CNN is running a story about a federal judge who could very well make the death penalty illegal. Now, as many law savvy people know, this decision can be appealed to the Supreme Court (as our legal system works mainly on “case law”). I, personally, believe in the death penalty, but only under certain circumstances (ie. the suspect admits to the offense, or DNA evidence unquestionably links the suspect to the offense). I’m going to be watching this story closely (as should everyone else).

Until recently I hadn’t given much though to the Israeli/Palestinian struggle. I was content to play the part of Ignorant American (as many others have been as well). However, today I found an astonishing article outlining what I believe to be the reason the Palestinians (and Arabs in general) are upset at Americans as well as Israelis about the Palestinian struggle. Read on for more …

The article I’m talking about can be found here.

The article goes over the monetary aid given to Israel by the US since it’s creation.

… Israel received $62.5 billion in foreign aid from fiscal year 1949 through fiscal year 1996 … in precisely the same 1949-1996 time frame, the total of U.S. foreign aid to all of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean combined was $62,497,800,000 … with a combined population of 486 million, all of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean together had received $38,254,400,000. This amounted to $79 per person … The per capita U.S. foreign aid to Israel’s 5.8 million people during the same period was $10,775.48. This meant that for every dollar the U.S. spent on an African, it spent $250.65 on an Israeli, and for every dollar it spent on someone from the Western Hemisphere outside the United States, it spent $214 on an Israeli.”

As an American tax payer (yes I pay taxes – lots of taxes) I’m outraged. I can easily see that Israeli citizens live rather decently, as outlined in the article.

“Israel’s 1995 per capita gross domestic product was $15,800. That put it below Britain at $19,500 and Italy at $18,700 and just above Ireland at $15,400 and Spain at $14,300.”

I did some digging and found the average per capita income in Kenya is roughly $350.00. Is something drastically wrong here? I would say so. I may not agree with how some of the fanatics try to reason with the US and its allies (ie. bombs), but I can definately see why they’re a little pissed about the subject. I recommend contacting your congressman (or woman) and complaining about how much money we give this already rich country.