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Al-Ahram Weekly 9 - 15 March 2000 Issue No. 472 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 9 - 15 March 2000 Issue No. 472
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Books Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons The plunder of history
By Mohamed Sobeih *
Is Israel a rich country in a sea of poverty, as Shimon Peres claims? We must define what we mean by wealth before attempting to answer the question. Is it rich in civilisation or moral values? Israel was built on the ruins of the Palestinian people, whose political rights, natural resources and infrastructure it usurped. The people who had lived in Palestine for thousands of years were uprooted through a systematic ethnic cleansing campaign.
If Israel has no natural wealth to call its own, are its financial resources any different? How much did Israel receive in compensation for Nazi war crimes? Israel is also receiving astronomical amounts from the US and Europe. No other country has been given so much. It continues to cash in on the peace it has not yet concluded with the Arabs, receiving historically unprecedented sums.
Nor is Israel wealthy in terms of scientific and technological development: such development was imported by Jewish immigrants trained and funded by their own countries. At least 60 per cent of Israeli arms are bought with US federal funds. Israel is "developing" by exploiting and impoverishing the Palestinian people, building settlements and dumping nuclear and toxic waste on their land.
Illegal, immoral wealth is otherwise known as theft. The Israelis cannot boast about their development or civilisation. Before doing so, therefore, Shimon Peres would to well to recall the facts. Once a victim of Nazi crimes himself, he should be the first to condemn the inhuman crimes he is committing today against the Palestinian people.
* This week's Soapbox speaker is the PA's permanent representative to the Arab League.
