Sue McKevitt lives in Bradford.
The recent flare-up of tensions in Palestine/Israel exacerbated by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s attempt to limit the authority of their Supreme Court has caused U.S. politicians to (finally) take a look at what’s going on in Israel.
President Biden has ordered an investigation on how the Israelis are using our money. Last month, I wrote to both Sens. Shaheen and Hassan, urging them to support the initiative of the Biden administration to investigate whether Israel and its militia have committed crimes against humanity using U.S.-supplied weapons against the Palestinian people.
Senator Shaheen, who sits on the U.S. Foreign Relations Committee, replied to my inquiry. In her reply existed two common myths perpetuated by many: The equivalency theory of the violence between Palestinians and Israelis and the desire for a two-state solution to resolve the conflict. A third myth continues to exist, that Israel is a democracy.
Regarding equivalence of violence: $3.8 billion U.S. military aid (and solely for military use) is sent yearly to Israel, and around $140 million to the Palestinians for community building. No equivalency here. When young Palestinians throw rocks at Israeli tanks, the Israeli army response uses tanks, military shooting rubber bullets and tear gassing neighborhoods, jets bombing and bulldozers demolishing Palestinian homes. There is no equivalency. Language is also an issue. It’s reported consistently that the struggle is between Israel and Hamas. False equivalence. It’s either Israelis/ Palestinians or Lakud (the right-wing political party of Israel) and Hamas, (one of the political parties for Palestinians). To state otherwise implies that all Israelis are in favor of the retribution given out to Palestinians which is false.
On the two-state solution, since 1947 and codified over the years with different UN resolutions, the U.S. has insisted there be a two-state solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict. Historically there has never been a peaceful conclusion to a two-state solution. Think Vietnam, Germany, Korea, India/Pakistan, Cyprus, and Ireland, just to name a few. When I was in Palestine in 2019, having met with numerous NGOs and Palestinians, no one expressed interest in a two-state solution. Recent polls taken in Israel likewise show very little support for it. Why? Because to negotiate a successful two-state solution, there must be a right to return of the 6 million Palestinian refugees and an equitable redistribution of the land, including, according to international law, the illegally occupied land by Israeli settlers. Israel won’t give up the land and is afraid of being outnumbered, and Palestinians won’t agree to anything less than equality in land distribution.
It seems the U.S. refuses to learn from history, both in ignoring the failure of two-state solutions and our continuing arrogance of imposing our will onto other people, Palestinians and Israelis, who do not want it.
And myth three, that Israel is a democracy. Netanyahu’s latest attempt to establish an authoritarian government has caused the West and hometown Israelis to cry out that he is destroying their democracy. The population of Palestine/Israel is 5.7 million Palestinians to 5.2 million Israelis with over 6 million Palestinian refugees living outside the country’s borders, denied the right to return. One cannot define democracy by denying 76% of the 5.7 million Palestinians the right to vote, denying free travel, citizenship, and ownership of homes; adjudicated under different legal systems (Israel uses four legal systems: Ottoman, Israeli, Jordanian and British), and withholding at will the distribution of food, medical supplies, water, electricity, and garbage pick-up, to the people in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza among other things. There is no constitution, there are (as of 2019) 65 laws blatantly discriminating against Palestinians, and the military can and does override any court decision it deems unacceptable. If this is what one calls a democracy, it is for Israelis only.
So, what do we do? First, be informed. The more you know, the less likely you can be duped and pretend our county is doing the right thing. Read news from outside the U.S. to get another story as the U.S. press consistently denies or obscures what is really happening.
Second, become a myth buster. Inform your elected representatives to stop the myths (i.e., lying to us) and rethink what kind of support should be given to any foreign country, including Israel. ($54 billion in military aid to Saudi Arabia and the United Emirates? A government that is a repressive monarchy and executes a U.S. citizen?).
Third, limit the lobbying influence of the AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee, with 100,000 members contributing over $23 million to congressional members), the Christians United for Israel (7 million members, $240,000) and other pro-Israel lobby groups totaling over $4 million lining congressional pockets.
Fourth, investigate who is profiting from selling the arms to Israel and have congressional ties. Which U.S. companies are invested in continuing the conflict to boost their profits? After all, we are a war-based economy. It’s old, outdated, and inhumane. It diminishes our dignity and depletes our capacity to meet our internal needs for schools, roads, medical services, housing, etc. We can prosper with a peace-based economy but that won’t happen until we demand it. We can start by reevaluating our unconditional military support of Israel used to oppress and kill Palestinians.