Jane and the Buzz Saw

By Claudia Woodward-Rice

Blogger Jane Stillwater  ran into the DailyKos’ “Israel-happytalk-all-the-time” buzz saw recently with her satiric posting New foreclosure remedy: Become Jewish & move to Israel!

Now Mondoweiss reports that Jane Stillwater got booted from DailyKos for making fun of settlements and Jewish Voice for Peace writer Cecilie Surasky writes “This isn’t the first time they’ve banned bloggers for writing about Israel and Palestine, but this surely is the dumbest case.”  

One Kos’ reader commented “The US government doesn’t spend any money either on Nefesh Benefesh or on housing in East Jerusalem. It is all a fabrication.”

Perhaps not directly. But if I buy you a car and pay your kid’s tuition, maybe you’ll have more money for your mortgage?  Tax-deductable donations from Americans go directly to settlements as well.

From http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/usaid.html

“The U.S. is providing Israel with at least $7.0 million each day* in military aid and is giving the Palestinians $0** in military aid during Fiscal Year 2009………..

The source for US military aid to Israel during Fiscal Year 2009 is the Congressional Research Service’s “U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel,” written by Jeremy M. Sharp, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs, updated February 3, 2009. According to this report, by early February 2009, the US had already given Israel at least $2.55 billion ($2,500,000,000) in military aid for Fiscal Year 2009.

Over the last 20 years, the U.S. has been slowly phasing out economic aid to Israel and gradually replacing it with increased military aid. Beginning in 2007, the U.S. has been increasing military aid by $150 million each year. By FY2013, we will be sending Israel $3.15 billion a year (or an average of $8.6 million a day)”

During the post WWII period, the US spent more than four times as much on Israeli aid than it has spent in any other part of the world (per capita). Israel’s 1995 per capita gross domestic product was $15,800- higher than Ireland or Spain.  Everything they get from the US is gravy.

Jane’s problem was approaching this serious issue with a close-to-the-bone satire that didn’t quite fit an apples-to-apples comparison. But I imagine she would also have been banned if she had asked directly: 

Why does the US lavishly squander taxpayer money on Israel while continuing to neglect our own people?