Copyright (c) 1997 - Ingrid A. Rimland
"Israel also has stepped up its use of torture, which recently included beating a man to death while he was bound in a hospital emergency room. Khalil Abu Diayeh, a 37-year-old Palestinian, who lived with his wife and five children in Bethlehem, was detained in Jerusalem and held because he did not have his identity (card) with him when he was stopped by Israeli policemen.
Officially an Israeli citizen and resident of East Jerusalem, Abu Diayeh did not need permission to be in the city as is the case with West Bank Palestinians. For this reason, according to his wife, he forgot to carry his ID to the Al-Aqsa mosque, where he was arrested in mid-May.
Abu Daiyeh was taken to a nearby hospital after having sustained severe injuries while in custody for several days in the infamous Russian Compound. While being brought into the emergency room at the Sha-arei Tzedek hospital, some 30 people, including members of the hospital staff, witnessed Abu Daiyeh being beaten by Israeli policemen and, some witnesses said, by hospital guards.
Although Abu Daiyeh's arms and legs were shackled, the policemen claimed he had attacked them. (...)
Abu Daiyeh died during the 20-minute beating in the emergency room or immediately thereafter."
Now should I tell you that the Hebrew name of that hospital translates to
"Gates of Truth" and whose director is a prominent "human
rights" activist?
Over and over I hear the argument that pummeling the "Holocaust"
is of little relevance to the average American, born after the war and with
neither background nor curiosity to delve into the unsavory matter.
"Even IF the Holocaust is nothing but a lie," so goes the vapid
argument, "would anything be different if it were exposed?"
"Who cares?" - so goes the chorus.
We must. It is immoral not to care. People are being tortured and killed,
without anyone being the wiser. They are being tortured and killed because
we are silent and permit it-for fear that if we speak up and point a finger
at the culprits, somebody might shriek: "Nazi!"
Smears are effective political weapons. They paralyze us morally. Not only
that, we even finance them.
I'll show you by example:
The letter below was written by a West Coast resident and addressed ".
. . to each of 16 directors listed on mastheads of the Seattle Times and
Post-Intelligencer", May 16, 1997. It is a letter that speaks for itself:
"When I returned from a short trip and read the editorial on torture (of Palestinians by Israelis) in the May 11 Post -Intelligencer, I thought the Second Coming must be at hand.
This is the first time in the eight years I have been concerned when I have seen an issue discussed by a major newspaper in "Americanese", with black called black, and neither ignored nor called white.
This lack of honesty in discussing the Middle East situation has contributed to 50 years of war and conflict in the Middle East, and has cost us dearly, both in international respect for our integrity, and in dollars.
Although we American citizens remain ignorant, the world is not deceived when the US hesitates to give China "favored nation" status, but supports Israel, whose abuses of human rights are far worse than China's.
The world is not ignorant of the US's lack of integrity when we preach support for human rights, but on resolutions attacking Israel's human rights abuses, such as the one this Spring, 130 nations vote "Yes" and only the US and Israel vote "No."
There is only one reason for that conflict. Israel would not accept 1947 United Nation's Partition of Palestine even though it was exceedingly generous. At that time Jews owned only 6 percent of the land, were 31 percent of the population, but were given 55 percent of Palestine.
Before Israel's declaration of independence on May 15, 1948, the Zionists had "cleansed" 400,000 Palestinians, with an additional 400,000 ejected forever from their homes by the end of the year. More than 394 Palestinian villages and towns were obliterated.
The same process is still in progress, although with more sophisticated procedures and the use of the term "settlements," making the process sound normal to American ears.
If you, in the media, had been reporting the issue of settlements in the same "Americanese" as the issue of torture in Sunday's editorial, the American public would not have permitted the billions of dollars to be given to Israel in support of actions which are in direct violation of both US laws and the principles upon which our country was founded.
What kind of billions are we talking about?
The Congressional Research Service lists foreign aid by year, every year, with the exception of 1950. It does not list certain other costs included in departmental budgets such as the Defense Department, interest costs, or even the loan guarantees. However, with all these exclusions, the total is over $82,000,000,000 ($82 billion).
Every dollar has been a deficit dollar upon which we must pay interest until it is repaid. This will not be in your lifetime or mine. However, at the current government interest rate of about 7 percent, interest alone will add $5,740 billion this year before 1997 "aid" is included.
Billions of dollars are beyond our comprehension. Let us reduce this to figures we can comprehend. Since the single reason for this conflict has been and continues to be more land, let's talk in those terms.
Essentially, our $82 billion have been given for settlements.
There are 160,000 settlers now in the occupied territories which Israel wishes to retain. Counting five individuals per family, this totals 32,000 families.
Simple arithmetic gives an understandable answer. Israel's refusal to accept the United Nations' 1947 Partition has cost the United States $2,562,500 per Israeli settler family!
This does not include interest cost, which will continue far, far into the future.
The question: From a business standpoint, have we gotten our money's worth? Could this money have been spent more profitably within the United States . . . ?"
So you see - the question of Revisionism is not moot. The issue is not at
all the "Holocaust" but the USE to which the "Holocaust"
is put. Would America continue to pay through the nose - if Americans understood
how the "Holocaust" translates - into torture and death for innocent
people, and debt for our children?
Think about it. More than 2.5 million per Israeli settler family!
For that kind of money, wisely and prudently used, Americans could have
long bought themselves a little paradise on earth.
Ingrid
Thought for the Day:
"Clinton is Clinton. He speaks nice words and says he will do something."
(Pat McDonnell Twair)