Spring Break
Stop the foreign aid for Israel
Ian Bezek
Issue date: 12/9/08 Section: Opinion
Israel has also received 65 United Nations resolutions condemning their demolition of Palestinian homes (18,147 so far), unlawful attacks on neighbors, illegal deportations of Palestinians, and their failure to abide by the Geneva Convention to name just a few. We needed a lot fewer than 65 UN resolutions to go to war with Iraq.
Also, while the Israelis claim to provide equal opportunities for Arabs and Jews, the facts speak otherwise. The Palestinian unemployment rate is 23 percent according to the CIA World Factbook, while the Jewish unemployment rate is a mere seven percent; if that isn't discrimination, nothing is.
Just imagine the outrage if the unemployment rate for Chinese-Americans was 23 percent. We would rightfully create programs to give Chinese a greater chance in society and come up with ways to stop discrimination against them.
However, Israel does almost nothing to help Palestinians escape their horrid living conditions. It is not surprising that a tiny minority of Palestinians would turn to violence or crime when one out of every four Palestinians can't get a job.
It's hard to work when Israel denies Palestinians even the basic right to free movement. A fellow student who traveled to Israel described to our political science class how she'd seen Palestinian women carrying their children in their arms being held at gunpoint while waiting for hours to get through a security checkpoint.
This sort of human rights abuse needs to stop, and America needs to stop showering arms and money on Israel until it does.
Ian Bezek is a junior economics major. His column appears Tuesdays in the Collegian. Letters and feedback can be sent to letters@collegian.com.
Also, while the Israelis claim to provide equal opportunities for Arabs and Jews, the facts speak otherwise. The Palestinian unemployment rate is 23 percent according to the CIA World Factbook, while the Jewish unemployment rate is a mere seven percent; if that isn't discrimination, nothing is.
Just imagine the outrage if the unemployment rate for Chinese-Americans was 23 percent. We would rightfully create programs to give Chinese a greater chance in society and come up with ways to stop discrimination against them.
However, Israel does almost nothing to help Palestinians escape their horrid living conditions. It is not surprising that a tiny minority of Palestinians would turn to violence or crime when one out of every four Palestinians can't get a job.
It's hard to work when Israel denies Palestinians even the basic right to free movement. A fellow student who traveled to Israel described to our political science class how she'd seen Palestinian women carrying their children in their arms being held at gunpoint while waiting for hours to get through a security checkpoint.
This sort of human rights abuse needs to stop, and America needs to stop showering arms and money on Israel until it does.
Ian Bezek is a junior economics major. His column appears Tuesdays in the Collegian. Letters and feedback can be sent to letters@collegian.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 62
John
posted 12/09/08 @ 10:26 AM MST
Ian, your oblivious attitude to the truth of the subject you write about is staggering. "On November 29, 1947, after much debate and discussion, the UN recommended the partition of Palestine into two states one Jewish and one Arab. (Continued…)
Arvensis
posted 12/09/08 @ 4:56 PM MST
Ian -
There are certain facts that you are not going to get from the mainstream media. As I pointed out replying to your last article: there is an overwhelming number of Israeli citizens serving in our government. (Continued…)
JS
posted 12/09/08 @ 6:27 PM MST
>>""On November 29, 1947, after much debate and discussion, the UN recommended the partition of Palestine into two states one Jewish and one Arab. The Jews accepted the UN resolution while the Arabs rejected it. (Continued…)
JS
posted 12/10/08 @ 3:00 AM MST
>>"there is an overwhelming number of Israeli citizens serving in our government."
You mean somebody like Emanuel who was appointed Wight House Chief of Staff (the 2nd most powerful man in Washington) only day following Election Day?
NL
posted 12/10/08 @ 9:35 AM MST
Hi Ian,
My daughter is a student at CSU and brought to my attention your artical.
I grew up in Israel and yes the stories are sad but Ian, Did you have a chance to visit Israel befor you wrote this artical,do you know how much money Israel give the palestinians?do you know that only today they got 100,000,000 NIS (about $25,000,000)?
Do you know why they are not allowed to cross the "border" to Israel? It all happened after the terrosits attacks on Israelies that went to work or school in the morning and never came back because the bus they were on was blowen to pieces by a crazy man or woman. (Continued…)
JS
posted 12/15/08 @ 12:06 PM MST
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/12/20081210551198584.html
Registered Independent
posted 12/16/08 @ 6:01 PM MST
Response to "JS":
Oh, well that last posting of yours certainly clears things up regarding the "facts" and viewpoints you have delineated here.
You actually believe "Al Jazeera" to be at least a somewhat legitimate news source. (Continued…)
JS
posted 12/17/08 @ 12:35 PM MST
>>You actually believe "Al Jazeera" to be at least a somewhat legitimate news source. <<
No, sorry, neoconservative Donald Rumsfeld called it "inaccurate. (Continued…)
np
posted 1/06/09 @ 1:48 PM MST
Stop foreign aid everywhere, we need to keep money in the US to fix the problems we have here.
Fahad
posted 1/07/09 @ 12:46 PM MST
Hi,
I am an Arab student in CSU who lived in the middle east for 18 years and will soon start writing an article about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Continued…)
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