Millions of US Dollars Pledged to Gaza

October 14, 2014

By Brian Tincher
Special Contributor to In Homeland Security

Senior Writer Seeking Liberty

Last week, Secretary of State John Kerry pledged $212 million in American aid to help rebuild the Gaza Strip after the summer-long war with Israel. According to Secretary Kerry, the importance of rebuilding Gaza is that the people of Gaza need help “now.” The aid was announced during a press conference in Cairo, Egypt after a larger conference to help organize aid for the Gaza Strip. The pledge of cash comes on the heels of more attacks in Iraq and Syria by ISIS. The city of Kobani, Syria is under attack while coalition airpower bombs ISIS positions around the city in an effort to stave off the attack. Meanwhile, the nation of Turkey is standing idle as the ISIS forces try to take the city and install their political ideology—particularly the slaughter of anyone who opposes their form of Islam.

The $212 million that the Obama Administration is now promising to the Gaza Strip is close to the amount of money spent to fight ISIS from the air: is it all worth it in the long haul? ISIS will not stop until they control large swaths of land throughout Iraq and Syria and perhaps elsewhere. The Gaza Strip is more than just a spot on the map it is also representative of an ideology. Whereas ISIS means to convert and control at all costs, Gaza and the Palestinian Authority wish to bend Israel to the will of the ideology they espouse, and no amount of American money equates to peace at any point in the future. Money is great to spread around in the name of peace and humanity but who is getting the money and how many peaceful uses will it be put toward?

The reason Israel gave for their military engagement into the Gaza Strip was that the government of Hamas was launching missiles into Israel from numerous positions including mosques, schools, and hospitals. This does not sound as though the government for the people of Gaza was giving any thought to the possibility of destruction but perhaps was counting on it. After all, gauging the reaction by one’s enemy is not an unacceptable risk when there is more to be gained by losing. Hamas did lose in its bid to hurt Israel, but will be the winner if the foreign aid that it wants comes to fruition and the Gaza Strip is rebuilt with an eye on withstanding another engagement with Israel. Numerous construction projects in the region are paid for by the taxpayers of the United States and several other nations.

Some might argue that American aid is helping to rebuild terrorist infrastructure. Spending millions to help the people of a destroyed nation seems to be a noble cause and one that Americans are normally excited to undertake, but is this money just a cash advance on the next round of attacks against Israel and more destruction for the people of the Gaza Strip? Secretary Kerry cannot offer guarantees of peace—of course—even when American money is involved. The bigger question is when will the people of the Gaza Strip enjoy peace? Peace without the involvement of the United States and the heavy-handed rule of Hamas.