The current conflict has once again spark a controvesy on America's supposed "favourtism" of Israel. I watch with grim amusement as Bush continues to parrot statements about how this conflict is the Hezbollah's fault and how Syria should exert influence on these terrorist groups... blah... blah blah.
Yet, the moment anyone tries to study this favourtism, they are immediately labeled "Anti-Semitic"
Take for example these two fools: John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt.
All they did was publish a paper called 'The Israel Lobby'.
In it they questioned why a America has time and time again, supported measures and policies contra to America's own interests.
Here are some interesting facts they dug up:
1. Since the October War in 1973, Washington has provided Israel with a level of support dwarfing that given to any other state. It has been the largest annual recipient of direct economic and military assistance since 1976, and is the largest recipient in total since World War Two, to the tune of well over $140 billion (in 2004 dollars). Israel receives about $3 billion in direct assistance each year, roughly one-fifth of the foreign aid budget, and worth about $500 a year for every Israeli. This largesse is especially striking since Israel is now a wealthy industrial state with a per capita income roughly equal to that of South Korea or Spain.
2. Since 1982, the US has vetoed 32 Security Council resolutions critical of Israel, more than the total number of vetoes cast by all the other Security Council members. It blocks the efforts of Arab states to put Israel’s nuclear arsenal on the IAEA’s agenda. The US comes to the rescue in wartime and takes Israel’s side when negotiating peace. The Nixon administration protected it from the threat of Soviet intervention and resupplied it during the October War. Washington was deeply involved in the negotiations that ended that war, as well as in the lengthy ‘step-by-step’ process that followed, just as it played a key role in the negotiations that preceded and followed the 1993 Oslo Accords. In each case there was occasional friction between US and Israeli officials, but the US consistently supported the Israeli position.
3. Israel is often portrayed as David confronted by Goliath, but the converse is closer to the truth. Contrary to popular belief, the Zionists had larger, better equipped and better led forces during the 1947-49 War of Independence, and the Israel Defence Forces won quick and easy victories against Egypt in 1956 and against Egypt, Jordan and Syria in 1967 – all of this before large-scale US aid began flowing. Today, Israel is the strongest military power in the Middle East. Its conventional forces are far superior to those of its neighbours and it is the only state in the region with nuclear weapons. Egypt and Jordan have signed peace treaties with it, and Saudi Arabia has offered to do so. Syria has lost its Soviet patron, Iraq has been devastated by three disastrous wars and Iran is hundreds of miles away. The Palestinians barely have an effective police force, let alone an army that could pose a threat to Israel.
There is a lot more to tell but you can read it yourself at http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html
Oh, course now every academic representative and newpapers is after their throats with cries of "Anti-Semitism" and pitch-forks...
Right now, only the Brits are willing to publish their works... |
