Regarding "Bush asks Europe to help rebuild Iraq". Aref Assaf. The Bergen
Record, November 24, 2003
President Bush made a rare and sharp criticism of Israel's building of "walls
and fences" and expanding settlements on occupied Palestinian land. He called on
Israel to end its daily humiliation of the Palestinian people.
After two years of almost total silence in the face of ongoing bloodshed, Bush's
comments put a spotlight again on the root of the conflict - the 36-year
Israel's military occupation of Palestinian land. Sadly, what he overlooked was
the fact that the U.S. government is the primary financier of Israel's
destructive policies. Since 1948, our government has given Israel more than $100
billion in economic and military aid, notwithstanding the fact that Israel has
one of the highest per-capita incomes in the Middle East and is the world's
10th-largest arms exporter.
Unchecked U.S. funding makes possible and cost free the illegal settlement
construction, the building of the wall, and the ongoing military occupation of
the Palestinian people.
We pray that Bush will back his words with action, tying aid to Israel with
human rights. He can immediately start by cutting off military aid to Israel.
U.S. military aid to Israel has a dramatic effect on Israel's policies towards
the Palestinians. It has increasingly been used not to pay for defense but to
finance the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. It keeps Israel from facing
difficult but necessary internal political challenges and encourages solving
deep-rooted problems by military rather than more effective peaceful means.
Aref Assaf
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