US Must Keep Tax Money Home

Chapel Hill – Last Friday, a coalition of local peace groups, including the Church of Reconciliation (PCUSA), theCoalition for Peace with Justice, the Eisenhower Chapter of Veterans for Peace, and Jews for a Just Peace NC, launched a year-long ad campaign calling on the United States to end military aid to Israel. The ads, which say, “Join us. Build peace with justice and equality. End US military aid to Israel,” will appear in the interior of the entire 98-bus fleet in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

“We are joining forces with local peace activists and linking with a national ad campaign to call attention to the role US military aid plays in sustaining Israel’s 45-year-old military occupation of Palestinian land, which is causing harm to Palestinians, Israelis, and Americans,” said Rev. J. Mark Davidson, pastor of the Church of Reconciliation. “We are convinced that US military aid to Israel is a barrier to peace in the region. We are also convinced that in a time when we are facing shrinking budgets for social programs and enormous challenges in our own country, we need these precious resources to address problems here at home.”

According to current expenditure levels, between 2009-2018, Chapel Hill residents will pay approximately $13.6 million of their federal taxes to buy weapons for Israel. This same money could instead fund one of the following each year for Chapel Hill residents:

* Affordable housing vouchers for 165 low-income families
* Green jobs training for 226 unemployed workers
* Early reading programs for 403 at-risk students
* Primary health care access for 11,032 people without insurance.* “

*Source: http://www.aidtoIsrael.org

The organizers of the Chapel Hill campaign intend for this ad to help educate residents and provoke a thoughtful discussion about US military aid to Israel and the role it plays in perpetuating the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.