While America shuts down fire houses, cuts infant nutrition, US subsidizes Israel army sushi courses

 
 
 
 
 
 
i
 
1 Vote
Quantcast
Ali Abunimah
electronicintifada.net
There’s an astonishing piece of news in Israel’s Haaretz today under the headine “Israel allocates funds to help former IDF soldiers become sushi chefs”:

Demobilized soldiers will be able to study Asian cooking this year at the government’s expense, as part of an effort to reduce the number of foreign workers employed as cooks in Asian restaurants by training Israeli professionals to replace them.

It’s shocking for two reasons – one is the xenophobia that is rising to astonishing heights in Israel: not even the cooks of foreign cuisine can be foreign (I’ll come back to this) – but because of what it says about how Israel is using US military aid at a time of drastic cuts and austerity for American citizens. Haaretz says:

The cooking courses are estimated to cost about NIS 4.5 million a year, about NIS 1 million of which will come from the Defense Ministry budget.

That’s a few hundred thousands dollars – small change in the grand scheme of things – but not for the Israeli soldiers who will enroll in the course:

Six courses are scheduled for this year in the north, center and south, with a minimum of 25 students in each course.

Some recently demobilized soldiers taking the course may receive aid for housing and living expenses for the first few months. Though the NIS 30,000 tuition [about $8,000] is fully subsidized, students will have to pay NIS 1,800 each for clothing and equipment.

Is this what US aid is being used for?

Everyone knows that the US gives several billion dollars a year of taxpayer aid to Israel’s military – with few strings attached. The US in effect subsidizes sushi-making courses for Israelis, but at what price?

Here are some examples:

  • All around the US, school systems like the one in Milwaukee, have been laying off teachers due to budget cuts, or cutting basic services like police and fire protection.
  • Public universities in the US are dramatically raising tuition fees on students to make up shortfalls in state funding.
  • Last Autumn, as Congress was looking for ways to cut the US federal deficit by cutting spending and not raising taxes, Congress chose to cut $733 million from the Women Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program – a move which, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities would see 700,000 poor women and young children in the United States lose access to a basic nutrition program this year that has been shown to improve child outcomes.

Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers will be getting all-expenses paid sushi courses.

No debate in US system

What’s even more striking is that despite the superficial impression that support for Israel is a hotly-contested political issue, aid to Israel is completely “bipartisan.” While Republicans accuse President Obama and his Democratic Party of bein..., leading members of the Democratic Party boast that under the Obama administration, US military assistance to Israel “has been raised to unprecedented levels.”

Recently Deborah Lipstadt – a leading Holocaust scholar and supporter of Israel – lashed out in a  Haaretz interview against “over-the-top pandering” to Israel by US politicians. Lipstadt also said that abuse of the Holocaust by American politicians seeking the favor of Israel’s supporters amounted to “soft-core denial” of the Holocaust.

Lipstadt’s comments were directed at Republicans – who are having presidential primary elections unlike the Democrats – but could have just as easily been aimed at leading Democratic Party politicians as well.

One can only agree with Lipstadt that such pandering is “unhealthy” – so much so that we have absurdities such as today’s news: US-subsidized sushi-making courses for Israeli soldiers while American infants are to see cuts in nutrition and no one has the guts to object.

“Now that we’ve got the recipe, is there really any reason for them to stay?”

As I mentioned, the xenophobia inherent in almost every aspect of Israeli policy – even to the point of objecting to sushi chefs from countries that invented sushi has reached the point where it out does satire.

It reminded me of a sketch from the BBC satirical show Not The Nine O’Clock News from the early 1980s. In it Rowan Atkinson (later of Mr. Bean fame) plays a politician of Mrs. Thatcher’s Conservative Party. Watch the whole sketch because you will see that what was political satire thirty years ago has now become real political discourse on a whole range of subjects.

In one line, Atkinson – satirizing anti-immigrant sentiments – says “Now, a lot of immigrants are Indians and Pakistanis, for instance, and I like curry. But now that we’ve got the recipe, is there really any need for them to stay?” The same now goes for sushi in Israel.

Oh, and don’t forget, that last year, just after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the reaction of Israel’s Ynet was, “Israelis fear sushi shortage after quake.” And here’s the Rowan Atkinson sketch.

Laugh, or you might just cry.

Views: 32

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega posted a blog post

What Has Tulsi Gabbard Been Up to? Oh, Just catching Obama's ass ordering Intelligence Agencies to Commit Treason!

As we can always expect, the mainstream media will do anything they can to undermine the Trump…See More
23 hours ago
Burbia commented on tjdavis's blog post The Jewish Couple That Taught Bob Dylan Hebrew and Introduced Him to Zionism
"Haaretz put this story behind a pay wall. Sali Ariel and Terry Noble were the names of the couple…"
yesterday
William Heckman is now a member of 12160 Social Network
yesterday
cheeki kea commented on tjdavis's photo
yesterday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's video
Thumbnail

This Woman DESTROYED Harley-Davidson's Future Forever

"It's a sad day on the highway. But I guess the show must go on. Watch out for the ruination of…"
yesterday
cheeki kea posted a video

This Woman DESTROYED Harley-Davidson's Future Forever

This Woman DESTROYED Harley-Davidson's Future ForeverWelcome to Ride Radar – Your Frontline Source for Motorcycle Deals, Trends & Market Mayhem.Looking for t...
yesterday
tjdavis posted a photo
yesterday
Burbia posted a status
"Who knew releasing the MLK files and literally deflecting, it ends up implicating himself with the Epstein Files."
Tuesday
Burbia posted a video

Dan Bilzerian DEMOLISHES MAGA Nutjob Patrick Bet-David on His Own Show

Watch as two powerhouse personalities collide in this no-holds-barred debate on one of the world’s most contentious issues. Patrick Bet-David, known for his ...
Monday
Doc Vega's 7 blog posts were featured
Sunday
tjdavis's 2 blog posts were featured
Sunday
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's blog post Track AIPAC
Sunday
FREEDOMROX's blog post was featured

MRNA VACCINES: Question

Hello my fellow sojourners,I know it has been five years since the Plandemic, but one question has…See More
Sunday
Less Prone favorited FREEDOMROX's blog post MRNA VACCINES: Question
Sunday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Saturday
cheeki kea posted a photo
Saturday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Friday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Marjory Taylor Green Proposes Bill Abolishing Geoengineering or Weather Modification
"cheeki kea Marjory is in a daily battle with Democrats on the hill constantly coming up with more…"
Jul 18
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Jul 16
Mr. Sizzle favorited Less Prone's video
Jul 15

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted