Uncle Sam to give Israeli settler families 1 mil each to relocate? Sign me up!


I read in the papers today that Ariel Sharon has just asked the United States for an extra $2,200,000,000.00 to cover the cost of relocating Israeli "settlers" away from the Gaza Strip.

Okay. I got out my calculator.

If the U.S. gives Sharon 2.5 billion dollars to help move 9,100 settlers, that's $241,758.24 each! For a family of four, that's $967,032.96 per family. How come we aren't giving almost one million US dollars per family to the poor displaced settlers in Rwanda? In Columbia? In Haiti? In Darfur? Or in Iraq?

And what about the people in New London, Connecticut that the Supreme Court recently kicked out of THEIR homes? Are they getting one mil per family too?

And what about me? Give me $241,758.24 for every member of my family and we will settle anywhere! But preferably in a condo on the Riviera.

PS: My friend Rich just pointed out, "Maybe because leaving Gaza was part of Bush's road map, he promised to pay for the withdrawal." But the BBC says that Sharon is requesting 2.2 billion dollars EXTRA. What does that mean? That the settlers are getting MORE than one million dollars per family? That I should ask for a condo on the Riviera AND a condo in Hawaii too? Help me out here. I'm confused.

PPS: If it only costs -- let's say -- $10,000 per settler to move them, does Sharon get to pocket the rest?