Mikehall : thanks for your post and topic thread, believe me I know what you mean!
I feel embarrassed too! Big time.
Health I understand your reasoning, but I do not feel Jewish guilt is anything to with it, it is a sense of belonging to Klal Yisrael and hurting when things go wrong due to our long tradtions of infighting, it is nothing new, just horrendous to watch under a media glare.
I have over the years often had very religious Muslim students and co-workers come to discuss Islamic practices and fundamentalism with me, patiently explaining their brand of Islam is different to the more militant sorts out there, they tell me ” you understand as Jews too suffer from crazy extremists,”.
But for me Klal Yisrael are one people, when I see demonstrators harrassing children, or police arresting charedi protestors there is a division between head and heart, you see, Health, those whose behaviour I loathe ar still part of me and my people. Hence the embarrassment and awkwardness, a jew is a jew.