POSTED RESPONSE TO A COLUMN IN TORONTO'S GLOBE AND MAIL
Romney's comments may well be racist.
But, without question, they are ignorant beyond
comprehension for a man who worked in finance.
He's comparing apples to oranges on a grand scale.
First, Israel is, without question, the most subsidized
entity on earth.
Israel's economy for that reason cannot be sensibly compared
to anything.
It receives about $500 per year per Jewish citizen from the
United States, and it has done so for decades.
But that is only the beginning.
There are periodic loan guarantees of tens of billions.
There is constant access at the highest level for this
nation with the population of Ecuador, something virtually no other country,
even far more important ones, has.
It has a plum free-trade agreement - indeed, without sending
its subsidized crops to the U.S. Israel's agriculture would disappear. It was a
gift to Israel because it has no tangible benefits for Americans at all.
The opportunity cost of water Israel squanders on tomatoes
and clementines to export is unbelievably high because it is the cost of
desalination-plant water. It sends subsidized produce to the United States
under free trade, produce the United States doesn’t even need.
Israel receives billions worth of intelligence and defense
cooperation every year from the United States, something few other countries
receive.
The two billion dollars a year going to Egypt is a bribe
paid on Israel's behalf by Americans since the Camp David Agreements.
Israel receives heavily below cost natural gas from Egypt,
the result of U.S. pressure on Mubarak. Everyone knows this is scandalous, and
the U.S. has offered to pay a subsidy to top up the price.
Israel also receives billions from the Jewish communities of
America and Europe, and it receives important business intelligence and
connections.
The great privilege granted to American Israelis to be
recognized as dual citizens means they move back and forth regularly, all the
while sharing business and other intelligence.
Israel’s farms and cities and water supply were all taken
with absolutely no payment or reparations from other people. That is the
biggest subsidy ever received, the very substance of the nation.
And it is not satisfied with what happened in 1948, it keeps
stealing the property of others regularly, refusing to live in peace because it
still wants more.
Israel has received tens of billions in reparations from
Germany – wholly appropriate in view of the past - but still a subsidy.
The list is even longer than this, but I think the point is
clear: Israel has, in no sense of the words, an independent national economy.
It is in truth a gigantic international welfare case.
Second, and equally important in the ignorance contained in Romney’s
speech, Palestine has been under occupation for the best part of half a
century.
But it is more than an occupation, it is a set of unfair
rules and laws actually designed to discourage Palestinians from staying in
their homes.
They are not even allowed to repair things without special
permissions.
They are not allowed to build roads without special permissions.
They are not allowed to travel without permissions and going
through check-points.
They cannot get supplies for businesses because of Israel's
embargo and controls.
They cannot even fly or travel by sea to do business as they
wish.
Even international funds for assisting Palestine have been
controlled, and plundered, by Israel.
The last I read, Israel even, in contravention of
international treaties, controlled and limited the mail going into Gaza.
And, week by week, Israelis literally steal their homes,
their farms, and their water resources.
How on earth can you compare an economy under those
circumstances to anything?
You cannot.
And wouldn’t it be amusing to watch the arrogant and
unthinking Mr. Romney himself try running an efficient business under the circumstances
Israel imposes on Palestinians, instead of benefitting from the freewheeling environment
of the United States and his ability to shelter his earnings from taxes in the Cayman
Islands?
