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Today's
Stories
February 20 / 22, 2004
Ghada Karmi
Sharon is not the Problem
February 19, 2004
Cecilie Surasky
Anti-Semitism
at the World Social Forum? That's Not What I Saw
Ray McGovern
Iraq
Hawks and Deceptive Intelligence: Did They Really Think They'd
Get Away With It?
Tariq Ali
How Far
Will Bush Go in Iraq?
Ralph Nader
Whither
the Nation?
Wayne Madsen
Would Kerry Purge the Neo-Cons?
Norman Solomon
The Collapse of Dean's Cyber-Bubble
Christopher Brauchli
Cheney, Halliburton and the NYT
Mike Whitney
Bush's Iraq Strategy: "I Hope They Kill Each Other"
Lewis Carroll
Bush the Mighty Helmsman from Yale
Website of the Day
Sex Toy Horoscope
February 18, 2004
William Wilgus
Bush:
AWOL and Dereliction of Duty
William Blum
Mush-Minded
Liberals
Dave Lindorff
Bush's China Syndrome
Greg Weiher
Why
is Kerry Getting a Pass?
Mike Griffin
Killing the Messenger: the AFL-CIO's Attack on Harry Kelber
Mark Hand
Kerry Tells Peace Movement to "Move On"
February 17, 2004
Mike Ferner
The
Countryside Murders in Iraq
Mokhiber / Weissman
Corporation
as Psychopath
Marjorie Cohn
DrakeGate:
a Victory for Free Speech
Kurt Nimmo
Bush's
Endgame: a Review of Chalmers Johnson's "Sorrows of Empire"
Greg Bates
Nader Ambush: a New Low for The
Nation
Ximena Ortiz
A Bush
Doctrine, of Sorts
Gary Leupp
Whatever Happened to Gen. Khazraji?
Sen. John Kerry
"The Cause of Israel is the Cause of America"
Steve Perry
Kerry
1, Drudge 0
February 16, 2004
James Johnston
Huddling
with the Cheeseheads in a NASCAR World
Sara Eltantawi
To
Wear the Hijab or Not
Bruce Anderson
Kevin
Cooper and the Midnight Needle
Elaine Cassel
Feds
on Campus: the Drake Subpoenas
Rahul Mahajan
Bush,
Is the Tide Finally Turning?
Kevin Cooper
The Ritual of Death
Stan Cox
Goodbye, Howard Dean
Larry David
My War
Steve Perry
Bush and the Guard: the Cover-Up's the Thing
Website of the Day
Prison Patriots: Help This Vital Film Get Made
February 14/15, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Milk Bars, Hollywood and the
March of Empires
Jeffrey St. Clair
Oil Grab in the Arctic
William A. Cook
Faith-Based Fanatics
Stan Goff
Beloved
Haiti
Dave Marsh / Lee Ballinger
Rock, Rap & the Election
Hughes / Weiher
Tupac, the Patriot Act and Me
Michael Colby
Bush v. Kerry: the Power Elite's Dream Ballot
Mickey Z.
Michael Moore's Lesser Party: the General and the Lieutenant
Josh Frank
Dean's Demise No Big Loss for the Left
Peter Wolson
The Politics of Narcissism
William James Martin
Clean Break with the Road Map
Daniel Estulin
Religious Extremism in Africa
Standard Schaefer
The Privatization of Culture: an Interview with Michael Hudson
Dave Zirin
Maurice Clarett Gets Off the Plantation
Tracy McLellan
Oprah's Birthday Greedfest
Poets' Basement
Holt, LaMorticella, Guthrie, Subiet and Albert
Website of the Weekend
Progressives Scorecard: Where Do the Dems Rank on the Issues
That Matter?
February 13, 2004
Alan Maass
Kevin
Cooper's Fight to Live
Karyn Strickler
McCarthyism in the Sierra Club
Annie Higgins
On
a Street in America
Adam Federman
Democratic Snipers Target Nader
Mike Whitney
George W. Faces the Nation
Brian Cloughley
Our Imperial Leader Has Spoken
Website of the Day
Lying Action Figure Doll
February 12, 2004
Ray McGovern
George
Tenet's Spin Cycle
Robert Jensen
Bush's
Nuclear Hypocrisy
Saul Landau
Elegy to the Salton Sea
February
11, 2004
Cockburn
/ St. Clair
Hail, Kerry: Senator Facing-Both-Ways
Steve Perry
Bush
v. Bush?
February
10, 2004
Kurt
Nimmo
Inquisition in Iowa
Ron Jacobs
Politics and the Beatles: Don't
You Know You Can Count Me Out (In)
Elizabeth
Schulte
The Many Faces of John Kerry
Mickey
Z
Meet the Oxmans: "The Rich
Shouldn't Sleep at Night Either"
February
9, 2004
Michael
Donnelly
Will Skull and Bones Really Change
CEOs? Inside John Kerry's Closet
Chris Floyd
Smells Like Team Spirit: the Bush
B-Boys Replay Their Greatest Hits
Bill
Christison
What's Wrong with the CIA?
Dr. Susan
Block
Janet Jackson's Mammary Moment:
Boob Tube Super Bowl
February
7/8, 2004
Kathleen
Christison
Offending Valerie: Dealing with
Jewish Self-Absorption
Jeff Ballinger
No Sweat Shopping
Dave
Lindorff
Spray and Pray in Iraq: a Marine
in Transit
Alexander
Cockburn
McNamara: the Sequel
February
6, 2004
Ron
Jacobs
Are the Kurds in the Way?
Joanne
Mariner
Anita Bryant's Legacy
Saul
Landau
Happiness and Botox
Kurt Nimmo
Horror Non-fiction: A How-To Guide
from Perle and Frum
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
The Real Intelligence Failure:
Our Own
February
5, 2004
Benjamin
Shepard
Turning NYC into a Patriot Act Free
Zone
Khury
Petersen-Smith
A Report from Occupied Iraq: "We Don't Want Army USA"
Mokhiber
/ Weissman
The 10 Worst Corporations of 2003
Teresa
Josette
The Exeuctioner's Pslam? Christian Nation? Yeah, Right
David Krieger
Why Dr. King's Message on Vietnam is Relevant to Iraq
Christopher
Brauchli
Monkey Business: Of Recess and Evolution in Georgia Schools
Norman
Solomon
The Deadly Lies of Reliable Sources
Cockburn
/ St. Clair
Presenting President Edwards!
February
4, 2004
Brian
McKinlay
Bush's Australian Deputy: Howard's
Last Round Up?
Mark
Gaffney
Ariel Sharon's Favorite Senator: Ron Wyden and Israel
Judith
Brown
Palestine and the Media
Frederick
B. Hudson
Moseley-Braun and the Butcher: Campaign for Justice or Big Oil's
Junta?
Kurt Nimmo
Bush's Independent Commission: Exonerating
the Spooks
M.
Junaid Alam
Philly School Workers Fight for Fair Contract
Fran Shor
Whose Boob Tube?
Kevin
Cooper
This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
February
3, 2004
Alan
Maass
The
Dems' New Mantra: What They Really Mean by "Electability"
Nick
Halfinger
How the Other Half Lives: Embedded
in Iraq
Rahul
Mahajan
Our True Intelligence Failure
Neve Gordon
The Only Democracy in the Middle East?
Laura
Carlsen
Mexico: Two Anniversaries; Two Futures
Terry
Lodge
An Open Letter to Michael Powell from the Boobs & Body Parts
Fairness Campaign
Hammond
Guthrie
Investigating the Meaningless
Website
of the Day
Waging Peace
February
2, 2004
Gary
Leupp
The Buddhist Nun in Tom Ridge's Jail
Justin
E.H. Smith
The Manners of Their Deaths: Capital Punishment in a Smoke-Free
Environment
Tom
Wright
The Prosecution of Captain Yee
Winslow
Wheeler
Inside the Bush Defense Budget
Lee Ballinger
Janet Jackson's Naked Truth
Leonard
Pitts, Jr
For Blacks, the Game of Justice is
Rigged
Jeffrey
St. Clair
The Hollow Candidate:
The Trouble with Howard Dean
Website
of the Day
Resistance:
In the Eye of the American Hegemon
Jan. 31 / Feb 1, 2004
Paul
de Rooij
For Whom the Death Tolls: Deliberate
Undercounting of Coalition Fatalities
Bernard
Chazelle
Bush's Desolate Imperium
Jack
Heyman
Bushfires on the Docks
Christopher
Reed
Broken Ballots
Michael
Donnelly
An Urgent Plea to Progressives: Don't Give in to Fear
Rob Eshelman
The Subtle War
Lee
Sustar
Palestine and the Anti-War Movement
George
Bisharat
Right of Return
Ray
McGovern
Nothing to Preempt
Brian Cloughley
Enron's Beady-Eyed Sharks
Conn
Hallinan
Nepal, Bush & Real WMDs
Kurt Nimmo
The Murderous Lies of the Neo-Cons
Phillip
Cryan
Media at the Monterrey Summit
Christopher
Brauchli
A Speech for Those Who Don't Read
John
Holt
War in the Great White North
Mickey
Z.
Clueless in America: When Mikey Met Wesley
Mark
Scaramella
The High Cost of Throwing Away the Key
Tariq Ali
Farewell, Munif
Ben
Tripp
Waiter! The Reality Check, Please
Poets'
Basement
LaMorticella, Guthrie, Thomas and Albert
January 30, 2004
Saul
Landau
Cuba High on Neo-Con Hit List
Michael
Donnelly
Bush's Second Front: The War in
the Woods
Elaine
Cassel
Worse Than Jacko: Child Abuse at Gitmo
David Vest
More Halliburton News, Brought to You by Halliburton
Mike
Whitney
The Kay Report: Still Defending Aggression
David
Miller
The Hutton Whitewash
Sam
Husseini
How Many People Must Die Because of This "Mistake",
Senator Kerry?
January 29, 2004
Patricia
Nelson Limerick
John Ehrlichman, Environmentalist
Ron
Jacobs
Homeland Security and "Legalized"
Immigration
Rahul Mahajan
New Hampshire v. Iraq
Greg
Weiher
Bush Calls for Preemptive Strike on
Moon and Mars
Norman
Solomon
The State of the Media Union
Cockburn
/ St. Clair
Does NH Mean Anything?
January
28, 2004
Kathy
Kelly
Bearing Witness Against Teachers of
Torture and Assassination
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click Here
for More Stories.
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Weekend
Edition
February 20 / 22, 2004
Inside the Numbers
Palestinian
Issue Riddles Bush's 2005 Budget
By SAM BAHOUR
"The President shall from time
to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union
and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall
judge necessary and expedient."
Article II, Sec. 3, U.S. Constitution
In his January 20, 2004 State of the Union speech
President Bush was criticized for not even mentioning the plight
of the Palestinians. President Bush completely ignored the blatant
Israeli policy of human rights violations that the Israel military
occupation has sustained against the Palestinians for decades
now. Furthermore, he surprisingly dropped from his speech any
mention of how he envisions to constructively involve the US
toward a just solution to this conflict. One can only assume
that President Bush views that addressing the violence-riddled,
Palestinian-Israeli conflict is neither "necessary"
nor "expedient."
The same cannot be said for his proposed
$2.4 trillion Budget of the United States Government for Fiscal
Year 2005, which was transmitted to Congress on February 2, 2004
and covers the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2004. The budget
is planned to be brought to the floor of both the House and Senate
between July 1 and September 30 and is riddled with references
to the Palestinian issue.
The references to Palestinians in the
budget are many and repetitive. Not only has the Bush Administration
failed in realistically engaging the issue toward a peaceful
resolution, but, viewed through the proposed budget, President
Bush has totally adopted the state line of Israel on almost every
account. Bottom line, the Israeli military campaign against
Palestinians will continue and the US taxpayer is knowingly,
or otherwise, footing the bill.
With so many recently failed US-sponsored
efforts to jumpstart the peace process -- Mitchell Report, Tenant
Plan, Roadmap -- not to mention the dozen other past initiatives
that have been consigned to the trash bins of history, one can
understand why the Palestinian issue is on President Bush's mind.
President Bush may prefer to remain silent on Palestine in public
statements, such as the State of the Union speech, but he has
definitely taken sides -- or should I say more accurately, continues
to follow the historically failed path of US policy on the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict. This failed US policy is what has brought us to where
we are today.
President Bush's proposed budget comprises
of a four-volume set of documents :
Budget of the United States Government,
contains the Budget Message of the President, information on
the President's budget and management priorities, and budget
overviews organized by agency, including assessments of their
performance.
Analytical Perspectives, contains analyses
that are designed to highlight specified subject areas or provide
other significant presentations of budget data that place the
budget in perspective.
Historical Tables, provides data on budget
receipts, outlays, surpluses or deficits, Federal debt, and Federal
employment over an extended time period, generally from 1940
or earlier to 2009; and
Appendix, contains detailed information
on the various appropriations and funds that constitute the budget
and is designed primarily for the use of the Appropriations Committee.
The first document that states the budget
message and priorities of the President fails to mention Palestine.
This is the part of the budget that is most often read and referred
to. The only document that delves into the Palestinian issue
is the most detailed volume of them all, the Appendix. The Appendix
is where the Appropriations Committee takes its detailed direction
and, as can be read, the US has no intention, budget-wise at
least, of moving out of the current Palestinian-Israeli stalemate.
Just the opposite, the proposed budget represents a non-policy
by reverting any serious spending to two persons only, the President
and the Secretary of State. In essence, the US policy toward
the Palestinians will be defined by the lobbying group that can
convince these two men, alone. And when either is convinced,
they will need to jump through hoops to allow funds to be used
to support the Palestinians, and even then, their decision to
assist will only be for a limited period of time and will automatically
expire.
Department of State
The two parts of the Appendix part of
the budget that Palestinians are referenced in are the Department
of State and International Assistance Programs chapters. In
the Department of State chapter there are only two items, both
interesting. The first, under subtitle, "Migration and
Refugee Assistance," proposes $731,000,000 to be spent to
meet refugee and migration needs worldwide. Interestingly, in
explaining one of the programs, Overseas Assistance, it is written,
"This program addresses the protection
and assistance needs of refugees, migrants and conflict victims
worldwide. Funds are used primarily to support the programs of
international organizations, including the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the International
Organization for Migration, and the International Committee of
the Red Cross, as well as nongovernmental organizations. When
possible, funds are used to resolve refugee situations through
repatriation or local integration."
One could infer from this support that
the US provides explicit support to the Palestinians that were
made refugees in 1948 when Israel was created causing nearly
one million Palestinians to be made homeless. The mentioned
international organization, The United Nations Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), explains
its origins as follows,
"Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli
conflict, UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East, was established by United
Nations General Assembly resolution 302 (IV) of 8 December 1949
to carry out direct relief and works programmes for Palestine
refugees. The Agency began operations on 1 May 1950. In the absence
of a solution to the Palestine refugee problem, the General Assembly
has repeatedly renewed UNRWA's mandate, most recently extending
it until 30 June 2005." (http://www.un.org/unrwa/overview/index.html)
Ironically, in this same budget section
it states,
"That not less than $50,000,000
of the funds made available under this heading shall be made
available
for refugees from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
and other refugees resettling in Israel."
and the mechanism to disburse these fifty
million dollars is stated as follows,
"Humanitarian Migrants to Israel
- These funds provide a grant to the United Israel Appeal to
assist Jewish humanitarian migrants resettling in Israel."
This is rather disturbing. Whereas the
entire world's refugees are supported in the US budget by way
of international organizations, the Jewish-only migrants settling
in Israel are provided for by funds allocated to The United Israel
Appeal, which is an arm of the United Jewish Communities and
is a US registered tax-deductible organization. If the US is
so interested in settling refugees in Israel, these funds would
be better spent by finding creative ways to get Israel to absorb
the native Palestinian refugees that were made homeless when
Israel was created and who have been sentenced to the horrid
life of refugees ever since. Additionally, supporting the return
home of Palestinian refuges would remove one of the stubborn
obstacles to a lasting peace between the two sides.
Another interesting budget item related
to Israel is the following explicit note that US's funds that
are to be contributed to the International Red Cross will only
be made available if the Secretary of State determines that the
Magen David Adom Society of Israel, an Israeli relief agency
that is equivalent to the American Red Cross, be admitted as
a full member to the Red Cross. The budget states,
"That funds appropriated under this
heading may be made available for a headquarters contribution
to the International Committee of the Red Cross only if the Secretary
of State determines (and so reports to the appropriate committees
of Congress) that the Magen David Adom Society of Israel is not
being denied participation in the activities of the International
Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement."
Regardless of the strange reasons why
the Magen David Adom Society of Israel has not yet been admitted
to the Red Cross as a full member, I find it appalling that US
support for the entire Red Cross worldwide is being held hostage
due to an individual country dispute. If the Red Cross, or any
other international agency for that matter, is truly independent,
then it is they, and they alone, that should decide how to operate,
without the US using its superpower contributions as political
leverage.
The second Palestinian reference in the
Department of State chapter is rather odd and is one that is
repeated elsewhere in the budget as well. It states,
"None of the funds made available
in this Act may be used by the Department of State or the Broadcasting
Board of Governors to provide equipment, technical support, consulting
services, or any other form of assistance to the Palestinian
Broadcasting Corporation."
Another interesting note on the last
page of the Department of State chapter is this unfortunate recognition
that all of Jerusalem is part and parcel of Israel. The budget
states,
"For the purposes of registration
of birth, certification of nationality, or issuance of a passport
of a United States citizen born in the city of Jerusalem, the
Secretary of State shall, upon request of the citizen, record
the place of birth as Israel."
I'm not sure what this has to do with
the US Budget, but despite international recognition that all
of East Jerusalem is illegally-held, Israeli-occupied territory
it would have been prudent to qualify this statement to West
Jerusalem only. These hidden facts on the ground only serve
to promulgate the conflict by the supposed neutral US mediator.
International Assistance
Programs
The second chapter in the Budget that
references Palestinians is the International Assistance Programs
chapter. It is here that handcuffs are put on the Administration
in their support to the Palestinian cause.
This section, just like the Department
of State chapter, starts off on a positive note. It allocates
$1,000,000 to "be used to further legal reforms in the West
Bank and Gaza, including judicial training on commercial disputes
and ethics." Although the amount is minuscule compared
to the task at hand, it does give a positive indication on the
need for law and order to replace the legal mayhem that the Israeli
occupation has created over the years.
The next section of interest is titled,
"LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE FOR THE PLO FOR THE WEST BANK
AND GAZA." It states,
"None of the funds appropriated
by this Act may be obligated for assistance for the Palestine
Liberation Organization for the West Bank and Gaza unless the
President has exercised the authority under section 604(a) of
the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act of 1995 (title VI of Public
Law 104107) or any other legislation to suspend or make
inapplicable section 307 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
and that suspension is still in effect: Provided, That
if the President fails to make the certification under section
604(b)(2) of the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act of 1995 or
to suspend the prohibition under other legislation, funds appropriated
by this Act may not be obligated for assistance for the Palestine
Liberation Organization for the West Bank and Gaza."
It is here that the President of the
United States self-imposes a requirement on himself to suspend
the status quo, a status quo that prefers not to make assistance
available to the Palestinians. Again, a US policy of non-assistance
has become the norm and any real action to provide assistance
to the Palestinians requires specific additional steps by US
decision makers.
Next is another reference to the extremely
sensitive issue of Jerusalem. Whereas the US Administration
has continuously preached to the Palestinians that the parties
of the conflict must resolve the issues together through negotiations,
the US budget makes no doubt that it has already decided on the
fate of the issue of Jerusalem, an issue the UN and historic
US policy have stated as an issue of dispute ever since Israel
illegally occupied the eastern part of the city in 1967. In
the section titled, "RESTRICTIONS CONCERNING THE PALESTINIAN
AUTHORITY," is states,
"None of the funds appropriated
by this Act may be obligated or expended to create in any part
of Jerusalem a new office of any department or agency of the
United States Government for the purpose of conducting official
United States Government business with the Palestinian Authority
over Gaza and Jericho or any successor Palestinian governing
entity provided for in the Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles:
Provided, That this restriction shall not apply to the acquisition
of additional space for the existing Consulate General in Jerusalem:
Provided further, That meetings between officers and employees
of the United States and officials of the Palestinian Authority,
or any successor Palestinian governing entity provided for in
the Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles, for the purpose of
conducting official United States Government business with such
authority should continue to take place in locations other than
Jerusalem. As has been true in the past, officers and employees
of the United States Government may continue to meet in Jerusalem
on other subjects with Palestinians (including those who now
occupy positions in the Palestinian Authority), have social contacts,
and have incidental discussions."
So one is to understand from this that
a US official cannot call for a meeting of substance with an
official of the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem, but can meet
over dinner in Jerusalem with this same Palestinian official
to discuss the US's latest visit to planet Mars, for example.
Next is the issue of automatic cancellation
of any assistance in the rare case that the US Administration
decides to extend its support to the Palestinian Authority.
The section titled, "LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE TO THE PALESTINIAN
AUTHORITY," states,
"(a) PROHIBITION OF FUNDS.-None
of the funds appropriated by this Act to carry out the provisions
of chapter 4
of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 may be obligated
or expended with respect to providing funds to the Palestinian
Authority.
(b) WAIVER.-The prohibition included
in subsection (a) shall not apply if the President certifies
in writing to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and
the President pro tempore of the Senate that waiving such prohibition
is important to the national security interests of the United
States.
(c) PERIOD OF APPLICATION OF WAIVER.-Any
waiver pursuant to subsection (b) shall be effective for no more
than a period of 6 months at a time and shall not apply beyond
12 months after the enactment of this Act.
(d) REPORT.-Whenever the waiver authority
pursuant to subsection (b) is exercised, the President shall
submit a report to the Committees on Appropriations detailing
the steps the Palestinian Authority has taken to arrest terrorists,
confiscate weapons and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure.
The report shall also include a description of how funds will
be spent and the accounting procedures in place to ensure that
they are properly disbursed."
Again, the President self-imposes additional
efforts required if he chooses to waive the US status quo policy
of not supporting the Palestinian Authority. Additionally, if
support is provided and a waiver is applied, it will automatically
expire and the President will need to make extensive reporting
on all of the same items that Israeli Prime Minister Sharon has
made his priorities throughout his latest internationally condemned
military campaign against the Palestinians. This is a prime
example of the tail wagging the dog.
Next is the particularly serious issue
of regime change. The section titled, "PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD,"
makes no attempt to hide the US policy that Palestinians must
change their elected leadership, a leadership that was elected
and confirmed by former US President Carter, among other election
observers. The section states,
"(a) LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE.-None
of the funds appropriated by this Act may be provided to support
a Palestinian state unless the Secretary of State determines
and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that-
(1) a new leadership of a Palestinian
governing entity has been democratically elected through credible
and competitive elections;
(2) the elected governing entity of a
new Palestinian state-
(A) has demonstrated a firm commitment
to peaceful coexistence with the State of Israel;
(B) is taking appropriate measures to
counter terrorism and terrorist financing in the West Bank and
Gaza, including the dismantling of terrorist infrastructures;
(C) is establishing a new Palestinian
security entity that is cooperative with appropriate Israeli
and other appropriate security organizations; and
(3) the Palestinian Authority (or the
governing body of a new Palestinian state) is working with other
countries in the region to vigorously pursue efforts to establish
a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in the Middle East that
will enable Israel and an independent Palestinian state to exist
within the context of full and normal relationships, which should
include-
(A) termination of all claims or states
of belligerency;
(B) respect for and acknowledgement of
the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence
of every state in the area through measures including the establishment
of demilitarized zones;
(C) their right to live in peace within
secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of
force;
(D) freedom of navigation through international
waterways in the area; and
(E) a framework for achieving a just
settlement of the refugee problem.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.-It is the sense
of Congress that the newly elected governing entity should enact
a constitution assuring the rule of law, an independent judiciary,
and respect for human rights for its citizens, and should enact
other laws and regulations assuring transparent and accountable
governance.
(c) WAIVER.-The President may waive subsection
(a) if he determines that it is vital to the national security
interests of the United States to do so.
(d) EXEMPTION.-The restriction in subsection
(a) shall not apply to assistance intended to help reform the
Palestinian Authority and affiliated institutions, or a newly
elected governing entity, in order to help meet the requirements
of subsection (a), consistent with the provisions of section
552 of this Act (''Limitation on Assistance to the Palestinian
Authority'')."
This call for reform change is self-explanatory
and requires the Secretary of State to jump through multiple
hoops of various congressional committees confirming that regime
change has taken place before taking action on the Administration's
very own Roadmap peace plan, which calls for a Palestinian state
to be established.
Next, we again find a repeat of the same
prohibition that was listed in the Department of State Chapter.
A section titled, "PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE TO THE PALESTINIAN
BROADCASTING CORPORATION" repeats that,
"None of the funds appropriated
or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to provide
equipment, technical support, consulting services, or any other
form of assistance to the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation.
As the US pours major funds into creating
a Middle East-wide Arabic radio station, called SAWA (Arabic
for 'together'), and a newly launched Arabic speaking satellite
channel, called Al-Hura (Arabic for 'Free'), it is hard to imagine
what grudge the US has against the poorly equipped Palestinian
Broadcasting Corporation, which is the one of the few media vehicles
the Palestinian Authority has to reach all of its population.
How is the Palestinian Authority supposed to implement the US
demand to reduce the level of violence if the tools to directly
speak to its citizens are tabooed?
The next significant section in the budget
related to Palestinians is the section titled, "WEST BANK
AND GAZA PROGRAM." It states,
"(a) OVERSIGHT.-For fiscal year
2004, 30 days prior to the initial obligation of funds for the
bilateral West Bank and
Gaza Program, the Secretary of State shall certify to the appropriate
committees of Congress that procedures have been established
to assure the Comptroller General of the United States will have
access to appropriate United States financial information in
order to review the uses of United States assistance for the
Program funded under the heading ''Economic Support Fund'' for
the West Bank and Gaza.
(b) VETTING.-Prior to the obligation
of funds appropriated by this Act under the heading ''Economic
Support Fund'' for assistance for the West Bank and Gaza, the
Secretary of State shall take all appropriate steps to ensure
that such assistance is not provided to or through any individual
or entity that the Secretary knows or has reason to believe advocates,
plans, sponsors, engages in, or has engaged in, terrorist activity.
The Secretary of State shall, as appropriate, establish procedures
specifying the steps to be taken in carrying out this subsection.
(c) AUDITS.-
(1) The Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development shall ensure that Federal or non-Federal audits of
all contractors and grantees, and significant subcontractors
and subgrantees, under the West Bank and Gaza Program, are conducted
at least on an annual basis to ensure, among other things, compliance
with this section.
(2) Of the funds appropriated by this
Act under the heading ''Economic Support Fund'' that are made
available for assistance for the West Bank and Gaza, up to $1,000,000
may be used by the Office of the Inspector General of the United
States Agency for International Development for audits, inspections,
and other activities in furtherance of the requirements of this
subsection. Such funds are in addition to funds otherwise available
for such purposes."
As if all of the above limitations were
not enough this section is basically a catch-all clause that
creates yet another burden for the administration before being
able to support the Palestinians.
All of these constraints, limitations
and additional required reporting are embedded in President Bush's
2005 budget while at the same time, President Bush was recently
quoted on the new Arabic speaking satellite television station
"Al-Hura", in his first interview to the station, as
saying, "Israel should end the suffering of the average
Palestinian." One would expect the President of the worlds
only superpower who recognizes the Israeli battering of the Palestinian
community to create a policy of supporting the battered party,
not creating barriers that prohibit streamlined support.
Israel
As for Israel, the budget is much more
aggressive. In the section titled, "FOREIGN MILITARY FINANCING
PROGRAM," the proposed budget states,
"For expenses necessary for grants
to enable the President to carry out the provisions of section
23 of the Arms Export Control Act, $4,957,500,000: Provided,
That of the funds appropriated under this heading, not less than
$2,160,000,000 shall be available for grants only for IsraelProvided
further, That to the extent that the Government of Israel requests
that funds be used for such purposes, grants made available for
Israel by this paragraph shall, as agreed by Israel and the United
States, be available for advanced weapons systems, of which not
less than $568,000,000 shall be available for the procurement
in Israel of defense articles and defense services, including
research and development."
Over two billion US taxpayer dollars
to be granted to Israel for weapon systems, with over half a
billion of which will never even buy a US product or service.
Seeing the US policy in numbers allows one to understand why
the world, not to mention the Palestinians, does not believe
the US is a neutral mediator.
Furthermore, Israel is the only nuclear
weapon superpower in the Middle East that refuses to sign on
to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Instead of President
Bush making Israel's nuclear disarmament, or at least their signing
of the treaty, a prerequisite to US funding, in the section titled,
"NONPROLIFERATION, ANTI-TERRORISM, DEMINING AND RELATED
PROGRAMS," the budget clenches its superpower fists again
by dictating to the International Atomic Energy Agency to include
Israel in its activities or face no funding from the US. The
section reads,
For necessary expenses for nonproliferation,
anti-terrorism, demining and related programs and activities,
$415,200,000...Provided further, That funds appropriated under
this heading may be made available for the International Atomic
Energy Agency only if the Secretary of State determines (and
so reports to the Congress) that Israel is not being denied its
right to participate in the activities of that Agency."
In another odd listing, the budget sets
aside ten million dollars to two specific Israeli organizations.
It reads,
"PROGRAMS.-Of the funds appropriated
under ''Economic Support Fund'' for Middle East regional programs,
up to $5,000,000 may be made available for programs and activities
of the Yitzhak Rabin Center for Israel Studies in Tel Aviv, Israel,
and up to $5,000,000 may be made available for programs and activities
of the Center for Human Dignity Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem."
There is no mention why these specific
institutions were selected or what justifies these large amounts
of funding.
Lastly, even though this essay is not
meant to address Israel's full presence in the budget, one note
in the section titled, "DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE-MILITARY,"
that did catch attention is the one that reads,
"Of the amounts appropriated in
this Act under the heading ''Research, Development, Test and
Evaluation, Defense-Wide'', $144,803,000 shall be made available
for the Arrow missile defense program: Provided, That of this
amount, $80,000,000 shall be available for the purpose of producing
Arrow missile components in the United States and Arrow missile
components and missiles in Israel to meet Israel's defense requirements"
Again, US funds are being allocated for
weapons that never see US suppliers or service providers and
this is in a budget that claims to create jobs, let alone the
never-ending preaching in the budget about realizing world peace.
By the way, another item worth noting
is that Bush's budget also contains money to undertake an ambitious
program to return Americans to the moon as early as 2015 and
eventually send a mission to Mars. The budget earmarks $12 billion
for this effort over the next five years. Also, after President's
budget was submitted to congress, the White House acknowledged
that it would need up to $50 billion in extra money for military
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan next year -- on top of the
$400 billion military budget in Bush's proposal (Reuters, Feb
5).
It would be fair to assume that the State
of Israel wrote her own ticket in Bush's proposed 2005 budget.
US towing of the Israeli state line is not new. Given this
reality, the international community and the Palestinian leadership
must make a hard decision before it's too late. Do they each
continue to wait for the US to take the side of justice and force
their strategic ally, Israel, to end its illegal military occupation
of Palestinians or should the international community, and specifically
the Palestinian leadership, re-organize themselves in light of
the US's policy of putting the Palestinian people further in
the corner of despair? With Israeli Prime Minister Sharon's
Apartheid Wall slowly strangulating every Palestinian city time
is of essence!
It's not surprising the average American
citizen does not read their country's budget, they can't afford
to.
To purchase a hardcopy of the budget, all four volumes cost $260.
Nevertheless, Hope still exists that US lawmakers will revise
this budget to properly address the Palestinian issue, which
is the core issue facing a lasting peace in the Middle East.
The US should channel its funds to support
the implementation of the dozens of UN resolutions calling for
an immediate end to the 36+ years of Israeli military occupation.
But then again, maybe they will not, for this is an election-year
budget.
Sam Bahour
is a Palestinian-American businessman living in the Israeli-occupied
Palestinian City of Al-Bireh in the West Bank; he can be reached
at sbahour@palnet.com.
He is co-author of HOMELAND: Oral Histories of Palestine and
Palestinians (1994).
Weekend
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Jeffrey St. Clair
Oil Grab in the Arctic
William A. Cook
Faith-Based Fanatics
Stan Goff
Beloved
Haiti
Dave Marsh / Lee Ballinger
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Tupac, the Patriot Act and Me
Michael Colby
Bush v. Kerry: the Power Elite's Dream Ballot
Mickey Z.
Michael Moore's Lesser Party: the General and the Lieutenant
Josh Frank
Dean's Demise No Big Loss for the Left
Peter Wolson
The Politics of Narcissism
William James Martin
Clean Break with the Road Map
Daniel Estulin
Religious Extremism in Africa
Standard Schaefer
The Privatization of Culture: an Interview with Michael Hudson
Dave Zirin
Maurice Clarett Gets Off the Plantation
Tracy McLellan
Oprah's Birthday Greedfest
Poets' Basement
Holt, LaMorticella, Guthrie, Subiet and Albert
Website of the Weekend
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