IK to recognize Palestine as a State?

UK is debating the merits of recognizing Palestine as a State following Sweden’s announcement that they will recognize Palestine.  This is highly significant.  It may help stop the genocide.  Billions are required to rebuild Gaza from the devastation inflicted on Gaza by Israel.  I trust that with the UK taking a stand that the US will follow.  By recognizing Palestine as a State, it puts both sides on a more equal footing for negotiation.  JMO.

10/13

               Abe..

                       I read late last night the US is giving the Palestineans 212 Million dollars
             to re-build I just hope their leaders spend the money on the people not themsleves?

                                                        Cheers...Joe

Joe, the 212 Million dollars is a drop in the bucket of what is needed.  Although one is skeptical when money is given to any foreign country, I doubt that misuse of the funds with the world looking is going to happen.  Repair and rebuilding is something visible.

Liability is an issue that is not applied with regard to Israel.  If Palestine were a State, they would have the right to place liability.  In the recent assault by Israel in Gaza, Israel is responsible for the devastation and should pay.  Of course the money would come from the US.  http://www.rense.com/general31/rege.htm
If the aid to Israel was diverted to pay for the rebuilding of Gaza, it could act as a deterrent to future incursions.   I suggest you Google “Aid to Israel” and learn more.  This is one example of why money is not available to help American citizens.  What we spend on the military and defense suppliers is astronomical.  When politicians talk about cuts to balance the budget, they often target life-support programs for the elderly and poor.  If they were to stop flushing the money down the toilet of foreign aid and curtail spending for armament, money would be available for essential services in our own country.  
Joe, have you ever read or heard anything that requires Israel to account for the money they receive?  Have you ever wondered why, at election time, politicians announce their support for Israel?  Have you ever wondered about the source of the money they get for their campaigns?  Have you ever wondered if the money they get was from tax dollars sent to Israel as Aid?  Sometime in the future, perhaps a person like Snowden will surface and expose the corruption involved with foreign aid.  Of course that person would risk his life to do so.

I commented many moons ago on an NPR report regarding foreign aid.  The summary was that it is mostly pay offs.  Those pay offs benefit the rulers.  The people never see it.  The pay offs are for the benefit of the U.S. to use those countries for various reasons. 

Therefore, those payments are not foreign aid and should be renamed so people are not bamboozled into thinking we are spending those $billions to benefit the citizens of those countries.

As for real aid, the report recommended that all aid have a stopping point.  At that point, those countries receiving aid would need to show progress in setting up their own infrastructure to aid their own people, including taxes and healthcare, etc.  They would have to show how the aid would be temporary before it would continue.

The governments receiving our gifts and aid just put it as a line item in their budgets - a permanent line item.  They have no intention of improving their own economies and no longer need the aid.  Even as their economies improve, the wealthy just get wealthier as in our own country but they are using our lump sum gifts to do it.

And yes, there are $billions, probably $trillions, that disappear as "foreign aid" without strings and without anyone looking over the accountability of those governments - ever.  It's like the subsidies to global corporations that go on year after year with no accountability or rational reason to continue.

The poor and disenfranchised of this country are an easy target.  We see them at the grocery store with their wicked food stamps or food stamp card.  We don't see the money that ships out of this country or the excesses of the recipient politicians while their economies continue destitute.

Foreign aid is used as a political ploy - but it is obviously  not working.

Agree.

I am having a hard time following this thread with regard to the OP.

I cannot see the aid given to Israel in that light.

Israel stands in contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East as a country whose primary concern is the welfare of its citizens.

I go back to the study brought to us by Abe, concerning the quality of happiness and its causes.  The 11th country on that list, just outside those top ten, was Israel.  Israel ranked 6 steps above the US at 17 and 16 above Germany at 27.  The highest factor, according to the same study, offered to us by Abe, was that of attention to issues of mental health.  Other factors included a sense of security that the government was committed to the general health and welfare of its members.

Yet it still seems that Israel is presented as the primary villain in the very real problem.  No mention is given of its right to protect those citizens from the air raids of Hamas, for instance. Instead, those attacks are presented as an acceptable action against an aggressor.

Ought there to be a recognized state of Palestine?  Of course.  It should be recognized that there ought to be two states, each given equal value, each having shared in their own contributions to the problem, each given an opportunity to live in peace as neighbors.

It needs to be admitted, though, that the Palestinians have been attacking the recognized state of Israel from its earliest date, and that Israel has often been forced to retaliate to insure its survival and the survival of those apparently secure and happy citizens.

The past few months have seemed to show progress in the direction of a two-state solution.

What possible good can it do for anyone to continue to stir up antagonism instead of joining in on a hope for a peaceful solution that benefits both sides?