Israel continues it's intrangiency with the full support of a misguded and criminal US administration.

These illegal settelements should be turned over to the Palestinian population.

A homeland for Judeo-fascists of all nationalities. I wouldn't want it in my neighborhood either.

The American colonizers called their forts "settlements" too---a lovely word that beautifully erases the other human beings already living on the land in a different way that "we" don't recognize....Can you count the number of times that "God" in the Old Testament orders and cheers on "His people" to exterminate every man, woman and child of the other civilizations of Canaan/Palestine? And that has been our model for how long? Does ANYbody really believe that human peace on Earth is EVER going to be a goal, function or fruit of The Bible? 2000 years of living it as law weren't enough to disprove this?

The settlers have another powerful ally in France, reports Le Figaro. President Sarkozy of France was apparently recruited by Israeli police service Mossad during the Menachim Begin government of Israel.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20071012.FIG000000291_les_etranges_accusations_d_un_cybercorbeau.html

I've heard Israel's economy is also super strong right now and showing a surplus while the US economy is tanking. Remind me why we just gave them $30 billion in weapons and other moneys when our schools are failing, the banking system is about to collapse along with home ownership, the dollar is crumbling and the medical system is dismal failure in our own country! They'll probably pull a Gieselle Bundchen with their next request and demand to be paid in Euros.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070916/3/37yam.html

Israel's satellite, the United States, is a milk cow of money, military and diplomatic assistance, and a never-ending source of hillbillies to die in wars on their behalf. Only when AIPAC and other Jewish organizations in the U.S. start putting the interests of the United States ahead of Israel will these sorts of atrocities stop.

When people wake up to what is happening to them at the hands of this anti-American, socialistic state, will there be progress.

These right-wing Israelis have got more guts than sausage. But you gotta admit, it'll work to expose that sham of a conference in Annapolis.

Huztpah is the name of the game.

It makes me sick to see the Israelis continuing to build ILLEGAL settlements ib the West Bank. They do so with the enormous help of the Israel Lobby in this country, which goads the US to give huge amounts of money to the Isralis so they can continue breaking the law building illegal settlements and persecuting the Palestinians. Jimmy Carter has written an excellent book on this subject. The powers that be should read it. so should you. What is happening to the Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli's is shameful and sinful. I am ashemed of my country for contributing to this horrid business

Anne Nicolas Kirby

Lying, cheating and stealing is what the state of Israel is based upon.

c. farris: The same for the U.S. - lying, cheating, stealing, (and killing tens of thousands)is how this country started. Remember the Native Americans? The oppressed become the oppressors.

"I spoke with the head military lawyer for the IDF, Joel Singer, and I said 'You know, I'm two weeks here. It's clear you people are inflicting Nuremberg crimes on the Palestinians, exactly what the Nazis did to the Jews. What's your explanation?' He said 'Military necessity'. Notice, he didn't disagree with me. I said 'That argument was rejected at Nuremberg when the lawyers for the Nazis made it.' So then he said, 'Well, we have public relations people in the United States, and they handle these matters for us.' "
-- Francis Boyle, Professor of International Law, University of Illinois

Israel, backed by the US, taking orders from AIPAC, will never relinquish the occupied territories, unless the military playing field is levelled at some juncture. Consequently, the prospects for world peace remain nill. Presently, we're being goaded into a confrontation with Iran, based on its intention to develop nuclear power, while Israel - by whose decree??? - has a stockpile of 250-300 nuclear weapons. Once again, US military, manpower, and economic resources would pay the price. The people of this country are comatose, and probably won't come to until we've passed the point of no return, which may already be the case.

This latest expansion is most likely timed to encourage the Palestinians to walk out of the latest round of peace talks. If they want another suicide attack or Palestinian commando raid, they'll attack and kill some children, just like last June.

Israel's outlaw regime is a far greater threat to humanity than Iran. They are worst than South Africa ever was.

Gene Therapy
"you people are inflicting Nuremberg crimes on the Palestinians, exactly what the Nazis did to the Jews."

Aren't you exaggerating a little? There are no extermination camps, gas chambers, furness. the number of casualties is 1000 times smaller in absolute numbers. Also percentage wise - 90% of the Jews of Poland died, comparing to less than 0.2% of the Palestinians. Also, Jewish suicide bomber didn't exploded in the streets of Germany, and no Jewish rockets were fired at German towns before the holocaust.

Don't insult our intelligence. In my opinion drawing such comparisons suggest that the person who bring these accusation is either total ignorant, who never read anything about the subject. Or a full of hatred racist.

For those who think it is the same:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Intifada

dcbeltway
"we just gave them $30 billion in weapons and other moneys"

Don't worry, The US Military Industrial complex will eventually get his hands on this money. Not one cent will be left in the hands of the average Israeli.

countess
"Israel's outlaw regime is a far greater threat to humanity than Iran. They are worst than South Africa ever was."

Israel is a respectable member of the UN. The regime is called Democracy. Last time I checked it was not outlawed.

Iran is an Islamic theocracy. The number of executions due to religious persecution / political or sexual preferences in Iran exceeded 40,000 since 1979. Which is far greater that the number of Palestinians and Israeli combined who died in the Israeli Palestinian conflict in these same years.

The Regime in South Africa was based on Apartheid - which is racial segregation.

There is little doubt that Israel is currently the second most evil nation in the world, behind first place U.S.A. And, in fact, that criminal organization which flagrantly brandishes the jewish faith as a defense for their perpetual crimes, meaning Israel, will be on extremely shaky ground once the U.S.A. is dismantled in the near future. So if the Israeli's were wise, which, as everyone knows that feral scum isn't, they would cease their evil behavior and try to make amends, if that is possible for their worthless kind. Otherwise, without a doubt the bastard nation of Israel will cease to exist in the near future.

Templer you thickhead
Given conventional word usage,
Israel is an ethnocracy, coloured by theocracy.
As Israel is a racist state,it is also an apartheid state. (check Uri Davis, Apartheid Israel)

Usually I can identify with the progressive left on various subjects, such as:
- Global worming
- Alternative energy
- Environment
- Health care,
- Education
- Social net
- Global Peace.

However - Whenever the name Israel is popped, people here change their skins and turned from Dr. Jekyll into mister Hyde. Whenever Israel name is invoked, some of the people start to spit poison and hatred at a level not different that what one can found in Aryan nation, white supremacy, or any neo-nazi extream right web site. (The hatred to Israel is what I find common between the radical left and the radical right)

I hear calls such as:
- Lets Nuke Israel.
- Lets relocate all the population of Israel.
- Calls that support war crime against innocent Israeli citizens.
- Lies
- Half truth

jmacneil , based on what criteria are you stating that Israel is the second most evil nation in the world?

Number of casualties? - No it can't be it. In the last 2 decades, Sudan Killed 500 times more black Christians, Russia killed 10 times more only in Chechnya, USA Killed 200 times more in Iraq, 1000 times more people killed in Congo. Even Iran execute almost 10 times more people that the number of Palestinians and Israelis combined which were killed in the Israeli Palestinian conflict in the same years.

Maybe you have a different parameter? Maybe the size of the disputed / occupied territory is what makes Israel second most Evil?
No It can't be it. China Occupy Tibet, a territory 50 times bigger. Morocco Occupy Spanish Sahara. USA Occupy Iraq and Afghanistan. So size is not why Israel is so Evil.

Maybe the regime type? It can't be since Israel is the Only democracy in the middle east.

Maybe how freedom of religion? Oh, I forgot, no. One of the few countries in the ME with freedom of religion.

Freedom of speech? No

How woman are treated? -No.

Then why in hell, from all the atrocities around the world, some of which are 1000 times deadlier, from all 192 UN m embers, most of them are dictatorships, you guys pick only on the Jewish state? Is there any logic beyond pure hatred that can explain why Sudan and Syria are off the hook, And Israel, the most progressive state in the middle east isn't?

evanj - Explain to me why I am thickhead, and you are not? Based on what criteria?

If in a class filled with natty kids, and the teacher pick on one kid, and one kid only, who happens to be the only Jew in class - I blame the teacher.

jmacneil, if you are looking for Evil - all you have to do is look at the mirror.

Every nation on this planet should be judged equally. Under the same set of rules. All the Israeli haters of CommonDreams do not follow this basic truth.

Hate is the path to the dark side.

templer, just to fill you in:

"There are no extermination camps, gas chambers, furness. the number of casualties is 1000 times smaller in absolute numbers. Also percentage wise - 90% of the Jews of Poland died, comparing to less than 0.2% of the Palestinians."

In the 1930s, the German state was taken over by a certain Austrian Corporal and his band of thugs; at the time Europe was deathly afraid of Communism while being at the same time, convinced of their own moral (and material) superiority over the rest of the planet. Jews were active in the various national Communist parties of that era - it was one of the few ways they could hope that the world would get better for them, since Emancipation failed.

Guess what the Austrian Corporal did? Was it the "International Communist Conspiracy", or the "International Jewish Conspiracy" he went after? He combined them both, and in so doing, destroyed much of Europe.

In other words, when Hitler spoke against the "International Communist conspiracy", his listeners heard "Jews"; when he spoke against the "International Jewish Conspiracy", his listeners heard "Communists".

Now fast-forwarding to this present day, we see a powerful state claiming a threat in the everyday, ordinary Arab-on-the-street in the Arab nation. And combining that claims about the rabid nature of that people's majority religion. When certain people talk about "Islamofascists" I look at the Arab-on-the-street; when certain people talk about "the threat of terrorism" I look at the Arab-on-the-street.

I see it and I think back to my history classes, and it feels uncomfortably like deja vu.

Just to further the point, the extermination camps did not come the very instant the German National Socialists took power. That took up till 1941. There were plenty of warning signs well before then. Property laws - ever heard of something called "Land Day" in Israel? It's a Palestinian Israeli remembrance of some Palestinian Israelis murdered by the Israeli police for exercising something called "peaceful assembly" and "free speech" in relation to something called "private property" - Arab private property - which the Israel government had decided to seize without even token payment - in the Middle East's "only democracy".

Apparently the concept of peaceful assembly was too peaceful for Arabs; likewise free speech was too free for them; private property evidentally too private.

So you think we should hold a democracy to a lower standard than a dictatorship? That's interestingly progressive. Looking at the direction America's going, you just might get your wish!

I cannot see how the Israel/Palestine problem will ever improve if the population keeps increasing. At the bottom of most of the great problems in the world today is population. There are too many of us and we can't double too many more times. THINK for crying out loud. People are fighting over energy , land , water and food. There is not even enough clean water for all of us and we continue to happily increase our numbers. No one alive today should have their lives shortened, the answer is birth control. Have fewer children. When people have expectations that their children will live to adulthood, they are willing to have fewer offspring. We need to take care of the people who are here now and slow down the growth. (Actually we need to reduce the population over time._)

Templer
YOu're a thickhead because you can't see what's in front of your face - Israel as an ethnocratic/theocratic apartheid state.
Its occupation (and the wall, etc.) have been persistently condemned by the international community.
Israel is a pariah rogue state.
Sudan, Zimbabwe, China, are evil regimes. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan repressive.
But who is in teh western press defending these regimes?
Israel is special. AMongst all the odious regimes, Israel is given carte blanche to perpetuate its evil.
And by the way Templer, given that the subject of this post is the ongoing settlements, do you approve of this barbarism?

In a way, it is advantageous when the zionists put their propaganda dogs on the internet to spew their nonsense in defense of that evil regime which is Israel, because then truth can be presented which counters their bile and the people who are not so informed on the subject can learn from sources which have no reason not to speak the truth. It is the same reason why I don't complain when the U.S. has their own immoral defenders of evil try to seed their lies.

After the horrible events of WW2 the allies carved out a piece of Palestine and arbitrarily assigned it to the Jewish survivors of the Nazis. They took away half of the land from the Palestinians, without their consent, and gave it over to the incoming Jews. After being treated so badly by the Nazis it should have been expected that the new Israelis would have accepted that gracious offer of a free country and been content to live in peace, but instead they immediately embarked on the enterprise of trying to dislodge the Palestinians from the rest of their own land and they used murder and massacre to accomplish that task. Currently, they have the Palestinians crowded into two tiny parcels of what was once all of their country and the Israeli's have taken over the rest. And you can be sure that they won't stop trying to get it until they have it all. It is just shy of six decades that the Israelis have been pursuing that genocidal tactic and it is clear that it is not in their evil souls to make peace and return to the borders that were demarcated by the UN in 1949.

Another aspect of the evil to which the Israelis have sunk is that they are in the cradle of all three major religions and they use the Jewish faith as a validation for continuing their murderous campaign. By continuously flaunting their religious symbolism as their reason for being entitled to Palestinian land they are portraying their genocide against the Palestinians as a holy war which implies that it is sanctioned by their god. The fact is, the Jews from Europe are, and always were, a minority in Palestine. The fervent members which came over from America were agitating for a country there since before the turn of that century and, no doubt, those crooks, troublemakers and profiteers were the ones who initially instigated most of the trouble. The people who are in control of Israel now are nothing more than a criminal gang and the kind of people like that mass murderer Sharon are the only kind which run the country.

From an historical point of view, the Jews have no claim on Palestine. Their own bible states how they sinned against God and for that they were cast out into slavery in a different country and their temple was destroyed. They continuously sinned against God and, after giving them many chances to redeem themselves, he finally tired of them. Although they eventually were released from that slavery and they returned to Jerusalem, God would have nothing more to do with them. When Jesus was sent among the Jewish people to guide them, without having anything to do with the leaders, they crucified Him and for that they suffered the fate he predicted for them, in 70 A.D.

The Israelis are not a religious people. In fact, they are a godless people who abuse those of a simpler mind who are mired in the past and who are encouraged to display their ancient symbolisms to portray a mystical and devout face to deceive the world, and to attract tourists.

Israel's loans are always forgiven by our bought and paid for AIPAC congress. By the way when the Arab states recieved their weapons they pay for them whereas for Israel its always a gift.

Hilarious Templer,

Did you really just say that Israel is a "respectable member of the UN"?
Israel? Who has defied more UN resolutions than any other nation on the planet? Israel? Who has been condemned hundreds of times by that UN organization of which it it such a "respectable" member? Israel? Who won't let Palestians build their own wells because they think the water that falls from the sky is their god-given right?

I'm not sure what planet you live on, but it ain't mine.

Also Templer,

You ever think that maybe the reason you identify with progressives on all those other issues, but somehow can't on the subject of Israel is because it has something to do with YOU personally? Like maybe something you're trying to hold onto because you have some PERSONAL involvement in it that doesn't allow you to analyse the situation dispassionately???
Because pretty much anyone I've ever met who is progressive on most all issues BUT Israel, has an issue of personal involvement like that.

to hell with the government of Israel and their lapdogs.if thats anti-semitic than whatever the over use of that word has left it meaningless anyway.

No, it's not anti-Semitic to be condemning of the Israeli govt. policies and the people that support it anymore than it's anti-American to condemn the neocons and those that support it.

Don't know if anyone saw it, and I hate touting any accomplishment of CNN but the God's Warriors series was quite not bad for MSM.

Here's the transcript. The bit where Peres was playing apologist for the occupied territories, was truly scary, and Amanpour didn't let him get away with just spouting his view without critical analysis of it's legitimacy. It could have been far more intensive, but I was really amazed I was watching MSM and that the cage cleaners green lit this one. Wouldn't be surprised if Blitzer threatened to quit if they aired it.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0708/21/cp.01.html

"But would settlements even be legal? In researching his book, "The Accidental Empire," Gershom Gorenberg discovered in Israel's archives these documents, marked "top secret." Written in September 1967 by Foreign Ministry lawyer, Theodor Meron, the memos are a warning that "civilian settlement contravenes the explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which protects people living under occupation."

GORENBERG: It means that it violated international law.

AMANPOUR: But if Theodor Meron's legal opinion was correct, how is it that Israelis would build as many as 250 settlements and outposts in the middle of Arab land?

SHIMON PERES: The legal adviser of the Foreign Ministry doesn't tell us how to defend our lives.

AMANPOUR: President Shimon Peres, one of Israel's longest serving and highest ranking politicians, initially supported settlements.

(on camera): Are you saying Theodor Meron was wrong?

PERES: I don't know if he was right or wrong from a legal point of view. But he was wrong from a pragmatic point of view. Israel was under a steady attack all the time.

AMANPOUR: So just to help me understand this, for the Israeli leadership at the time, pragmatism triumphed over international law?

PERES: What you call pragmatism was, in our eyes...

AMANPOUR: You just said pragmatism.

PERES: Pragmatism in the sense of security, of defending our lives, yes.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): President Peres now says getting rid of most of the settlements is key to a lasting peace.

Israel's official position is that its settlements do not violate international law. It calls the West Bank disputed territory, not occupied because it says, it was never a recognized, independent country.

PERES: The real problem is you can call it pragmatic, you can call it legal was the war over?

It was not."

He actually responds to illegal settlements as a means of defense. He knows he's on TV, not to mentioned she nailed him on the "pragmatism" comment.

Do they think everyone is stupid or is there a neurotic sociopathic epidemic amongst Zionists?

That's like a group of criminals stealing other peoples stuff and saying "We keep getting attacked by the police for stealing other people's stuff, so we need to steal more stuff."

What the......????????????????????????????????

DuraMater - "So you think we should hold a democracy to a lower standard than a dictatorship? That's interestingly progressive. Looking at the direction America's going, you just might get your wish!"

I think we should hold everyone by the same standard, and judge every nation equally under the same set of rules. What CD are doing is giving "special" treatment - to only two countries: (Israel and the states). If all human life were equally important - I would have expected 500 articles criticizing Sudan, 100 articles criticizing China, and 10 articles criticizing Iran, Russia, and Morocco for each article criticizing Israel. So far the statistics shows that this is not the case, in fact, I would suspect it's the other way around. I would love to see CD changed its direction, where every victim will get (more or less) the same coverage, apposing to the current situation where victims of Sudan get 250,000 less exposure than a Palestinian victim. (500 times more casualties in Sudan X 500 times more criticism against Israel = 250,000 ratio, which is far beyond innocent statistical error)

Most of the commenter motto in this blog is: Israel is Evil, Lets gangbang on Israel.

My motto is: ALL HUMANS ARE EQUAL. ALL NATIONS ARE EQUAL. SAME RULE AND SAME JUDGMENT FOR ALL!!!

--------------
evanj "Templer, given that the subject of this post is the ongoing settlements, do you approve of this barbarism?"

In an ideal world, anyone should be allowed to live anywhere he/she wants. (Even Jews in the West Bank, and Palestinians in Israel)

Specifically for the Settlements:
There are 4 types of Jewish Settlers in the West Bank:
1) Jews who were ethnically cleansed in 1948, and return to their home after 1967.
2) Jews who parches property legally from their legal owner, and moved to their new legally owned property.
3) Jews that moved to settlement on state owned property - (Property which was not belong to any private individual according to Israeli (1967-2007), Jordanian (1948-1967), British (1918-1948) and Turkish (before 1918) laws.
4) Settlers that stole a land from its Palestinian legal owners.

I have no problems with 1st and 2nd type. I'm strongly against the 4th one. I'm not 100% sure about #3, it's smells bad though.

What about you evanj?? Are you against all types Settlements? Even people who return to their homes 19 years after they were ethnically cleansed?

--------------
dcbeltway "Israel's loans are always forgiven by our bought and paid for AIPAC congress. By the way when the Arab states recieved their weapons they pay for them whereas for Israel its always a gift."

Following the Yom Kipur war in 1973, Israel fell to an economic hardship, and you are correct that many loans were forgiven. However, in the late 80s the Israeli economy recovered. Since 1988 no loan was forgiven or exempt to Israel by anyone. So you see dcbeltway - the word "ALWAYS" is not accurate, and should be replaced with "many years ago".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Israel_Bonds

Standard & Poor's' long-term local currency rating for Israel is A+, and its long-term foreign currency rating is A-. The short-term local and foreign currency ratings are both A-1. In February 2007, S&P upgraded its outlook from "Stable" to "Positive."

---------------
desaparecido - "Who has defied more UN resolutions than any other nation on the planet?"

coming up with hate statement, false accusations and pointing fingers is easy. Providing prof is somewhat more difficult.

Name one UN binding resolution that Israel didn't accept? I dare you to provide us readers with Just example. (And don't say 242 which was already fulfilled)

The UN is not perfect. It is a political organization who is not unbiased (There are many dictators who seek to destroy Israel, and who get a stage in the UN). Here is a bad example on UN performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMEw0lZ3k_Y&mode=related&search=

dcbeltway "...when the Arab states recieved their weapons they pay for them whereas for Israel its always a gift."

dcbeltway, You have yet a lot to learn. Criticism is OK, as long as they are balanced, and as long as you remain loyal to the truth.

I love freedom of information!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Egypt

Between 1979 and 2003, the US has provided Egypt with about $30 billion in military aid making Egypt the second largest recipient of US military aid after Israel. Also, Egypt received about $30 billion in economic aid within the same time frame.

Egypt has to pay back the loan. For Israel it was a grant. You are the one who needs to do more research Templar. My personal feelings on the issues is that we the American people should not be selling weapons to either country or any in that region for that matter.

WRMEA: U.S. Aid to Israel

U.S. Financial Aid To Israel: Figures, Facts, and Impact

Summary
Benefits to Israel of U.S. Aid
Since 1949 (As of November 1, 1997)

Foreign Aid Grants and Loans
$74,157,600,000

Other U.S. Aid (12.2% of Foreign Aid)
$9,047,227,200

Interest to Israel from Advanced Payments
$1,650,000,000

Grand Total
$84,854,827,200

Total Benefits per Israeli
$14,630
Cost to U.S. Taxpayers of U.S.
Aid to Israel

Grand Total
$84,854,827,200

Interest Costs Borne by U.S.
$49,936,680,000

Total Cost to U.S. Taxpayers
$134,791,507,200

Total Taxpayer Cost per Israeli
$23,240

Special Reports:
Congress Watch: A Conservative Total for U.S. Aid to Israel: $91 Billion—and Counting

Congressional Research Report on Israel: US Foreign Assistance by Clyde Mark (213K pdf file)

U.S. Aid To Israel: The Strategic Functions

U.S. Aid to Israel: What U.S. Taxpayer Should Know

U.S. Aid to Israel: Interpreting the 'Strategic Relationship'

The Cost of Israel to U.S. Taxpayers: True Lies About U.S. Aid to Israel

THE STRATEGIC FUNCTIONS OF U.S. AID TO ISRAEL
By Stephen Zunes

Dr. Zunes is an assistant professor in the Department of Politics at the University of San Francisco

Since 1992, the U.S. has offered Israel an additional $2 billion annually in loan guarantees. Congressional researchers have disclosed that between 1974 and 1989, $16.4 billion in U.S. military loans were converted to grants and that this was the understanding from the beginning. Indeed, all past U.S. loans to Israel have eventually been forgiven by Congress, which has undoubtedly helped Israel's often-touted claim that they have never defaulted on a U.S. government loan. U.S. policy since 1984 has been that economic assistance to Israel must equal or exceed Israel's annual debt repayment to the United States. Unlike other countries, which receive aid in quarterly installments, aid to Israel since 1982 has been given in a lump sum at the beginning of the fiscal year, leaving the U.S. government to borrow from future revenues. Israel even lends some of this money back through U.S. treasury bills and collects the additional interest.

In addition, there is the more than $1.5 billion in private U.S. funds that go to Israel annually in the form of $1 billion in private tax-deductible donations and $500 million in Israeli bonds. The ability of Americans to make what amounts to tax-deductible contributions to a foreign government, made possible through a number of Jewish charities, does not exist with any other country. Nor do these figures include short- and long-term commercial loans from U.S. banks, which have been as high as $1 billion annually in recent years.

Total U.S. aid to Israel is approximately one-third of the American foreign-aid budget, even though Israel comprises just .001 percent of the world's population and already has one of the world's higher per capita incomes. Indeed, Israel's GNP is higher than the combined GNP of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza. With a per capita income of about $14,000, Israel ranks as the sixteenth wealthiest country in the world; Israelis enjoy a higher per capita income than oil-rich Saudi Arabia and are only slightly less well-off than most Western European countries.

AID does not term economic aid to Israel as development assistance, but instead uses the term "economic support funding." Given Israel's relative prosperity, U.S. aid to Israel is becoming increasingly controversial. In 1994, Yossi Beilen, deputy foreign minister of Israel and a Knesset member, told the Women's International Zionist organization, "If our economic situation is better than in many of your countries, how can we go on asking for your charity?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S. Aid to Israel: What U.S. Taxpayer Should Know
by Tom Malthaner

This morning as I was walking down Shuhada Street in Hebron, I saw graffiti marking the newly painted storefronts and awnings. Although three months past schedule and 100 percent over budget, the renovation of Shuhada Street was finally completed this week. The project manager said the reason for the delay and cost overruns was the sabotage of the project by the Israeli settlers of the Beit Hadassah settlement complex in Hebron. They broke the street lights, stoned project workers, shot out the windows of bulldozers and other heavy equipment with pellet guns, broke paving stones before they were laid and now have defaced again the homes and shops of Palestinians with graffiti. The settlers did not want Shuhada St. opened to Palestinian traffic as was agreed to under Oslo 2. This renovation project is paid for by USAID funds and it makes me angry that my tax dollars have paid for improvements that have been destroyed by the settlers.

Most Americans are not aware how much of their tax revenue our government sends to Israel. For the fiscal year ending in September 30, 1997, the U.S. has given Israel $6.72 billion: $6.194 billion falls under Israel's foreign aid allotment and $526 million comes from agencies such as the Department of Commerce, the U.S. Information Agency and the Pentagon. The $6.72 billion figure does not include loan guarantees and annual compound interest totalling $3.122 billion the U.S. pays on money borrowed to give to Israel. It does not include the cost to U.S. taxpayers of IRS tax exemptions that donors can claim when they donate money to Israeli charities. (Donors claim approximately $1 billion in Federal tax deductions annually. This ultimately costs other U.S. tax payers $280 million to $390 million.)

When grant, loans, interest and tax deductions are added together for the fiscal year ending in September 30, 1997, our special relationship with Israel cost U.S. taxpayers over $10 billion.

Since 1949 the U.S. has given Israel a total of $83.205 billion. The interest costs borne by U.S. tax payers on behalf of Israel are $49.937 billion, thus making the total amount of aid given to Israel since 1949 $133.132 billion. This may mean that U.S. government has given more federal aid to the average Israeli citizen in a given year than it has given to the average American citizen.

I am angry when I see Israeli settlers from Hebron destroy improvements made to Shuhada Street with my tax money. Also, it angers me that my government is giving over $10 billion to a country that is more prosperous than most of the other countries in the world and uses much of its money for strengthening its military and the oppression of the Palestinian people.

Templar, if you were a Palestinian you would hate Israel too. Anyone would, that is the problem.

dc is right as always. Our illegitimate support of this racist Israeli state needs to stop right now if we are to achieve even a semblance of peace in the region. The same goes for our support to Pakistan !

And yet another Israeli oppression apologist du jour down for the count.

Thanks gyptian and umlaut always a pleasure to see you on CD :).

sphne - As I said before - I try not to hate anyone. Hate is the path to the dark side.

dcbeltway - The numbers I gave about Egypt were aid, not loans.

dcbeltway - I'm also angry when I see Israeli settlers from Hebron destroy improvements made to Shuhada Street.

But Unlike some of the people here, I'm also upset when Pro-Government Sudanese militia killing 2 millions black Christians in south Sudan during the 1990s or hundreds of thousands these days in Darfur.

Unlike people here who lost any sense of proportion, I think that when millions of people are massacred, it is even more upsetting than the destruction of improvements made to Shuhada Street. But that's just me. You know, somehone who looks at the numbers and who is not blinded by hatred.