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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Representatives from the Democratic Caucus of SJSU and the San Jose State College Republicans faced off on Monday afternoon to discuss the relationship between the U.S. and the Middle East, and each presidential candidate's views of it. The event, held on the second floor of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, was hosted by Spartans for Israel, an on-campus advocacy group for Israel, and Hillel of Silicon Valley, an off-campus foundation that supports Jewish campus events. Samala Gunasekera, a junior molecular biology major, said even though she has a general idea of each candidate's position on the Middle East issue, she said before the event that she looked forward to hearing more in-depth information. "I want to hear each candidate's attitude toward Palestine," she said, "and how would they go about bringing peace between Israel and Palestine." Maria Casdillo, a junior political science major and a first semester transfer from De Anza College, said even though she is not a U.S. citizen, she is interested in politics. ..............................................................................................................Ted Rudow III,MA 9/23/08
The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA) conservatively estimates cumulative total direct U.S. aid to Israel at $107.961 billion. It is not of Israel's cost to the U.S. or the American taxpayer, nor of the benefit to Israel of U.S. aid.
The distinction is important, because the indirect or consequential costs to the American taxpayer as a result of Washington's blind support for Israel exceed by many times the amount of direct U.S. aid to Israel. Only rarely is a critical word uttered among politicians regarding AIPAC and its associates that support unjust and aggressive (and disastrous) U.S. policies toward the peoples of the Middle East. For too long, policies that support Israeli militarism and occupation have gone unchallenged. Political voices raising even minor disagreements with prevailing policies are silenced or subject to campaigns of intimidation.

What little we have been told is pure anti-Arab propaganda. Nothing good is ever said by the West about the Arabs; I never heard anything good in school about the Arabs. I think is it racism, but try as they will, Israel will never willingly withdraw from the Israeli-occupied Arab territories and has said flatly she will never give up Jerusalem.

Ted Rudow III,MA
class of 1996