On being divided culturally

This bit by Herb Keinon in the Jerusalem Post really cracks me up:

It's an odd phenomenon, but Israelis often sound downright European in their tendency to see US culture as shallow and meaningless, and to view the US as incurably naive when it comes to the world. It's an attitude that says we - who live in the tough neighborhood - understand how things work; the Americans are hopelessly unsophisticated.

What you end up with, essentially, is Americans in Israel looking down at Israelis, and Israelis looking down on Americans. And one of the hidden beauties of being an American-Israeli is the ability to look down on both with equal measure. It's a great benefit, actually, and one that should be used by the Nefesh B'Nefesh folks to promote aliya.

"Come home, that way you can condescend not only toward Israelis, which you do in the States, but now toward Americans as well."