It really disturbed me discovering how many nominally liberal people who would react in horror at casual use of the n word are quite comfortable with genocidal racism.
As you said, nominally liberal. What Israel is doing is deeply illiberal, and actual liberals, if there are any left, don't support the Zionist project.
That's why support for Israel is such a good wedge issue that leftists keep hammering on. If a nominally liberal politician is willing to support such an obviously illiberal position, then what other fundamental liberal values are they willing to give up?
Use-mention distinction is lost on a lot of people. It's a useful test for whether someone is reacting to a word (e.g. "damn") out of pure emotion and conditioning, or whether they're acting rationally.
Unfortunately there will always be people across the political spectrum who pearl clutch over media they personally find distasteful. The question is do any of them care when the rubber meets the road in reality. Christian conservative, progressive atheist, all are capable of failing that test.
