The film Paradise Now put me in the shoes of the suicide bomber. When you are born in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank, terrorized by Israeli soldiers, forced to cross through military checkpoints daily, kept from building or joining a Palestinian army or government (because such institutions are disallowed by Israel), then you are left with few options for resistance against tyranny.
But who is keeping Palestinians from returning to their former homeland? Who ensures that the Israeli army is funded and equipped with the bombs they drop on Palestinian homes, schools, and churches when Palestinians have no army and no government to fight back?
Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since World War II. From 1976-2004, Israel was the largest annual recipient of U.S. foreign assistance, having recently been supplanted by Iraq. Since 1985, the United States has provided nearly $3 billion in grants annually to Israel.
How can we expect anything else from Palestinian youth? I realize that words like "suicide" and "bomber" are not synonymous with peace, but they have become synonymous with "fighting for your country" and "defending your loved ones" for some (definitely not all) Palestinians because they have no alternative. Israel continues to dominate and attack Palestinian refugees because of continued and biased U.S. support.
The United States has never provided aid to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). U.S. economic aid to the Palestinians has averaged about $85 million per year since 1993. There has been no military aid.
By continuing to favor the oppressor, the United States government becomes the oppressor.
I wonder where those $3 billion are coming from and what we are ultimately getting for it in return. No one gives money away without some sort of goal in mind - especially not a government...
ReplyDeleteIt is so difficult to comment on the intricacies of US foreign policy, especially in a situation as complex as the triad of Israel-Palestine-US. The tragic fact of the matter is that the US has chosen a side in their war, and years of misguided policy has cornered our country into a very small space in which to maneuver. While we attempt to maintain a complex double-standard when it comes to humanitarian efforts and military aid, the war continues, and I feel as though there is little real action the US can take to rectify this situation. If peace comes to the Middle East, it will be on the initiative of the people who live there, and not from the interference of any world power.
ReplyDeleteYou raise some powerful questions, Ashley. Seems like American's might learn a good deal from watching "Paradise Now."
ReplyDeleteI agreee with your statements on the Palestinian youth. They have no other choice because they have been thrown into this terrorism and really do not have another alternative!
ReplyDeletebut doesn't suha (and ultimately khaled) offer an alternative? to say that there is no choice between submitting to oppression and blowing up yourself and innocent civilians is to ignore the many peaceful resistance options that exist. said's choice is one of entrapment and desperation, but it is also shown to be selfish and vengeful, when we see the family and friends he leaves behind.
ReplyDeleteWhen you realize how much the US supports Israel, you would think it would be easier for us to force them to the peace table....if we truly wanted to do so.
ReplyDelete