LETTERS
Charity for Israeli army doesn't help anyone
Some of our regional banks have a strange idea of what qualifies as a charity. Five banks operating in our region - Bank One, National City, Comerica, Standard Federal, and Huntington National - have given generous tax-exempt gifts to the Michigan Friends of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) to support the army of a foreign country. Supporting the army of another country is a bad idea - it is intervention in a foreign conflict and it links the U.S. more closely to the actions of Israeli soldiers, who have been heavily criticized for abuses against the Palestinian population by Israeli and human rights organizations. American support for Israeli human rights abuses is frequently cited as a major reason for international hostility to the U.S.
Charity to support the Israeli army is of course very bad for the Palestinian people. Soldiers are being used to bulldoze Palestinian homes, man checkpoints, and build a high wall through Palestinian territory - a wall which the Israeli High Court and the International Court of Justice have declared illegal.
Charity to support the Israeli army is in fact not really helpful to Israel. Security will only come through peace and good relations with its neighbors, which requires Israel's withdrawal from Palestinian territory. Greater oversight is needed to ensure that our regional banks exhibit responsibility in their charitable giving.
Elizabeth Barlow, Ann Arbor