US Aid Fuels Settler Violence While Washington 'Deeply Concerned'
The news is predictable: Israeli settlers, often shielded by the IDF, torch homes and vehicles near Bethlehem and Hebron (Al Jazeera). This isn't a new 'intensification'; it's the continuation of a policy. Since 2000, the US has provided Israel with over $60 billion in military assistance , according to USAID figures and Congressional Research Service reports. This aid, ostensibly for 'security,'
indirectly subsidizes an occupation infrastructure that enables and protects these very settlers. Reports of 'deep US concern' over settler violence always follow, while the arms keep flowing. How many homes must burn, how many olive trees uprooted, before Washington connects its vast financial spigot to the fire? It appears 'concern' is a tax-deductible expense for maintaining the status quo.