Israel Palestine Op-ed

Win peace in the Middle East

Shock and awe with books, chalk, and librarians…

Dwayne Hunn

One of the underlying causes for the spread of worldwide terror emanates from the Holy Lands. The world looks to America to return grace to the Holy Lands. America needs to look to its history for a graceful answer.

The CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 (CRA) empowered the United States to:

· “Institute suits to protect constitutional rights in public facilities and public education…

· Prevent discrimination in federally assisted programs.”

It didn’t end discrimination. However, it provided a legal framework for the good cops and attorney generals to support justice.

In 1954 the United States Supreme Court announced, "Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." Brown v. Board of Education (BBE) trained the civilians and kiddies corps that dismantled segregation and pushed fairness and equality throughout America.

While these acts were taking hold in America’s 1950s & 60s, we grew a literate middle class. Having that growing middle class go to school together for generations erased America’s too prevalent narrow mindedness, bigotry, and racial violence.

Walking those American history lessons down the world’s aisle would save us and the world some hard, bloody lessons. For example, in our Congressional Reception Hall, where foreign aid proposals are betrothed to Israel, we should engage our Civil Rights Act to Brown v. Board of Education. The, watch what could happen.

Israel Palestine foreign aid history

From 1949-2001, U.S. direct and indirect aid to Israel totaled $100 BILLION. For the last quarter century, annual aid has averaged $3 billion to Israel’s 6 million people.

Most of our aid to other nations is distributed in quarterly payments and for specified purposes. Aid to Israel, however, is given in one lump, and deposited in their General Fund, where they collect the interest. From there, it is increasingly used to update the world’s third or fourth strongest military, quell Palestinian unrest, establish or fortify segregated settlements, and build walls and private Israeli roads. To many, using American tax dollars in this manner is defined as “segregation.”

Ending generations of Israel Palestine bloodshed

How can America help end the generations of Israeli Palestinian bloodshed, growing Middle East, and fundamentalist antipathy, and help make the global village safer and smarter?

Marry the lessons of our CRA and BBE into our $3 billion Israeli foreign aid package.

In Palestine, there is one university, in Israel 8. In 2001 about 50,000 Palestinian students could not get to school, at least 3 schools were occupied by Israeli soldiers and turned into military camps; over 2,000 students were injured and 137 killed on their way to or from school; many schools had no or few textbooks. Middle East sources say not one library functions in Palestine. In 2006, the situation has not improved much.

In America, on the other hand, equal and integrated education is erasing racial violence and hatred, and kids of every persuasion have plenty of libraries to visit.

Consequently, we need an administration that attaches some of our young nation’s healthy history to our economic exchanges with at least Israel and Palestine. That administration ought to attach what we learned from our domestic history into our foreign aid package.

Image how much safer the next generation would be if the world heard these words from an American President, Secretary of State, and UN Ambassador:

“Kids who school, play, and grow together don’t throw stones or bombs at each other. Kids who hang together erase the dangerous ignorance of segregation. Kids who grow up this way build a nation’s vitality, economy, and character. We know this because that’s what ended the violence underpinning our segregated society.

“Today you… Israel, Palestine you must pick dozens of parcels of land or existing school sites that straddle the walls and roads now separating Israelis and Palestinians. Then, you must establish an organizing committee with chairs for Israelis, Palestinian, world educators, American Peace Corps, and NGO leaders. That committee must then draw up plans for turning these chosen sites into state of the art, fully integrated schools, recreational facilities, and a university.

“These schools and recreational sites will be designed and staffed to be among the world’s best. Their students will be backed by a 20 year escrowed scholarship account established to help underwrite the future education of any graduates of these schools.

“Then a committee must be established to expand into developing or redeveloping integrated living communities around these schools.

“America’s 2005 Israel aid budget will be restructured, based on the hard lesson we learned from civil wars, lynchings, burnings, and violence. We learned that having kids learn and play together in fair, balanced, and high quality educational settings erased, in time, violence and prejudice.

“We want Israeli and Palestinian kids to experience the same healthy growth our kids have learned by going to school together.

“Next year 20% of our Israel aid, or roughly $600 million, will be escrowed to this policy alone. We know education and integration works. We have learned warring and segregating doesn’t.

“We urge you to move quickly on implementing this cost effective and safety enhancing program, since we anticipate proposing further such foreign aid budget shifts in the future.”

“Golda Meier once said, ‘The fighting will stop when both sides decide they love their children more than they love death.’ Both sides love their children. We will increasingly tie our foreign aid to show all mothers that we too love all children.

When we start leading the world in this way, we will do for children what all true religions from all the world’s Holy Lands claim they want to do.

Dwayne Hunn serves as Executive Director of People’s Lobby Educational Foundation, which educates on thorny issues that affect the lives of everyday people. For information, visit the education links at www.WorldServiceCorps.us or www.PeoplesLobby.us

Want to end the hatred spewing blood baths in Israel and Palestine? Emulate America’s history. Do what Brown v. Board of Education did and enforce its implementation with America’s foreign aid strings. When kids school together, odds of them warring against each other wither.