Egyptian-American who used to support Palestinian cause tells i24NEWS how he became a Zionist

An Egyptian-American of Coptic heritage, who used to support the Palestinian cause to fit in with his social circle, told i24NEWS that the events of the past year and a half clarified to him the true nature of the Middle East conflict, making him a staunch advocate for the Jewish state. 

Michael, who prefers to go by his first name only, is active on Instagram. Speaking with i24NEWS' Hebrew channel in English, he addressed his background, and how he went from accepting at least some of the premises of an ideology hostile to Israel to getting a tattoo commemorating Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas. 

"My parents never ever taught me to hate Jewish people or Israeli people. My parents were very much supportive of the peace process, they thought that Israel had earned its right to exist in the region and they just wanted to see the region in peace," he told i24NEWS. 

He says that even as he adopted the "animosity" toward Israel that is the price of entry to certain social circles, he had always respected some things about the Jewish state, including its heavy investment in research and development, emphasis on education and the democratic commitment to free speech.  

"For most of the Palestinian narrative you have to work around the truth rather than with the truth. You're constantly bending the truth to fit it to whatever narrative you're trying to put out there."

He also said he was unimpressed with pro-Palestinian activism's totalitarian tendencies and the inability of its adherents to tolerate dissent from the ideological line.   

"When you're being told you're not pro-Palestine when you're not pro-Hamas, when you're told you can't acknowledge atrocities committed by Palestinians, there is this ideological absolutism that I unfortunately was a part of. It's a very black and white picture, it's a very 'you're either with us or against us' and you have to yield to these principles."