Reshaping US aid to the Palestinians

[Coyote]

I originally posted this in another thread as a response...but it's intriguing enough to deserve it's own discussion. I adamently oppose the Trump administration's unilateral cutting off of all aid to the Palestinians. Trump has no Middle East plan - all he believes in is punishing people into submission without regard to human suffering. However, this article offers some good ideas on how aid could be structured more effectively.



Reshaping US aid to the Palestinians

With prospects for diplomacy dim, with the need to change reality on the ground to restore a sense of possibility, and with past lessons showing that assistance should be used to promote development and reduce Israeli-Palestinian friction, we propose three recommendations for Congress to reprogram the $200 million fiscal 2018 monies to create a more stable economic, political and security environment in Gaza and the West Bank:

First, use that assistance to take water off the negotiating table. In the not too distant past, water negotiations were zero-sum, given the limited supply of water between the Mediterranean and Jordan River. Now, due to technological gains in water desalination, water use and reuse, water negotiations are no longer binary trade-offs. Instead, they can focus on the much simpler challenges of distribution and pricing.

What could this mean in practice? U.S. assistance in Gaza can fund a small solar field to power the existing Gaza Wastewater Treatment Plant, build up the community-based solar desalination units piloted by MIT, expand the UNICEF solar-fuel facility in Gaza’s Khan Younis neighborhood, initiate additional phases of the World Bank-funded North Gaza Emergency Sanitation Treatment plant, and repair water infrastructure degraded by three wars. Water also is directly linked to electricity; progress in water and sanitation will yield a better, more predictable power supply. There is real potential for small-scale, renewable power throughout Gaza, supplying energy at the community level while minimizing the risk of disruption historically associated with Gaza’s power plant.

Second, U.S. assistance should be used to substantially expand trade between Palestinians and Israelis. Consider the northern West Bank city of Jenin: Israel decided 15 years ago that if it opened a crossing point so Israeli Arabs could shop in the West Bank, it would be a stabilizer, even though the Second Intifada rebellion was ongoing. That calculation was successful; increased Palestinian trade has reduced unemployment in the northern West Bank from reportedly 50 percent in 2003 to below 20 percent now. These robust trading channels have opened sustainable opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses, improved local governance and fostered broad-based security for Palestinians and Israelis alike. In 2003, Jenin was the center for suicide bombers during the peak of the Second Intifada but now is one of the more successful Palestinian cities.

The Jenin model is replicable. American aid can help establish similar trading zones in the West Bank city of Qalqilya where Palestinian traders, shopkeepers and small businesses can sell directly to the large Israeli Arab community a few miles away. The Jenin model also can work in Gaza: Palestinian textile manufacturers have relationships with Israeli designers and European markets; Gaza historically supplied much of the fresh fruits and vegetables in Israel. These relationships could restart in months with the sustained, predictable opening of the Karem Shalom crossing and additional trading corridors from Erez or elsewhere.

Perhaps most interesting is the nascent but growing Gaza tech sector, where Gaza Sky Geeks is incubating Palestinian start-ups and more established firms are initiating software development with tech firms in Israel and beyond. Israel’s tech industry has more than 10,000 unfilled jobs which could be filled from the surplus of high-tech graduates in the West Bank and Gaza.

Third, education is a key foundation for a better future. Israelis and Americans have long criticized the Palestinian Authority for not educating its people for peace. Why not engage American universities and NGOs to elevate the Palestinian education system and prepare Palestinians for a 21st century economy? Bard College has provided long-term teacher training at Al Quds University in which teachers and principals earn an American master’s degree in education and serve as leaders in their schools. Imagine if education programming and people-to-people funding allowed the best cohort of Palestinian youth to study in Israeli universities, intern at Israeli high-tech firms, and do residencies at Israeli hospitals. ​

Well, let us consider what our financial aid results in. For Israel it results in endless worldly contributions for better lives, some of which are listed on the thread "Israel: Helping To Make A Better World." And for Palestinians --- you tell us. Fair enough?

Thread isnt about aid to Israel.

 

[Coyote]

I originally posted this in another thread as a response...but it's intriguing enough to deserve it's own discussion. I adamently oppose the Trump administration's unilateral cutting off of all aid to the Palestinians. Trump has no Middle East plan - all he believes in is punishing people into submission without regard to human suffering. However, this article offers some good ideas on how aid could be structured more effectively.

Maybe You don't understand Trump's strategy, the only time when such new ideas surface regarding actual positive changes in Palestinian society - is only when other options are left unavailable. And it works.
There's another likely strategy in negotiation management - one puts the best offer on the table at the very beginning. Each new stage of negotiations is reacted with a reduction of the offer. It works as well.

Also one has to remember that the people on the other side of the table are wealthy govt leaders who's main personal income has been international aid, but barely show any real investment or interest in the development of the society.

Reshaping US aid to the Palestinians

With prospects for diplomacy dim, with the need to change reality on the ground to restore a sense of possibility, and with past lessons showing that assistance should be used to promote development and reduce Israeli-Palestinian friction, we propose three recommendations for Congress to reprogram the $200 million fiscal 2018 monies to create a more stable economic, political and security environment in Gaza and the West Bank:

First, use that assistance to take water off the negotiating table. In the not too distant past, water negotiations were zero-sum, given the limited supply of water between the Mediterranean and Jordan River. Now, due to technological gains in water desalination, water use and reuse, water negotiations are no longer binary trade-offs. Instead, they can focus on the much simpler challenges of distribution and pricing.

What could this mean in practice? U.S. assistance in Gaza can fund a small solar field to power the existing Gaza Wastewater Treatment Plant, build up the community-based solar desalination units piloted by MIT, expand the UNICEF solar-fuel facility in Gaza’s Khan Younis neighborhood, initiate additional phases of the World Bank-funded North Gaza Emergency Sanitation Treatment plant, and repair water infrastructure degraded by three wars. Water also is directly linked to electricity; progress in water and sanitation will yield a better, more predictable power supply. There is real potential for small-scale, renewable power throughout Gaza, supplying energy at the community level while minimizing the risk of disruption historically associated with Gaza’s power plant.

Second, U.S. assistance should be used to substantially expand trade between Palestinians and Israelis. Consider the northern West Bank city of Jenin: Israel decided 15 years ago that if it opened a crossing point so Israeli Arabs could shop in the West Bank, it would be a stabilizer, even though the Second Intifada rebellion was ongoing. That calculation was successful; increased Palestinian trade has reduced unemployment in the northern West Bank from reportedly 50 percent in 2003 to below 20 percent now. These robust trading channels have opened sustainable opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses, improved local governance and fostered broad-based security for Palestinians and Israelis alike. In 2003, Jenin was the center for suicide bombers during the peak of the Second Intifada but now is one of the more successful Palestinian cities.

The Jenin model is replicable. American aid can help establish similar trading zones in the West Bank city of Qalqilya where Palestinian traders, shopkeepers and small businesses can sell directly to the large Israeli Arab community a few miles away. The Jenin model also can work in Gaza: Palestinian textile manufacturers have relationships with Israeli designers and European markets; Gaza historically supplied much of the fresh fruits and vegetables in Israel. These relationships could restart in months with the sustained, predictable opening of the Karem Shalom crossing and additional trading corridors from Erez or elsewhere.

Perhaps most interesting is the nascent but growing Gaza tech sector, where Gaza Sky Geeks is incubating Palestinian start-ups and more established firms are initiating software development with tech firms in Israel and beyond. Israel’s tech industry has more than 10,000 unfilled jobs which could be filled from the surplus of high-tech graduates in the West Bank and Gaza.

Third, education is a key foundation for a better future. Israelis and Americans have long criticized the Palestinian Authority for not educating its people for peace. Why not engage American universities and NGOs to elevate the Palestinian education system and prepare Palestinians for a 21st century economy? Bard College has provided long-term teacher training at Al Quds University in which teachers and principals earn an American master’s degree in education and serve as leaders in their schools. Imagine if education programming and people-to-people funding allowed the best cohort of Palestinian youth to study in Israeli universities, intern at Israeli high-tech firms, and do residencies at Israeli hospitals. ​

I see a plan to apply US aid, use of Israeli job-market, economy and campuses.
Q. What are the returns for the investment?

I understand Trumps strategy all to well. We saw it first hand when he ripped apart families at the border

 

[Dogmaphobe]

I originally posted this in another thread as a response...but it's intriguing enough to deserve it's own discussion. I adamently oppose the Trump administration's unilateral cutting off of all aid to the Palestinians. Trump has no Middle East plan - all he believes in is punishing people into submission without regard to human suffering. However, this article offers some good ideas on how aid could be structured more effectively.



Reshaping US aid to the Palestinians

With prospects for diplomacy dim, with the need to change reality on the ground to restore a sense of possibility, and with past lessons showing that assistance should be used to promote development and reduce Israeli-Palestinian friction, we propose three recommendations for Congress to reprogram the $200 million fiscal 2018 monies to create a more stable economic, political and security environment in Gaza and the West Bank:

First, use that assistance to take water off the negotiating table. In the not too distant past, water negotiations were zero-sum, given the limited supply of water between the Mediterranean and Jordan River. Now, due to technological gains in water desalination, water use and reuse, water negotiations are no longer binary trade-offs. Instead, they can focus on the much simpler challenges of distribution and pricing.

What could this mean in practice? U.S. assistance in Gaza can fund a small solar field to power the existing Gaza Wastewater Treatment Plant, build up the community-based solar desalination units piloted by MIT, expand the UNICEF solar-fuel facility in Gaza’s Khan Younis neighborhood, initiate additional phases of the World Bank-funded North Gaza Emergency Sanitation Treatment plant, and repair water infrastructure degraded by three wars. Water also is directly linked to electricity; progress in water and sanitation will yield a better, more predictable power supply. There is real potential for small-scale, renewable power throughout Gaza, supplying energy at the community level while minimizing the risk of disruption historically associated with Gaza’s power plant.

Second, U.S. assistance should be used to substantially expand trade between Palestinians and Israelis. Consider the northern West Bank city of Jenin: Israel decided 15 years ago that if it opened a crossing point so Israeli Arabs could shop in the West Bank, it would be a stabilizer, even though the Second Intifada rebellion was ongoing. That calculation was successful; increased Palestinian trade has reduced unemployment in the northern West Bank from reportedly 50 percent in 2003 to below 20 percent now. These robust trading channels have opened sustainable opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses, improved local governance and fostered broad-based security for Palestinians and Israelis alike. In 2003, Jenin was the center for suicide bombers during the peak of the Second Intifada but now is one of the more successful Palestinian cities.

The Jenin model is replicable. American aid can help establish similar trading zones in the West Bank city of Qalqilya where Palestinian traders, shopkeepers and small businesses can sell directly to the large Israeli Arab community a few miles away. The Jenin model also can work in Gaza: Palestinian textile manufacturers have relationships with Israeli designers and European markets; Gaza historically supplied much of the fresh fruits and vegetables in Israel. These relationships could restart in months with the sustained, predictable opening of the Karem Shalom crossing and additional trading corridors from Erez or elsewhere.

Perhaps most interesting is the nascent but growing Gaza tech sector, where Gaza Sky Geeks is incubating Palestinian start-ups and more established firms are initiating software development with tech firms in Israel and beyond. Israel’s tech industry has more than 10,000 unfilled jobs which could be filled from the surplus of high-tech graduates in the West Bank and Gaza.

Third, education is a key foundation for a better future. Israelis and Americans have long criticized the Palestinian Authority for not educating its people for peace. Why not engage American universities and NGOs to elevate the Palestinian education system and prepare Palestinians for a 21st century economy? Bard College has provided long-term teacher training at Al Quds University in which teachers and principals earn an American master’s degree in education and serve as leaders in their schools. Imagine if education programming and people-to-people funding allowed the best cohort of Palestinian youth to study in Israeli universities, intern at Israeli high-tech firms, and do residencies at Israeli hospitals. ​

Well, let us consider what our financial aid results in. For Israel it results in endless worldly contributions for better lives, some of which are listed on the thread "Israel: Helping To Make A Better World." And for Palestinians --- you tell us. Fair enough?

Thread isnt about aid to Israel.

Says the bully who orders people to attack Christians every time the discussion is about Islam . ......as far as aid to these particular Arabs, though, have they done to deserve any? All they use it for is try to kill Jews .

 

[Coyote]

I originally posted this in another thread in response to your post in another thread...

To be fair, no one has had a realistic plan to this situation for 70 years.

Every year that goes by puts the Palestinians in a worse bargaining position than before.

Being brought to the table, even by force, would be in their best interests.

Do you think defunding hospitaks and medical csre is the way to do it?

 

[Dogmaphobe]

I originally posted this in another thread as a response...but it's intriguing enough to deserve it's own discussion. I adamently oppose the Trump administration's unilateral cutting off of all aid to the Palestinians. Trump has no Middle East plan - all he believes in is punishing people into submission without regard to human suffering. However, this article offers some good ideas on how aid could be structured more effectively.

Maybe You don't understand Trump's strategy, the only time when such new ideas surface regarding actual positive changes in Palestinian society - is only when other options are left unavailable. And it works.
There's another likely strategy in negotiation management - one puts the best offer on the table at the very beginning. Each new stage of negotiations is reacted with a reduction of the offer. It works as well.

Also one has to remember that the people on the other side of the table are wealthy govt leaders who's main personal income has been international aid, but barely show any real investment or interest in the development of the society.

Reshaping US aid to the Palestinians

With prospects for diplomacy dim, with the need to change reality on the ground to restore a sense of possibility, and with past lessons showing that assistance should be used to promote development and reduce Israeli-Palestinian friction, we propose three recommendations for Congress to reprogram the $200 million fiscal 2018 monies to create a more stable economic, political and security environment in Gaza and the West Bank:

First, use that assistance to take water off the negotiating table. In the not too distant past, water negotiations were zero-sum, given the limited supply of water between the Mediterranean and Jordan River. Now, due to technological gains in water desalination, water use and reuse, water negotiations are no longer binary trade-offs. Instead, they can focus on the much simpler challenges of distribution and pricing.

What could this mean in practice? U.S. assistance in Gaza can fund a small solar field to power the existing Gaza Wastewater Treatment Plant, build up the community-based solar desalination units piloted by MIT, expand the UNICEF solar-fuel facility in Gaza’s Khan Younis neighborhood, initiate additional phases of the World Bank-funded North Gaza Emergency Sanitation Treatment plant, and repair water infrastructure degraded by three wars. Water also is directly linked to electricity; progress in water and sanitation will yield a better, more predictable power supply. There is real potential for small-scale, renewable power throughout Gaza, supplying energy at the community level while minimizing the risk of disruption historically associated with Gaza’s power plant.

Second, U.S. assistance should be used to substantially expand trade between Palestinians and Israelis. Consider the northern West Bank city of Jenin: Israel decided 15 years ago that if it opened a crossing point so Israeli Arabs could shop in the West Bank, it would be a stabilizer, even though the Second Intifada rebellion was ongoing. That calculation was successful; increased Palestinian trade has reduced unemployment in the northern West Bank from reportedly 50 percent in 2003 to below 20 percent now. These robust trading channels have opened sustainable opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses, improved local governance and fostered broad-based security for Palestinians and Israelis alike. In 2003, Jenin was the center for suicide bombers during the peak of the Second Intifada but now is one of the more successful Palestinian cities.

The Jenin model is replicable. American aid can help establish similar trading zones in the West Bank city of Qalqilya where Palestinian traders, shopkeepers and small businesses can sell directly to the large Israeli Arab community a few miles away. The Jenin model also can work in Gaza: Palestinian textile manufacturers have relationships with Israeli designers and European markets; Gaza historically supplied much of the fresh fruits and vegetables in Israel. These relationships could restart in months with the sustained, predictable opening of the Karem Shalom crossing and additional trading corridors from Erez or elsewhere.

Perhaps most interesting is the nascent but growing Gaza tech sector, where Gaza Sky Geeks is incubating Palestinian start-ups and more established firms are initiating software development with tech firms in Israel and beyond. Israel’s tech industry has more than 10,000 unfilled jobs which could be filled from the surplus of high-tech graduates in the West Bank and Gaza.

Third, education is a key foundation for a better future. Israelis and Americans have long criticized the Palestinian Authority for not educating its people for peace. Why not engage American universities and NGOs to elevate the Palestinian education system and prepare Palestinians for a 21st century economy? Bard College has provided long-term teacher training at Al Quds University in which teachers and principals earn an American master’s degree in education and serve as leaders in their schools. Imagine if education programming and people-to-people funding allowed the best cohort of Palestinian youth to study in Israeli universities, intern at Israeli high-tech firms, and do residencies at Israeli hospitals. ​

I see a plan to apply US aid, use of Israeli job-market, economy and campuses.
Q. What are the returns for the investment?

I understand Trumps strategy all to well. We saw it first hand when he ripped apart families at the border

This thread isn't about Mexican immigrants .

 

[Shusha]

I originally posted this in another thread in response to your post in another thread...

To be fair, no one has had a realistic plan to this situation for 70 years.

Every year that goes by puts the Palestinians in a worse bargaining position than before.

Being brought to the table, even by force, would be in their best interests.

Do you think defunding hospitaks and medical csre is the way to do it?

One has to ask themselves why Palestine is not funding their own hospitals.

 

[Shusha]

Not to mention the Canadian pointing out the irony of Americans demanding appropriately funded medical care for Palestinians.

 

[Coyote]

I originally posted this in another thread in response to your post in another thread...

To be fair, no one has had a realistic plan to this situation for 70 years.

Every year that goes by puts the Palestinians in a worse bargaining position than before.

Being brought to the table, even by force, would be in their best interests.

Do you think defunding hospitaks and medical csre is the way to do it?

One has to ask themselves why Palestine is not funding their own hospitals.

Look at their economy.

 

[Coyote]

Not to mention the Canadian pointing out the irony of Americans demanding appropriately funded medical care for Palestinians.

Not sure what you mean?

 

[Shusha]

I originally posted this in another thread in response to your post in another thread...

To be fair, no one has had a realistic plan to this situation for 70 years.

Every year that goes by puts the Palestinians in a worse bargaining position than before.

Being brought to the table, even by force, would be in their best interests.

Do you think defunding hospitaks and medical csre is the way to do it?

One has to ask themselves why Palestine is not funding their own hospitals.

Look at their economy.

Oh, I have been.

Your answer is that Palestine is incapable of providing basic services to its population, then, yes? As opposed to being capable, but choosing to spend money elsewhere.

 

[Coyote]

I originally posted this in another thread in response to your post in another thread...

To be fair, no one has had a realistic plan to this situation for 70 years.

Every year that goes by puts the Palestinians in a worse bargaining position than before.

Being brought to the table, even by force, would be in their best interests.

Do you think defunding hospitaks and medical csre is the way to do it?

One has to ask themselves why Palestine is not funding their own hospitals.

Look at their economy.

Oh, I have been.

Your answer is that Palestine is incapable of providing basic services to its population, then, yes?

Actually, there are a lot of countries around the world that require assistance of one sort or another as a result of war, failed states, economic or environmental collapse, or struggling development.

Not sure why the Palestinian people should be uniquely singled out as unworthy of humanitaian assistance.

 

[Shusha]

Actually, there are a lot of countries around the world that require assistance of one sort or another as a result of war, failed states, economic or environmental collapse, or struggling development.

Not sure why the Palestinian people should be uniquely singled out as unworthy of humanitaian assistance.

Well, you would have to convince me both that the CAUSE of the removal of voluntary aid is because Palestine is "unworthy", which is unlikely. You'd also have to convince me that it has "uniquely" been deprived of humanitarian assistance. Both of those appear to be appeals to emotion rather than valid arguments.

Yes, there are many countries in the world in need of assistance for a variety of reasons. The thing with Palestine is that a peace agreement, along with all the goodies that would come with it, is the SOLUTION to the problem. Yet they need to be pressured into accepting this solution to their people's suffering. Why is that, do you think?

 

[Coyote]

Actually, there are a lot of countries around the world that require assistance of one sort or another as a result of war, failed states, economic or environmental collapse, or struggling development.

Not sure why the Palestinian people should be uniquely singled out as unworthy of humanitaian assistance.

Well, you would have to convince me both that the CAUSE of the removal of voluntary aid is because Palestine is "unworthy", which is unlikely. You'd also have to convince me that it has "uniquely" been deprived of humanitarian assistance. Both of those appear to be appeals to emotion rather than valid arguments.

Yes, there are many countries in the world in need of assistance for a variety of reasons. The thing with Palestine is that a peace agreement, along with all the goodies that would come with it, is the SOLUTION to the problem. Yet they need to be pressured into accepting this solution to their people's suffering. Why is that, do you think?

Exactly why should they trust either the US or Israel's intentions regarding negotiatins at this point?

It is hardly an appeal to emotion. It is factual. The Trump administration is quietly stopping most if not all US assistance to the Palestinians. Assistence toIsraek is unaffected.

If this were aimed at Israel for its refusal to stop settlements you would label it anti-semitic.

 

[Shusha]

Actually, there are a lot of countries around the world that require assistance of one sort or another as a result of war, failed states, economic or environmental collapse, or struggling development.

Not sure why the Palestinian people should be uniquely singled out as unworthy of humanitaian assistance.

Well, you would have to convince me both that the CAUSE of the removal of voluntary aid is because Palestine is "unworthy", which is unlikely. You'd also have to convince me that it has "uniquely" been deprived of humanitarian assistance. Both of those appear to be appeals to emotion rather than valid arguments.

Yes, there are many countries in the world in need of assistance for a variety of reasons. The thing with Palestine is that a peace agreement, along with all the goodies that would come with it, is the SOLUTION to the problem. Yet they need to be pressured into accepting this solution to their people's suffering. Why is that, do you think?

Exactly why should they trust either the US or Israel's intentions regarding negotiatins at this point?

It is hardly an appeal to emotion. It is factual. The Trump administration is quietly stopping most if not all US assistance to the Palestinians. Assistence toIsraek is unaffected.

If this were aimed at Israel for its refusal to stop settlements you would label it anti-semitic.

That the Trump administration is stopping US funding to Palestine is factual. That the cause of it is because Palestinians are "unworthy" is an appeal to emotion.

And no, if the Trump administration stopped funding to Israel along with a demand to stop "settlement building" it would be the same as it is here -- political pressure. It only becomes anti-semitism when accompanied by rhetoric such as appeals to emotions.

 

[Shusha]

Exactly why should they trust either the US or Israel's intentions regarding negotiatins at this point?

What is not to trust in either the US or Israel's intentions with respect to a peace treaty based on mutual negotiations? The last offer gave the Palestinians EVERYTHING they asked for -- including ALL of East Jerusalem and ALL of the Jewish Holy Places. It was refused.

Somehow that makes Israel and the US not trustworthy?

 

[flacaltenn]

Exactly why should they trust either the US or Israel's intentions regarding negotiatins at this point?

The issue is "who is they".. Who's speaking for all the Palestinians? Which is the SAME ISSUE in sending foreign aid. Who is GETTING IT and managing it and distributing it? There is no real functional Palestinian Authority anymore. No one org to hold RESPONSIBLE for peace negotiations OR the use of foreign aid monies.

You know how I feel about pressuring Palestinians into a Western style nation govt that is not historically, culturally, acceptable to the way that Arabs naturally organize. They organize by tribal, sectarian, familial lines of authority. NOT a PLO or PA that just confirms their fears about graft and corruption and bias in distributing things.

That's largely why Hamas was able to make inroads in the West Bank elections. BECAUSE the Fatah dominated PA WAS filled with graft and corrruption and bias.

They NEED new leadership.. They NEED to negotiate. But the US and western powers expect to see a UNITY NATIONAL govt -- and that is why there's never been solutions to this problem..

 

[rylah]

Actually, there are a lot of countries around the world that require assistance of one sort or another as a result of war, failed states, economic or environmental collapse, or struggling development.

Not sure why the Palestinian people should be uniquely singled out as unworthy of humanitaian assistance.

Well, you would have to convince me both that the CAUSE of the removal of voluntary aid is because Palestine is "unworthy", which is unlikely. You'd also have to convince me that it has "uniquely" been deprived of humanitarian assistance. Both of those appear to be appeals to emotion rather than valid arguments.

Yes, there are many countries in the world in need of assistance for a variety of reasons. The thing with Palestine is that a peace agreement, along with all the goodies that would come with it, is the SOLUTION to the problem. Yet they need to be pressured into accepting this solution to their people's suffering. Why is that, do you think?

Exactly why should they trust either the US or Israel's intentions regarding negotiatins at this point?

It is hardly an appeal to emotion. It is factual. The Trump administration is quietly stopping most if not all US assistance to the Palestinians. Assistence toIsraek is unaffected.

If this were aimed at Israel for its refusal to stop settlements you would label it anti-semitic.

Would be both antisemitic and against US Law.
There's no equivalence between withdrawing support for people of an ethnic group simply because they live in an area that they're fully entitled to, versus de-funding a govt that uses US aid for salaries of convicted terrorists.

The issue of investment-return and risks were not remotely discussed yet.
The US is blamed as if they owe them something, but no one raised the concern of lack of basic guarantees that this aid won't eventually end up supporting anti-American activity.

 

[pismoe]

feck 'palistine' . This idea of American taxpayer money tp 'palis' is absurd .

 

[Shusha]

Would be both antisemitic and against US Law.
There's no equivalence between withdrawing support for people of an ethnic group simply because they live in an area that they're fully entitled to,
versus de-funding a govt that uses US aid for salaries of convicted terrorists.

The idea that people of Jewish ethnicity are not permitted to live in certain places in the world is absolutely, without question, at its core anti-semitic. The idea that a future Palestine must be Jew-free is also anti-semitic.

Prevention of Israeli unilateral "annexation" of disputed territory is not. But most people discussing "settlements" confuse the two.

 

[TNHarley]

I originally posted this in another thread in response to your post in another thread...

To be fair, no one has had a realistic plan to this situation for 70 years.

Every year that goes by puts the Palestinians in a worse bargaining position than before.

Being brought to the table, even by force, would be in their best interests.

Do you think defunding hospitaks and medical csre is the way to do it?

So the palis would rather fund terrorism than hospitals?
And you are on trumps ass? LOL