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Printer-Friendly ModeU.S. has favored Israel over Palestine with financial support
submitted by Anderson Bearden
April 10, 2006 —
I am writing in response to the March 27 commentary regarding American involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The article cited American policy of providing monetary assistance to both sides as "rather ambivalent." This assertion of American neutrality, while appealing to our sense of fairness, is grossly misrepresented by the media in general and by this commentary in particular.
The state of Israel did not exist until 1948 when it was established on Palestinian land by the U.N. (led by the U.S. and Britain). Since that time, the U.S. has come to the aid of Israel frequently and consistently.
Just after Israel was founded, it was predictably attacked by the Palestinians and other Arab nations who were angered over the partitioning of Palestinian land. The fledgling nation was able to fight off the assault thanks, in large part, to weapons purchased with $50 million that Golda Mier raised in America.
When Israel was attacked on Yom Kippur in 1973, President Nixon used every single C-130 in the American military to provide Israel with the weapons and supplies that once again bailed Israel out of a crisis. He did this in spite of the impact that it would later have on the American citizens, who suffered greatly when Arab nations responded by embargoing oil sales to America.
According to the Congressional Research Service, a part of the Library of Congress, the United States has given Israel over $90 billion aid since 1949. By contrast, the U.S. has given the Palestinians less than $2 billion, almost all of which was given to private companies and aid organizations, not the Palestinian government. In addition, the U.S. has sold Israel F-16s, Patriot missiles, and M1A1 Abrams tanks, the most powerful and visible elements of Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian land.
So, the U.S. has been far from an unbiased broker for peace, which is a pretty good explanation for why many in the Arab world distrust America.
Anderson Bearden Student