Countdown
Following the Money Trail
Vol. VIII, No. 17
Posted on Wednesday July 4, 2007
Last week, AAI President James Zogby presented the first in a series of surveys on Arab American opinion leading up to the 2008 presidential election. When it came to naming their top choices for the nation’s top job, Arab American Republicans favored former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Senator John McCain while Democrats backed Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Voters indicated their strong support for U.S. engagement to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, with almost two-thirds of respondents saying they would be more likely to vote for a presidential candidate who promised to take an active role in peacemaking between Israel and Palestine, and over half saying they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who promised to support peace negotiations between Israel and Syria.
A “Wonder”ful World
Which architectural feats do you think should be included in the new Seven Wonders of the World? That is the question being asked by the New7Wonders Foundation in a global online contest which ends this Saturday. Of the original seven wonders, only Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza have stood the test of time. The new candidates highlight architectural masterpieces from the Arab and Muslim world including Petra, the capital of the Nabataean Empire in Jordan; the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, a 12th-century structure remaining from the Moorish dynasty; and the Taj Mahal in India, which still dazzles since its construction in 1630 A.D. Click here to be one of the expected 100 million who will vote!
A Reason to Break Your Diet…
Congratulations go to Daniel Zougbie, a 22 year old Palestinian-American from California who was named a 2007 Brick Awards Finalist. The Brick Awards honors young people who are “making our world better” and Frito Lay recognized finalists by featuring them on the bags of their popular Doritos chips. “Daniel transformed his grief over a death in the family into a passion to do something,” the bag reads. “His grandmother died from diabetes in Palestine, where medical care was scarce. In her memory, he began the Global Micro-Clinic Project, opening 50 health clinics throughout the West Bank. These community-owned clinics have given the Palestinian people the ability to care for each other.” Buy a bag today!
Following the Money Trail…
Last month, the foreign operations subcommittees of both the House and Senate Appropriations committees marked up bills for 2008 foreign assistance…with all the ensuing drama that entails. Here are some highlights, with thanks to Americans for Peace Now (APN) for their always thorough reports and analysis:
Jordan and Egypt:
Both Jordan and Egypt received the full amount of aid requested by the president, although the House placed significant new hurdles on military assistance to Egypt. The bill stipulates that before receiving $200 million in aid, the Secretary of State must certify that Egypt “has taken concrete and measurable steps to- (1) enact and implement a new judicial authority law that protects the independence of the judiciary; (2) review criminal procedures and train police leadership in modern policing to curb police abuses; and (3) detect and destroy the smuggling network and smuggling tunnels that lead from Egypt to Gaza.”
Palestine:
Notwithstanding the usual antics of opponents like Congressmen Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and Mike Pence (R-IN), Palestinians received economic support in the sum of $63.5 million from the House and $75 million from the Senate. APN wryly notes, “It is hard going these days for Members of Congress hoping to score points by showing toughness vis-a-vis aid to the Palestinians, given that U.S. assistance to the Palestinians—either in the form of aid to the PA, the PLO, or the Palestinian people via NGO—run programs for the West Bank and Gaza-is already subject to such extensive and overlapping prohibitions, restrictions, conditions, vetting and oversight requirements, and audits that it seems impossible to come up with any truly original or new requirement to impose.”
In an effort spearheaded by Senators John E. Sununu (R-NH) and Joe Biden (D-DE) and supported by a quarter of the Senate, funding was granted in both chambers (House—$12 million, Senate—$8 million) for a fund to support people-to-people programs between Palestinians and Israelis that promote peace and reconciliation.
Lebanon:
Congress granted $45 million in economic support to Lebanon with a stipulation that not less than $10 million support American educational institutions in Lebanon such as the American University of Beirut. (Senator Sununu and twelve colleagues signed a letter expressly supporting this funding.) Lebanon was also allocated military assistance ($7 million in the House and $9.6 million in the Senate), which received bipartisan support from Senators Sununu, Biden, Carl Levin (D-MI), and John Warner (R-VA).
In an effort that has been championed by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the Senate also incorporated language restricting the sale and transfer of cluster munitions, a continuing threat to civilians in southern Lebanon since Israel dropped over one million cluster bombs during last summer’s war (90% of which in the conflict’s last 72 hours).
Israel:
Israel received a whopping $2.4 billion in military aid from U.S. taxpayers. In addition, although the U.S. usually stipulates that foreign military assistance be spent in the United States, Israel is permitted to spend over a quarter of its aid in Israel itself.
Also, in spite of the massive refugee populations resulting from ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq, of the $830 million allocated for the resettlement of refugees worldwide, $40 million has been appropriated to resettle refugees from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to Israel.
Saudi Arabia:
APN reports, “In what has become a perennial exercise, Congress took the brave step of adopting an amendment prohibiting the use of funds for assistance to Saudi Arabia. As in previous years, the amendment—offered each year by Rep. Weiner (D-NY), who this year was accompanied by Reps. [Joseph] Crowley (D-NY), [Michael] Ferguson (R-NJ), and [Shelley] Berkley (D-NV)—amounts to little more than grandstanding at the expense of U.S. interests, since the U.S. does not provide ‘assistance’ to Saudi Arabia. The only funding in this account comes under a very small program to bring Saudi military officers for training in the U.S. (a program that is viewed by the U.S. military as being of direct strategic value to the U.S., at a very low cost) and other very limited expenditures related to counter-terrorism activities.”
Al Hurra:
It seems that some Members of Congress are unhappy with the Frankenstein they created in the Arabic-language, U.S. government-funded television station, Al Hurra. The committee notes that it is “deeply troubled by several programming decisions at Alhurra television…On more than one occasion, the network aired live, and without opposing comment, statements by Hezbollah and Hamas leaders that were hateful, anti-American, and anti-Israel.” The report goes on to “call into question the management and overall journalistic philosophy of the Network’s leadership.” The committee deferred Al Hurra’s funding and hopes to encourage accountability by funding translation and archiving services as well as requesting reviews of Al Hurra’s editorial policies from the State Department’s Inspector General and the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Why not just pull the plug and stop wasting taxpayer money?
And, finally, AIPAC:
Throwing an amusing wrench into the ongoing contest between themselves and Republicans for Most Favored Party status with AIPAC, Democrats included funding in the foreign ops bill for family planning programs staunchly opposed by the GOP. Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) authored a memo urging his caucus to vote against the bill-with a caveat. JTA reports that Boehner included a P.S. which read: “Members are advised that the Leadership has drafted a letter to AIPAC affirming Republican support for Israel funding, not withstanding final passage of this bill…This letter will be available for Members to sign at the Leadership Desk on the floor tonight.”
