Op-ed: We should stop military aid to Israel

By Emma Johnson

“We should stop military aid to Israel,” Midland Daily News, 5 Feb 2018: 6A. Online. http://www.ourmidland.com/opinion/voices/article/We-should-stop-military-aid-to-Israel-12551246.php

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What would you do for the City of Midland with an extra $8.6 million in the yearly budget?

Would you put more money into our schools? Fund healthcare? Improve our infrastructure? Propose a tax cut?

Midland could have an extra $8.6 million in its budget but, instead, our city contributes $8,634,511 in aid to Israel every year. This $8.6 million pays for weapons to bomb Palestinian civilians, including women and children, and subsidizes new Israeli settlements that are illegal according to international law.

How was the $8.6 million figure calculated?

In 2007, the U.S. pledged $30 billion in military aid to Israel. Statistics from the IRS provide the data needed to calculate the percentage each state contributed toward federal taxes. To estimate each city's contribution, figures from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006-2008 estimates were used. Multiplying the city's population by its per capita income in the past 12 months (in 2008 inflation-adjusted dollars) showed the percentage of each city's contribution to its state's share of federal taxes.

In May, I went on a delegation to Palestine/Israel and saw used tear gas canisters littering the ground. I saw how our money erected the wall and checkpoints that divide families, make it difficult for students to attend university, and render commerce nearly impossible for Palestinians. Our taxes pay for bulldozers to demolish Palestinian homes, leaving Palestinians homeless so Israeli settlers can move in. There I was 6,000 miles away and my tax money had arrived well before me.

While attending a meeting at the United Nations in East Jerusalem, I couldn't count the number of times the presenter said that Israel was in violation of international law. When asked what practical steps were being taken for reform, she said that the international community has not imposed any systems of accountability onto Israel, despite its repeated disregard for the Geneva Convention.

So, why do we send Israel so much money in aid?

Some argue that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. However, granting citizens rights contingent on race and religion is not democracy. Others say it is for oil and natural gas; all the more reason to invest in green energy! Still others say we need to maintain our "special relationship" with Israel for stability. But are we safer when we increase income inequality and disenfranchise populations, in this case the Palestinians?

To find the real answer, follow the money and see where it goes.

Last year President Barack Obama pledged $38 billion to Israel over the next 10 years. Although this was contingent on stopping new settlement construction, a week later they resumed anyway. We didn't even admonish Israel and the settlements continue to be built.

Settlers are provided private security by the Israeli government for free, but it isn't the Israeli military that's protecting over 550,000 settlers. Instead, the Israeli government uses the private contractor Blackwater, while Hewlett-Packard provides the computer software and cards used at checkpoints to control flows in and out of the area. Magal constructs the wall on the West Bank. In fact, 75 percent of weapons Israel uses with our aid must be purchased from the U.S. (New legislation is phasing the requirement to 100 percent.)

Occupation is big business.

Lobbyists for the military-industrial complex, which President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned about, make large campaign contributions to the U.S. Congress to uphold the status quo. Israel perpetuates the myth that Arabs and Muslims are terrorists to justify the weapons contracts. And Israel has been good at upholding the narrative, in tandem with the U.S. media, which perpetuates the Eurocentric point of view that labels Middle Easterners as "other," and therefore not worthy of as many rights. This xenophobia serves to justify the unjustifiable.

American values say that everyone should be treated equally and that everyone deserves human rights, no matter our ethnicity, race, or religion. If Israel's actions go against what America stands for, then we need to spend our money in a way that reflects those values. We should spend our money at home, in Michigan.

Instead of sending military aid to Israel (a country that already has a per capita income of $50,000 per citizen) to fund violations of international law, this money could be spent on programs that create positive change in the U.S.

Instead of funding programs that are in violation of international law, $8.6 million of our tax dollars could provide 6,993 Midlanders with health care, 143 Midlanders with green jobs training, 105 Midlanders with affordable housing, or 255 children with access to early reading programs.

Breaking international law and violating human rights are not American values. Supporting an equitable present and future at home is a better alternative.