Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, August/September 2021, pp. 6-7
Letters to the Editor
THE DATA SHOWS ISRAEL DOES NOT NEED U.S. SUPPORT
Following the latest chapter in the Israel-Palestine “conflict,” America’s unshakable commitment to Israel is beginning to unravel. Images of the wholesale destruction of Gaza and the slaughter of so many innocent Palestinians beamed into our living rooms and has shaken many Americans. More and more Americans are asking why their country is propping up apartheid Israel. Why are we sending economic and military aid to subjugate and terrorize indigenous Palestinians in their homeland, much like the genocide of the Native Americans?
A large part of the answer is that the Biden White House and prior U.S. administrations have buckled under the relentless political pressure of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other powerful Jewish organizations.
In a recent broadcast, Fareed Zakaria shared some startling statistics: “Israel’s per capita GDP dwarves that of its neighbors. It is 14 times that of Egypt, eight times that of Iran, six times that of Lebanon and nearly double that of Saudi Arabia. Israel has built an industrial and information age economy that excels in highly sophisticated arenas like artificial intelligence, aviation, computer aided design and biotechnology. It spends five percent of its GDP on research and development, more than any country. It has built up foreign exchange reserves of more than $180 billion, placing it 13th in the world, just ahead of the United Kingdom.”
For a nation of nine million people, it hardly merits annual U.S. handouts. Israel exceeds Iran’s defense budget and has a qualitative military edge on all of its regional rivals. It remains the only nuclear power in the Middle East, with at least 100 warheads. There is therefore a compelling case for immediately halting all military aid to Israel and re-directing it to its second-class citizens, the Palestinians.
Jagjit Singh, Los Altos, CA
THE MYTHOLOGY OF MYRIAD THREATS TO ISRAEL
In his speech at the “End U.S. Support for Israeli Apartheid” conference, former congressman Brian Baird analyzed the U.S.’ unqualified support for Israel based on several “m’s”: money, mythology, malfeasance and millenarianism.
Each of these “m’s” is very important, but I would like to address particularly the mythology one, which deals with the David and Goliath myth, which promotes the idea of “the beleaguered Israelis being besieged by all of the Arab nations.”
Israel likes to continue to promote the idea of “poor little Israel” against surrounding belligerent nations, without allowing for the overwhelming military, nuclear and cyber power of Israel against these weak countries (plus of course unconditional U.S. support).
Doris Rausch, Tullahoma, TN
ISRAEL IS AN EXPENSIVE AND DANGEROUS “ALLY”
Israel’s brutal occupation and oppression of the Palestinians includes land and water theft, home demolitions, targeted assassinations, daily Jewish settler violence against Palestinians and their property, and a strangulating blockade on the suffering population of Gaza.
Israel gets away with committing these atrocities because U.S. politicians from both parties finance, arm and give diplomatic cover to Israel in return for campaign donations from billionaire pro-Israel donors.
Not only did Israel and its lobby help drag us into a disastrous war in Iraq, they also have attempted to prod the U.S. into a confrontation with Iran. Our “special relationship” with Israel is the most dangerous and expensive alliance in our nation’s history, draining our treasury and killing Americans.
Ray Gordon, Venice, FL
COMPLICIT IN ISRAELI ABUSES
American rifles manufactured by Sturm, Ruger & Co., headquartered in Connecticut, are the weapon of choice for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), purportedly for “crowd control.” In Dec. 2020, Ali Abu Alia, age 15, was killed by an IDF soldier in Ali's West Bank hometown of al-Mughayer as he watched a demonstration by unarmed Palestinians against home confiscations. He is one of many in the West Bank and Gaza who have been killed or injured by use of this weapon. Sturm, Ruger & Co. claims no responsibility, saying it does not control where its rifles are sold.
If Sturm, Ruger & Co. is not responsible, then the U.S. certainly is. The 1997 Leahy Law and its updates prohibit the U.S. from providing funds for assistance or training to foreign security forces where there is credible information that these forces have committed a gross violation of human rights. Numerous international human rights organizations have verified Israel’s deplorable human rights record toward the non-Jewish population within its claimed borders. Yet year after year the U.S. provides Israel with billions of dollars (currently $3.8 billion per annum) so it can receive American-made weapons like the Ruger .22 rifle for its “security.”
Knowing that this rifle in the hands of the IDF is responsible for so many deaths and permanent injuries of Palestinians, it would seem like a good time to apply the Leahy Law restrictions to Sturm, Ruger & Co.’s export of its lethal product. Raising this with the Biden State Department may be the next step.
For a coalition working on this, see <NoRugers2Israel.org>.
Gail Page, Concord, NH
BRET STEPHENS’ FANCIFUL PRO-COLONIALISM TAKE
In a recent New York Times column, Bret Stephens outlined the many evils he foresees if the Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank were to be suddenly granted freedom to determine their own future. To continue his line of reasoning: Does he think Hamas, after taking over the Palestinian state, would then invade Europe, starting with Italy, Austria and then Poland? And that it would only be a matter of time before they invaded the U.S. through the liberal northeast and with the help of Jewish Voice for Peace?
It would take a Jonathan Swift to truly show the madness of Mr. Stephens’ pipe dream scenario. By choosing every possible negative occurrence at every fork in the road, he makes his entirely inane argument that the Palestinians and the Israelis are far better off maintaining their present relationship of one side dominating the other.
Similar arguments could have been made against the deconstruction of colonial rule in Africa and Asia. If only the British, French and Portuguese remained, how much evil, how many deaths might have been avoided. And consider our American Revolution and how it divided the colonial population causing so many to flee to Canada. And all these events led to yet another war in 1812. Yes, if only we had stayed under the British yoke, how many bad consequences might have been avoided.
As a lawyer, I would often bend reality a bit to persuade juries, but never so much as to make my arguments appear to be ridiculous fantasies. Bret Stephens apparently knows no such limits in arguing for the continuation of the victimization of a weak and struggling population.
Geoffrey Abrams, New York, NY
THE CORRUPTION OF THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
Well-known activist Nizar Banat’s June 24 death at the hands of Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces is a harsh reminder of the PA’s attitude toward Palestinians who dare to criticize their authoritarian policies and security cooperation with Israel.
Behind the façade of peace enhancement, Canada and the U.S. support and train the security forces of the Palestinian Authority, whose main task is facilitating Israel’s gradual annexation of the occupied West Bank.
Meanwhile, Israel also interferes in Palestinian democratic activities. These tactics include arresting candidates, blocking access to West Bank areas and preventing elections in East Jerusalem for “security” reasons. These actions undermine Israel’s self-proclaimed status as the Middle East’s sole democracy.
Since Canada and the U.S. provide diplomatic and military support to Israel, the citizens of the two countries should hold Israel to the same standards we expect from our own governments. Unfortunately, protecting Israeli exceptionalism and impunity remains the official priority of both countries.
Morgan Duchesney, Ottawa, ON
