January 2011

Israel allows its settler movement to go on and on claiming more of the West Bank. Is there nothing that can be done? The might of America, combined with the influence of the European Union and the Arab world, have not been able to halt the territorial growth of Israel. Most American Jews, according to polls, don’t like what is happening, but are seemingly helpless before the shrewd lobbing of long time pressure groups which have built up over decades a disproportionate influence on Congress. They make sure that the large US aid program to Israel continues. In effect, it liberates funds for Israel to build roads and defences for the settlers pushing deep into Palestinian territory. Yet even if the aid were withdrawn, even if the US stopped vetoing UN resolutions that criticize Israel, nothing is likely to change. Israel has the upper hand and will ruthlessly make sure...

By Jonathan PowerJanuary 5, 2011 Aid to Third World countries, some totally mired in poverty like Afghanistan, Bolivia or Upper Volta or some, more economically advanced but with poverty-stricken hinterlands like Nigeria or India, has a bad name. With reason? Yes, but more emphatically, no. At the moment the “nos” have it. According to a recent BBC report, “The US government has spent about £55 billion on rebuilding Afghanistan since 2001 but cannot easily show how the money was spent, a US government watchdog says.” It adds that “record keeping has been so poor that most of the money has not been properly recorded.” Afghanistan is riven with immense corruption and incompetence, as the above figures suggest. Moreover, in many areas it is just too dangerous to do development work. Nevertheless, there are plenty of parts where the war barely touches and non-governmental organisations as well as foreign government aid...