1. Not only is not a party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but also has an estimated arsenal of 200 nuclear weapons;

2. Kills a U.S. citizen engaged in peaceful protest and denies any responsibility;

3. Attacks, bombs, and threatens other countries in its vicinity;

4. Acquires territory from neighboring countries by military force; and

5. Kills leaders of the people in those occupied lands by means of missiles from helicopter gunships?

I would call such a country a "terrorist" country. U.S. tax dollars fund that country and its name is Israel.

To understand why Palestinians claim that U.S. policy on Palestine is unbalanced, look at the report on U.S. military aid to Israel from the (U.S.) Congressional Research Service. If you don't have time to read the whole 18 pages, at least look at the summary to learn the following facts:

1. Since 1985, the United States has provided $3 billion in grants annually to Israel.

2. Since 1976, Israel has been the largest annual recipient of U.S. foreign assistance, and is the largest cumulative recipient since World War II.

3. It is estimated that Israel receives about $1 billion annually through philanthropy, an equal amount through short- and long-term commercial loans, and around $1 billion in Israel Bonds proceeds.

4. U.S. aid to Israel has some unique aspects, such as loans with repayment waived, or a pledge to provide Israel with economic assistance equal to the amount Israel owes the United States for previous loans.

5. U.S. military assistance is used for military purchases in Israel.

6. Israel receives all its assistance in the first 30 days of the fiscal year rather than in 3 or 4 installments as other countries do.

Americans need to demand of their legislators why this situation is allowed to continue, for the unbalanced support of Israel by the U.S. is clearly working against its own interests in the Middle East.

So why is this happening? Forget the religious argument, as American Jews will support Israel but not observe the Sabbath or other aspects of their religious law.  Is it the “Israel Lobby” as suggested by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt in their report The Israel Lobby, 23 March 2006, London Review of Books, Vol. 28, No. 6 (http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html)?

And what is the result of this one-sided U.S. policy favoring Israel? The Israeli siege of Gaza and the Palestinian people continues.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights reported that just in the week of 6 to 12 April 2006, Israeli occupation forces:

* Killed 19 Palestinians, including 3 children;

* Extrajudicially executed 10 of the victims, including a man, his child, and two brothers;

* Wounded 94 Palestinians by gunfire, including 32 children;

* Continued to shell Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip, particularly the northern area;

* Conducted 27 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, concentrated mainly in Nablus;

* Arrested 70 Palestinian civilians, including 5 children and a girl;

* Transformed 7 houses into military sites;

* Broke into al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron and arrested two injured Palestinians;

* Continued to impose a total siege on the Occupied Territories; closed border crossings in the Gaza Strip; established a new permanent checkpoint at Jeet intersection, southwest of Nablus; and arrested 5 Palestinian civilians, including two children, at checkpoints in the West Bank;

* Continued to construct the Annexation Wall in the West Bank, which has come to be known as the Apartheid Wall; continued the construction of the wall in the Dahiat al-Barid area to the north of Jerusalem and near the “Shavi Shomron” settlement; are transforming the Container Checkpoint, south of Jerusalem, into a border crossing, similar to Qalandya crossing;

* Israeli settlers continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property in the Occupied Territories; and settlers seized a house in the old town of Hebron.

Now, if you think this is the behavior of a civilized, democratic nation, then I propose a balanced approach. Instead of sending the entire $3 billion a year of U.S. military aid to Israel, give $1.5 billion to Israel and $1.5 billion to the Palestinians. I'm sure that they would be happy to give up their suicide bombers and use missiles from helicopter gunships to kill people just like their civilized, democratic neighbor.

One must ask if Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza is really a step in the direction of peace in the Middle East. Has anything really changed? Let's try to look at the situation in Gaza before and after the “withdrawal” from the point of view of a Gaza resident.

Before: Israel attacked Gaza at will.

After: Israel attacks Gaza at will and is currently attacking Gaza with artillery shells.

Before: Israel controlled the checkpoints which allow Palestinians to enter and leave Gaza.

After: Israel still controls all the checkpoints with the exception of Rafah.

Before: Israel decided who was or was not a suitable partner in the "Peace Process".

After: Israel still decides who is or is not a suitable partner in the "Peace Process", as it has rejected the democratically elected government of Palestine.

Before: There were around 8,000 settlers in 21 illegal settlements whose presence forced the Israelis to act with some restraint.

After: Israelis no longer need to act with restraint as there are no settlers to be hit accidentally by Israeli bombs.

This is not a peace process. In order to see tangible progress in the “Peace Process”, the U.S. must cut off all military aid to Israel until:

1. Israel recognizes the right of the Palestinians to exist and grants a right of return or reparations;

2. Israel ends the siege on Gaza and withdraws from the Occupied Territories to at least the pre-1967 borders;

3. Israel releases the over 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners who are guilty of exercising their right to resist an occupying power;

4. Israel allows Jerusalem to be an international city per UN Resolution 181; and

5. Israel allows UN inspectors to investigate civilian deaths during an Israeli assault on the Jenin refugee camp per UN Resolution 1405.

Short of the above, I see no hope of progress towards peace in the Middle East. Let's demand a halt to the Israeli violence against the Palestinian people.