Author: Patrick Rice
The conflict between Israel and the Occupied Territories receives much news coverage in the western media. However, this coverage is usually one-sided and today pro-Israel views dominate the mainstream. If we are ever to secure peace and democracy in that region Americans (specifically liberal Americans) will have to stop giving the state of Israel a free ride to commit whatever human rights abuses it pleases in the name of “self-defense.” Any other state that acts the way Israel does would come under intense scrutiny and hopefully face sanctions for their crimes. Instead, the U.S. sends more foreign aid to them than any other country. In the last thirty years, this aid has totaled between $150-$240 billion dollars, mostly in military aid that has allowed Israel to have one of the most powerful militaries in the world and be one of nine nuclear powers.
Two questions need to be addressed here. First, why is this aid so bad? Second, if they are committing such atrocities, why do they maintain such strong support from every U.S. President and Congress?
First, I’ll mention out some of the atrocities Israel has committed and then discuss how the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) perpetuates them. As we tragically witnessed last year, Israel regularly uses collective punishment. This is illegal under international law yet when a sub-national group in Lebanon kidnapped two Israel soldiers, Israel responded with a devastating month-long bombing campaign directed against Lebanese civilians and infrastructure: buildings, bridges, the Beirut Airport and much more. They even bombed a power plant, leaking over 10,000 tons of oil into the Mediterranean Sea; an environmental disaster as well as a danger to Lebanon’s fishing and tourism industries. Israel also employed millions of cluster bombs which were left unexploded and littered throughout southern Lebanon, killing or maiming three (mostly children) everyday.
What’s worse is 90% of these bombs were dropped in the last three days of the war, when peace was inevitable but Israel wanted to inflict as much civilian damage as possible. By the time the assault ended, over 1100 Lebanese civilians were dead, compared to 43 Israeli civilians. There were also Hezbollah fighters and Israeli and Lebanese soldiers who died.
Amnesty International charges Israel with “reckless shooting, shelling and air strikes in civilian residential areas.”
Israel also commits torture and has been known to use Palestinians as “human shields.” Think about that for a second. Israel limits Palestinian access to vital services such as water, jobs, family, main thoroughfares, etc by a combination of methods, but mainly the separation wall, which is also illegal under international law. In all, Israel killed 700 Palestinians from these activities in 2004. Even the U.S. State Department acknowledges that Palestinians are treated as second-class citizens.
If Israel commits such heinous acts, why does it receive unquestioned support by the U.S.? As mentioned before, AIPAC has profound influence on U.S. policy makers. In fact, a report written by two political scientists (from Harvard and the University of Chicago) concluded that “no lobby has managed to divert U.S. foreign policy as far from what the American national interest” is than AIPAC. Further, debate is silenced because politicians and the media dread the label of “anti-semite” being put on them for expressing any view that is not purely Zionist. AIPAC has used the threat of this label (as well as its vast financial and political connections) to eliminate all debate and the U.S. marches forward in blind support of Israeli aggression.
What will it take to change this? Well, I see a few options. First, the overwhelming monopoly AIPAC has on U.S. policy has to be broken. Contacting Congress to tell them we care about Palestinians is a good start. Liberal Jews also have to admit that Israel commits violence. Unfortunately, a profound sense of victim-hood is prevalent within Judaism. This allows too many Jews to look the other way when Israel is clearly committing heinous acts. We should have an actual debate and feel free to criticize Israel the way we criticize Iran, Burma, North Korea, and even the US for their human rights issues. Only then will Israel have any motivation to change. They say that power corrupts. What happens when a state is given 60 years of unquestioned, unchecked power? Palestinians find out every day as the United States and the international community continue to allow it.
Patrick Rice is a sophomore DWA and Economics double major. He can be reached at ricep@oxy.edu
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