that li'l piece o'wisdom from George W? The "terrorists" hate us because they are not free. And, given what Israel is doing in Gaza, he's right, the Palestinians are not free. What's more, they have no recourse. The UN has sixty-five resolutions against Israel, many of them regarding it's treatment of Palestinians. That doesn't include the numerous ones against Israel vetoed by the US in the UNSC. So, if you are a Palestinian, your land is being stolen, your livelihood, your olive groves being destroyed and you can do nothing about it, or your family and friends are suffering, and you can do nothing about, what recourse do you have?
As Americans, we are taught, as Christians, as progressives, as citizens of the Earth to try and help those people who are suffering. Many people who have not sold their soul to a belief system or have been brainwashed by a media more intent on drumming up support for a rating feeding war than offering an objective view, see the people of Gaza suffering, and wish to help those people. Guess what? You are not free to do that either. And, if as an American, you are shot four times in the head trying to bring some good old fashioned justice to an unjust situation, it's your fault if our "greatest ally" murders you in cold blood. You wouldn't say that it's a soldiers fault, when, in the service of the corpocracy, he is killed by the enemy. Many people now serving in overseas wars are mistakenly believing that the people they are fighting in Iraq, or Afghanistan are the ones responsible for the attacks of 9/11. And if Harry Reid told voters that it's a soldier's fault he died because he joined the Army, the corporate media and right wing would be all over him like the IDF on an unarmed relief flotilla.
And why are the people of Gaza suffering? Because in the 2006 Palestinian parliament elections, Hamas won a majority of seats. Democracy in action, right? Well, it seems the US and Israel backed Fatah (which is probably why Fatah lost;  US citizens are the only ones who don't mind their politicians being owned by foreign governments), so in retaliation for the Palestinians exercising the "freedom" to vote as they saw fit, the Gaza Blockade began.
Many people have made comparisons to the Gaza population and the treatment of the Jewish people under the Nazi regime. There is a slight difference. What happened in the ghettos of Warsaw and other European countries under the Hitler regime was not funded by the US government. It was not condoned by our politicians.
In the end, when you treat fellow human beings as animals, with less rights than you have, you cannot expect them to respond in a civilized fashion. And as long as the US sends unmanned drones into Pakistan, or uses white phosphorus on the citizens of Fallujah, or spends nine years dropping bombs on the civilians in Afghanistan, "they" will always "hate" us. As long as we prevent the UN from issuing any punitive measures against Israel while simultaneously pushing for more punitive sanctions against countries like Iran, which hasn't been proven to be doing anything against it's obligations under the NPT, all at the insistence of Israel, "they" will always "hate" us. Eliminating American and Israeli exceptionalism may not end all terrorism, but it is a step in the right direction.