How to Make Enemies and Destroy Cities

American taxpayer money at work in Jenin (left) and American taxpayer money not at work in New Orleans (right)

On my news feed, a few days ago, next to each other were two items that demonstrate two incredible, and not all too unrelated, phenomena that tell you a lot about America today.

New Orleans Pursues Foreign Aid
Washington to Increase Military Aid to Israel

As New Orleans struggles to rebuild itself, and the Federal money that was supposed to fund this rebuilding is trickling far slower than it was promised, President Bush announced an increase in the aid package to Israel and secured it for the next ten years.

The Big Easy, one of America’s most beautiful and diverse cities, languishes in debris two years after it was devastated by hurricane Katrina, the incompetence of the Army Corps of Engineers who never bothered to check the levies, and the criminal negligence of the Bush Administration and their countless cronies at all levels of government.

Only half of the promised $320million in Federal aid for infrastructure has arrived to New Orleans, leaving its mayor desperate enough to pick up the phone and call back all the world leaders who had made pledges for aid, including Saudi Arabia and Cuba.

On the other hand, the criminal government of Israel, which has murdered thousands of children over the last few years is given $2.4billion (rising to $2.9b) in military aid. This is the money that will go to fund tanks, aircrafts, machine guns that will eventually bomb Palestinian and Lebanese children. With each of these dollars, America is engendering the enmity of millions of Arabs who watch these weapons in action every day.

What was most fascinating was this snippet:

The prime minister asked U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for his assistance in expediting the handling of a number of IDF procurement requests meant to complete the replenishment of equipment and stores used during the Second Lebanon War.

Gates pointed out that though there is no problem with the requests in principle, there is an orderly procedure. However, Bush intervened and directed the defense secretary to expedite approval of the IDF’s requests.

It must be reassuring for the millions of Americans who saw their President do nothing as New Orleans drowned that he “intervened” to “expedite” the IDF request. President Bush will go to any lengths to make sure that bureaucracy and “orderly procedures” do not get in the way of Israel’s bombing of children. As for the children drowning in New Orleans, he can trust Michael Brown to take care of them.

So in one case, the American government is not spending enough money to rebuild one of the country’s most beautiful cities, leaving thousands homeless; while in the other case, the government is spending money on weapons to destroy Arab cities, murder Arab children and win more enemies.

End the Occupation

This week marks the 40^th anniversary of the start of the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza.  Generations of Palestinians have now lived their entire lives under the rule of a criminal military regime.  It is about time the world did something about this.  Let us all join together to work globally to end this atrocious occupation.

If you are in America, please try to make it to the End the Occupation Rally in Washington DC on June 10^th.  If you can not make it, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support this incredibly important effort, and the US Campaign to End Israeli Occupation.  Adalah-NY are arranging for buses from New York; you can buy tickets from their website www.mideastjustice.org.

If you live in the UK, please try to make it to the National Demonstration against the Occupation in London on June 9^th, and make sure you stay up to date with all the actions of two great organizations in the UK: the Enough! Coalition and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

There are actions against Israeli apartheid all across the world this week.  You can see here a list of actions in over 25 countries.  And make sure you regularly read www.stopthewall.org, the website of the Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Campaign for excellent news, analysis, maps and activist resources.

The United Nations today released a report with the most detailed map of the West Bank, showing the horrible reality of the apartheid regime Israel has installed in the West Bank, which makes apartheid in South Africa look like a picnic, as Ronnie Kasrils, a veteran South African fighter of apartheid, has said repeatedly.  He has a new interview with Gideon Levy in which he discusses why his opposition to Israeli apartheid is a consistent extension of opposition to South African apartheid, and why Israel’s oppression of Palestinians is much worse than anything the South Africans did.

Also, make sure you read this excellent piece by Tony Karon, a South African journalist who grew up a Zionist supporter of Israel, who reflects on how his perception of Israel has changed over time, and what the current situation means for Israel in the future, in light of the experience of South Africa’s own apartheid regime.

The reality today may be depressing but we should never lose hope.  Many oppressive regimes with incredible criminal power and no morality like Israel have been defeated before, as South Africa clearly shows.  As long as people from all over the world continue to work to support justice in Palestine there is no doubt that Israel’s despicable apartheid regime will fare no better than its counterpart in South Africa.