So the key question, then, is why instead of publishing a balanced account which addresses myths (which are prevalent) on both sides, you write specifically about what you view as myths about Israel's founding and actions?

You've done quite a good job supporting many of the statements you make--that's great! But even discounting the claims you make that are probably wrong, it's very one-sided.

Why can't you live with yourself unless you publish a very one-sided piece? You have demonstrated the presence of mind to sift through claims and document errors, so you certainly possess the capacity to examine anti-Israel myths too.

But you don't.

If your family reads this one-sided piece and feels like it's a slap in their faces, because you don't bother mentioning hardly anything that they might feel is unfair, then...they're right. You didn't put forth an effort to do that. You could have.

Now, it is entirely true that very large numbers of Palestinians are being killed by the IDF (and the violence from Israeli settlers in the West Bank, though not nearly on the same scale, is also shocking). But telling a one-sided story--even if we were to pare the story down to the entirely correct parts--doesn't make any Israeli or Jew feel safer, does it? So "ignore the world; they hate us; even some of us hate us; do what needs to be done" seems even more true. Making it even harder to actually resolve anything.

I mean, unless your idea of resolving things is war.

For example, when you talk about history, you correctly point out that the land that is now Israel wasn't that empty. That is a myth that is too often repeated. But you then fail to mention that many Jews settled in unsettled areas, playing into the other myth (equally wrong) that Jews just came into thriving areas and pushed Palestinians out. Similarly, you mention the pre-1948 violence from Jews (I've heard the mythological version that you describe). But you also excuse xenophobic violence as an appropriate response to immigration (contemporary example: "hey, Texans, if you think border-crossers are changing your way of life too much, we get it if you decide to just shoot them") and fail to really mention the Arab violence against Jewish immigrants that prompted the violent response.

You mention the ridiculous claims from Israel that they make about casualties while fighting in/around hospitals, but you don't mention Hamas' and Islamic Jihad claims that they engaged Israeli forces around hospitals.

I don't know whether you don't know and aren't learning, so think you're being accurate; or whether you do know but think being one-sided is virtuous; but regardless, it deeply sours what could have been a very compelling account, because you have done a good job in many places. There are a lot of statements made by Israel or in support of Israel that simply aren't credible. But there are also a lot of statements made in support of "Palestinians" that aren't credible. (Quoted because some of the statements are really just pro-Hamas and are irrelevant or harmful to Palestinian well-being.)

And we need to get both sets of falsehoods dispelled in order to more clearly see what the situation is and what solutions are possible.