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| Al-Awda New York, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition | |
| ACTION
ALERT - OPPOSE INCREASING MILITARY AID TO ISRAEL February 15,
2000 As we all learned in civics class, it is the role of Congress to control the government's purse strings. Yet, one of the final acts of the Clinton Administration was to sign, on January 19th, a memorandum of understanding (called "non-binding" in some press reports) with the government of Israel that agreed to increase military aid to Israel by $60 million a year until it reaches $2.4 billion by 2008. This agreement was reached in the 1998-99 financial year, but not put on paper until now. Members of Congress need to hear that citizens object to promises being made that seem to commit our government to increase military aid to Israel into the future. Please make the following points in your letters and e-mails to your representative and two senators; then send a copy to the State Department. Addresses are at the end of this message. 1.
If it is Congress that controls government spending, how can the Executive branch
make a promise to increase military aid to Israel in future years? The Memorandum
of Understanding signed by Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker and Israeli
Ambassador David Ivry on January 19th, 2001 should not be accepted by Congress.
Furthermore, members of the current Congress cannot make commitments on how a
future Congress allocates 2. The initiative of Israel to reduce the economic portion of its foreign aid by $120 million a year until it is eliminated in 2008 is a step in the right direction. However, Congress should maintain control over how those foreign aid funds are reallocated. Fifty percent of Israel's economic aid decrease should not be added to its military aid as it requested. You may want to add one of the following points as well: A recent University of Maryland poll shows that Americans overwhelmingly support foreign aid in principle and strong majorities want to increase it to feed the hungry, help women and children, aid Africa and promote the Peace Corps. The survey also found strong support for aid to poor countries to help them educate students and develop their economies. But only 27% support military aid in general, about the same percentage as those who support aid to Israel and Egypt. (Reported in the Feb. 6, 2001 Chicago Tribune; here is a link to the report). The
economic aid that goes to Israel should be restructured so that it is administered
and made accountable consistent with the rules and procedures that are applied
to every other recipient of U.S. foreign aid. Israel's economic aid should be
directed toward economic and human development programs for Israel's most needy
people, including Israeli Arabs, and toward projects that promote reconciliation
within Israel and the implementation of The use by Israel of U.S. supplied helicopter gunships and ammunition against Palestinian civilians during the current conflict and against the civilian electrical grid in Lebanon has been strongly criticized by U.S. church leaders. (December 12, 2000 statement Ecumenical Delegation for Middle East Peace). The sale of Apache and Blackhawk helicopters to Israel that was announced in October 2000 should be suspended. If
your members of Congress are on the Senate or House Appropriations Committees,
your advocacy is especially important. You can find E-mail addresses on the "Thomas"
Web site which is a great source of information on Contact Information: The
Hon. (First Name Last Name) Dear
Senator (Last Name): The
Hon. (First Name Last Name) Dear
Representative (Last Name) Send a copy of
your letter to: Amb.
Edward S. Walker, Jr. Senate and
House Appropriations Committee Members Senate
Republicans
Senate
Democrats
HOUSE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS House Republicans C.W.
Bill Young, Florida, Chairman House Democrats David
R. Obey, Wisconsin |
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