Way too much of American dollars are going to Israel.

Why?

Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8ZxoSAVhG4&feature=player_embedded#at=51

This has got to stop.

Its extortion, it has to be.

Why else would we send them 6 - 10 billion dollars?

More Israel bashing.

Don't worry the entire Israel support from the U.S. is only
4% of the annual "International Affairs" budget. It isn't
making a dust speck on the U.S. budget and it is a negligible
matter in comparison of our real budget issues.



Just keep flogging the horse. You may re-animate it.
In the meantime we get to see a great new flogging.

You don't get to criticize Natanyahoo or Sharon or any of the extreme right-wing Isrealis at all, because that makes you anti-Semitic.

Exhibit A)



Exhibit B)




Which came first?

Your "random acts of kindness," or your hypocritical intuition?!

I know Ohio could use that kind of money and use it well.

Its just too much money for no reason. It does not make sense. It is not rational.

We, in this country, are wondering how to pay the interest on our national debt, people are losing their homes to foreclosure, floods, fires, tornadoes.

They are talking about privatizing and cutting our social security.

And I Israel gets 10 billion dollars? For what? Why?

That's the ticket.

How dare we as Americans speak out or speak up against or criticize Israel or Sharon, or our policy to hand over our tax dollars to them!

How dare we?

Since you are joking about antisemitism then perhaps I should
clarify your misconceptions about it!

Nah - you don't become antisemitic from criticizing Israelis or Jews...

It takes more effort than that. Let me add the bold emphasis to
the juicy part of the explanation below:



From the Wiki definition:

Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is "hatred toward Jews—individually and as a group—that can be attributed to the Jewish religion and/or ethnicity."[1] In its extreme form, it "attributes to the Jews an exceptional position among all other civilizations, defames them as an inferior group and denies their being part of the nation[s]" in which they reside.[2] A person who holds such views is called an "antisemite". Antisemitism may be manifested in many ways, ranging from individual expressions of hatred and discrimination against individual Jews to organized violent attacks by mobs, or even state police, or military attacks on entire Jewish communities. Extreme instances of persecution include the First Crusade of 1096, the expulsion from England in 1290, the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion from Spain in 1492, the expulsion from Portugal in 1497, various pogroms, the Dreyfus Affair, and the Holocaust by Nazi Germany.

While the term's etymology might suggest that antisemitism is directed against all Semitic peoples, the term was coined in the late 19th century in Germany as a more scientific-sounding term for Judenhass ("Jew-hatred"),[3] and that has been its normal use since then.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism

So slowhand are you anti-Semitic then?

Nah. I think that the Jews are fine. They have their wealthy and
powerful members who run banks and large businesses and governments
and take advantage of people.

But so does Christianity and Islam and Buddhism and Hinduism.
It is a across all religions and since there are so many many
many many more followers of Christianity and Islam and Buddhism
and Hinduism and Agnostics and Atheists in the world than the
few million Jews of the world then it is a much much much much
worse problem in terms of numbers with followers of those other
religious streams than with the tiny group of Jews.

Here are the numbers.



The jewish part of the pie is basically invisible...
from

http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm

Besides I know that the world anti-jewish conspiracy theories
of the Nazis were discredited almost a century ago and those
are a load of antisemitic garbage.

After what happened in WWII and because I have studied that
conflict I am particularly skeptical when anyone tries to blame
the Jews for stuff ~ especially with known false Nazi arguments.
And I know that there is nothing sinister about Zionism and
that the country they constructed in Israel is one of the best
countries in the world in terms of religious freedom, political
freedom and education in which to live.

So No, I would not consider myself an antisemite.

I am generally a very open and unbiased person and do not
discriminate based on religious affiliation or the lack of it
or on ethnic background or political philosophy etc.

Here is a good thread which gets to the essence of some of
the basic arguments for and against antisemitic theories.

http://mingle2.com/topic/show/304030?page=12

So do you believe that all Jews are "Semites?"

As it points out in the definition above... Antisemitism is
synonymous with Judenhass so it is a non-issue. You can use
the term Jew-hater instead if you prefer it - same thing.

Jews come in every ethnicity pretty much all over the world
like most any other religious group. There are just very few
Jews left especially after WWII. But all Jews are just as
Jewish regardless of their ethnic heritage. Just like a
Mediterranean Christian is just as Christian as an Australian
Christian or an Indonesian Muslim is just as Muslim as a Muslim
from Saudi Arabia or an Atheist from Japan is just as Atheist as an
Atheist from Denmark. Here read it again more carefully.



Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is "hatred toward Jews—individually and as a group—that can be attributed to the Jewish religion and/or ethnicity."[1] In its extreme form, it "attributes to the Jews an exceptional position among all other civilizations, defames them as an inferior group and denies their being part of the nation[s]" in which they reside.[2] A person who holds such views is called an "antisemite". Antisemitism may be manifested in many ways, ranging from individual expressions of hatred and discrimination against individual Jews to organized violent attacks by mobs, or even state police, or military attacks on entire Jewish communities. Extreme instances of persecution include the First Crusade of 1096, the expulsion from England in 1290, the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion from Spain in 1492, the expulsion from Portugal in 1497, various pogroms, the Dreyfus Affair, and the Holocaust by Nazi Germany.

While the term's etymology might suggest that antisemitism is directed against all Semitic peoples, the term was coined in the late 19th century in Germany as a more scientific-sounding term for Judenhass ("Jew-hatred"),[3] and that has been its normal use since then.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism

The US does not hand Israel a check each year for the aid amount.

Part of the "package" is to give Israel slightly obsolete weapons systems to bolster their ability to defend themselves from the hostility which surrounds them. All of the weapons are not obsolete.
The larger market for the weapons creates US jobs and, through volume, causes less cost per unit to US weapons purchases.

Part of the "package" is to support Israeli intelligence and surveillance operations that the US would either do or want done in the area to keep track of hostile nation's forces, terrorism, and politics.

Part of the "package" is to fund joint operations in the case of an attack on Iran, etc.

Part of the "package" is pure anti terrorism operations.

And part of the package goes to pay off their spies in the US as in the Pollard case.


But by far the most egregious damage done by Pollard was to steal classified documents relating to the US Nuclear Deterrent relative to the USSR and send them to Israel. According to sources in the US State Department, Israel then turned around and traded those stolen nuclear secrets to the USSR in exchange for increased emigration quotas from the USSR to Israel. Other information that found its way from the US to Israel to the USSR resulted in the loss of American agents operating inside the USSR. Casper Weinberger, in his affidavit opposing a reduced sentence for Pollard, described the damage done to the United States thus, "[It is] difficult to conceive of a greater harm to national security than that caused by... Pollard's treasonous behavior."

http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/motherofallscandals.php

We should not be supporting anyone when we are 14 tril in dept.

A Synopsis of the
Israel/Palestine Conflict
The following is a very short synopsis of the history of this conflict. We recommend that you also read the much more detailed account, "The Origin of the Palestine-Israel Conflict."

Synopsis of History & Toll of the Conflict – One-Page Flyer



For centuries there was no such conflict. In the 19th century the land of Palestine was inhabited by a multicultural population – approximately 86 percent Muslim, 10 percent Christian, and 4 percent Jewish – living in peace.

Zionism
In the late 1800s a group in Europe decided to colonize this land. Known as Zionists, they represented an extremist minority of the Jewish population. Their goal was to create a Jewish homeland, and they considered locations in Africa and the Americas, before settling on Palestine.


Historic Palestine
more maps

At first, this immigration created no problems. However, as more and more Zionists immigrated to Palestine – many with the express wish of taking over the land for a Jewish state – the indigenous population became increasingly alarmed. Eventually, fighting broke out, with escalating waves of violence. Hitler's rise to power, combined with Zionist activities to sabotage efforts to place Jewish refugees in western countries, led to increased Jewish immigration to Palestine, and conflict grew.

UN Partition Plan
Finally, in 1947 the United Nations decided to intervene. However, rather than adhering to the principle of “self-determination of peoples,” in which the people themselves create their own state and system of government, the UN chose to revert to the medieval strategy whereby an outside power divides up other people’s land.


UN Plan of Partition
more maps

Under considerable Zionist pressure, the UN recommended giving away 55% of Palestine to a Jewish state – despite the fact that this group represented only about 30% of the total population, and owned under 7% of the land.

1947-1949 War
While it is widely reported that the resulting war eventually included five Arab armies, less well known is the fact that throughout this war Zionist forces outnumbered all Arab and Palestinian combatants combined – often by a factor of two to three. Moreover, Arab armies did not invade Israel – virtually all battles were fought on land that was to have been the Palestinian state.

Finally, it is significant to note that Arab armies entered the conflict only after Zionist forces had committed 16 massacres, including the grisly massacre of over 100 men, women, and children at Deir Yassin. Future Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, head of one of the Jewish terrorist groups, described this as “splendid,” and stated: “As in Deir Yassin, so everywhere, we will attack and smite the enemy. God, God, Thou has chosen us for conquest.” Zionist forces committed 33 massacres altogether.

By the end of the war, Israel had conquered 78 percent of Palestine; three-quarters of a million Palestinians had been made refugees; over 500 towns and villages had been obliterated; and a new map was drawn up, in which every city, river and hillock received a new, Hebrew name, as all vestiges of the Palestinian culture were to be erased. For decades Israel denied the existence of this population, former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir once saying: “There is no such thing as a Palestinian.”


1967 Occupation
more maps

1967 War & USS Liberty
In 1967, Israel conquered still more land. Following the Six Day War, in which Israeli forces launched a highly successful surprise attack on Egypt, Israel occupied the final 22% of Palestine that had eluded it in 1948 – the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Since, according to international law it is inadmissible to acquire territory by war, these are occupied territories and do not belong to Israel. It also occupied parts of Egypt (since returned) and Syria (which remain under occupation).

Also during the Six Day War, Israel attacked a US Navy ship, the USS Liberty, killing and injuring over 200 American servicemen. President Lyndon Johnson recalled rescue flights, saying that he did not want to "embarrass an ally." (In 2004 a high-level commission chaired by Admiral Thomas Moorer, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, found this attack to be “an act of war against the United States,” a fact few news media have reported.)

Current Conflict
There are two primary issues at the core of this continuing conflict. First, there is the inevitably destabilizing effect of trying to maintain an ethnically preferential state, particularly when it is largely of foreign origin. The original population of what is now Israel was 96 percent Muslim and Christian, yet, these refugees are prohibited from returning to their homes in the self-described Jewish state (and those within Israel are subjected to systematic discrimination).

Second, Israel's continued military occupation and confiscation of privately owned land in the West Bank, and control over Gaza, are extremely oppressive, with Palestinians having minimal control over their lives. Over 10,000 Palestinian men, women, and children are held in Israeli prisons. Few of them have had a legitimate trial; Physical abuse and torture are frequent. Palestinian borders (even internal ones) are controlled by Israeli forces. Periodically men, women, and children are strip searched; people are beaten; women in labor are prevented from reaching hospitals (at times resulting in death); food and medicine are blocked from entering Gaza, producing an escalating humanitarian crisis. Israeli forces invade almost daily, injuring, kidnapping, and sometimes killing inhabitants.

According to the Oslo peace accords of 1993, these territories were supposed to finally become a Palestinian state. However, after years of Israel continuing to confiscate land and conditions steadily worsening, the Palestinian population rebelled. (The Barak offer, widely reputed to be generous, was anything but.) This uprising, called the "Intifada" (Arabic for "shaking off") began at the end of September 2000.

U.S. Involvement
Largely due to special-interest lobbying, U.S. taxpayers give Israel an average of $7 million per day, and since its creation have given more U.S. funds to Israel than to any other nation. As Americans learn about how Israel is using our tax dollars, many are calling for an end to this expenditure.

Notes
Recommended Reading: "The Origin of the Palestine-Israel Conflict."


http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/

This is a poor and biased synopsis.

It omits the long and well documented presence of the state of Israel
prior - one of the first documented nations of the world founded at
that location with Jerusalem as it's capitol and with the city of
Hebron named for the jews living there.



That is true Historic Palestine. This "synopsis" ignores the existence
of Judea and the ancient roots of Israel.

Here is a map of the Roman empire ~ 150AD showing Judea stretching
from Syria in the north to Egypt in the south for example.



It is true that jews began migrating there looking for a safe haven
during WWII and that eventually led to civil war but this cannot be
blamed on the jewish settlers the majority of which were refugees from
neighboring Muslim countries where their homes and possessions
and land were confiscated without compensation.

The jews living in Israel at the time welcomed the refugees in whether
they were Zionists or not.

Here is a map of the British mandate showing areas "closed to jewish settlement".



Here are the 1949 armistice lines:



In war of Israel on the one hand and multiple countries surrounding
it on the other hand, the Israelis prevailed. There were massacres
and many killed on both sides but the article above singles out
and unjustly blames Israel although it was defending itself from
enemies on all sides hell bent on elimination of the Israelis.

from the Wiki:
=-=-=-=-=
On 15 May 1947 the UN appointed a committee, the UNSCOP, composed of representatives from eleven states. To make the committee more neutral, none of the Great Powers were represented.[22] After five weeks of in-country study, the commission recommended creating a partitioned state with separate territories for the Jews and the Arabs in Palestine. This "two state solution" was accepted with resolution 181 by the UN General Assembly in November 1947 by 33 votes to 13 with 10 abstentions. The Arab states, which constituted the Arab League, voted against. On the ground, Arab and Jewish Palestinians were fighting openly to control strategic positions in the region. Several major atrocities were committed by both sides.[23]
=-=-=-=-=


The declaration of war by all the neighboring countries which
immediately followed the UN recognition of Israel is ignored in
this synopsis.

more from the Wiki

=-=-=-=-=
On 14 May 1948, the day the Mandate officially ended and the day before the bulk of the remaining British troops departed, Israel declared its independence and sovereignty, though without specifying borders. The next day, the Arab League reiterated officially their opposition to the "two-state solution" in a letter to the UN.[26] That day, the armies of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq invaded the territory partitioned for the Arab state, marking the beginning of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The nascent Israeli Defense Force repulsed the Arab nations from part of the occupied territories, thus extending its borders beyond the original UNSCOP partition.[27] By December 1948, Israel controlled most of the portion of Mandate Palestine west of the Jordan River. The remainder of the Mandate consisted of Jordan, the area that came to be called the West Bank (controlled by Jordan), and the Gaza Strip (controlled by Egypt).
=-=-=-=-=


Golda Meir's quote that "There is no such thing as a Palestinian.”
is taken out of context. She correctly was pointing out that the
refugees were not indigenous peoples but were themselves immigrants
from various neighboring Arab countries as there had never been any
country on the land designated as Israel other than Judea or Turkey
etc.


About the 1967 war...from the Wiki:

=-=-=-=-=-=
In 1956, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, and blockaded the Gulf of Aqaba, in contravention of the Constantinople Convention of 1888. Many argued that this was also a violation of the 1949 Armistice Agreements.[38][39] On July 26, 1956, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal Company, and closed the canal to Israeli shipping.[40]

Israel responded on October 29, 1956, by invading the Sinai Peninsula with British and French support. During the Suez Canal Crisis, Israel captured the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula. The United States and the United Nations soon pressured it into a ceasefire.[40][41] Israel agreed to withdraw from Egyptian territory. Egypt agreed to freedom of navigation in the region and the demilitarization of the Sinai. The United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was created and deployed to oversee the demilitarization.[42] The UNEF was only deployed on the Egyptian side of the border, as Israel refused to allow them on its territory.[43]

The PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) was first established in 1964, under a charter including a commitment to "[t]he liberation of Palestine [which] will destroy the Zionist and imperialist presence..." (PLO Charter, Article 22, 1968).

On May 19, 1967, Egypt expelled UNEF observers,[44] and deployed 100,000 soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula.[45] It again closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping,[46][47] returning the region to the way it was in 1956 when Israel was blockaded.

On May 30, 1967, Jordan signed a mutual defense pact with Egypt. Egypt mobilized Sinai units, crossing UN lines (after having expelled the UN border monitors) and mobilized and massed on Israel's southern border. On June 5, Israel launched an attack on Egypt. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) destroyed most of the Egyptian Air Force in a surprise attack, then turned east to destroy the Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi air forces.[citation needed] This strike was the crucial element in Israel's victory in the Six-Day War.[45][47] At the war's end, Israel had gained control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem, Shebaa farms, and the Golan Heights. The results of the war affect the geopolitics of the region to this day.

=-=-=-=-=

Other howlingly bad misrepresentations from your "Synopsis"
One-page-Liar

There are little if any indications of any torture of Pal prisoners
by Israel. Red cross and other visitor are permitted etc.

On the other hand widespread torture of Pals by their own terrorist
organizations and govt agencies, Hamas, Fatah, Al-Aqsa etc have been
widely reported and verified.

Humanitarian Aid by the Israelis and Israeli assistance to the UN
in protecting the Palestinians is ignored.

Continuing terrorist attacks and failure to recognize the legitimacy
of Israel are ignored.

US aid to Israel is overdramatized although it is less than 4% of
our annual Intl Affaris budget and only represents about 1% of the
Israel national budget for one of our closest, best and most
terrorized allies.

Barak's offer to Arafat is falsely discounted...



=-=-=-=
But there is a highly specific and authoritative source for the details of the offers. Dennis Ross was the chief Middle East negotiator for both Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. He was intimately involved in the negotiations from start to finish. Here is what he said about the final Clinton-Barak offer:

In actuality, Clinton offered two different proposals at two different times. In July, he offered a partial proposal on territory and control of Jerusalem. Five months later, at the request of Ehud Barak, the Israeli prime minister, and Arafat, Clinton presented a comprehensive proposal on borders, Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees and security. The December proposals became known as the Clinton ideas or parameters.

The Clinton parameters would have produced an independent Palestinian state with 100 percent of Gaza, roughly 97 percent of the West Bank and an elevated train or highway to connect them. Jerusalem’s status would have been guided by the principle that what is currently Jewish will be Israeli and what is currently Arab will be Palestinian, meaning that Jewish Jerusalem — East and West — would be united, while Arab East Jerusalem would become the capital of the Palestinian state…

Since the talks fell apart, there has emerged a mythology that seeks to defend Arafat’s rejection of the Clinton ideas by suggesting they weren’t real or that Palestinians would have received far less than what had been advertised.

Arafat himself later claimed he was not offered even 90 percent of the West Bank or any of East Jerusalem. But that was myth, not reality.
=-=-=-=-=

http://fresnozionism.org/2008/08/baraks-generous-offer-was-not-a-myth/

For a more legitimate synopsis read instead the alternate discussion here;

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mftoc.html

Myths & Facts Online
A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict
By Mitchell G. Bard

Preface
Israel’s Roots
The Mandatory Period
Partition
The War of 1948
The Road to Suez
The 1967 Six-Day War
Between the Wars
The War of Attrition, 1967-1970
The 1973 Yom Kippur War
Boundaries
Israel and Lebanon
The Gulf War
The United Nations
The Refugees
The Treatment of Jews in Arab/Islamic Countries
Human Rights in Arab Countries
Human Rights in Israel and the Territories
The Palestinian Uprisings
Jerusalem
U.S. Middle East Policy
The Peace Process
Settlements
The Arms Balance
The Media
Canada-Israel Relations
Online Exclusives
Arab/Muslim Attitudes Toward Israel
Index of Myths
Key Documents
Vital Statistics

I envision a middle east that consists of Israel!