Will America's Ports Boycott Israel?

If sanctions are ever placed on Iran those sanctions will have little meaning as Iran will continue recieving its weapons through Dubai, much as it often does now. Through Dubai Iranian money is transferred to fund weapons shipments to terrorist groups like Hamas and Hizbullah.

When Israel sized the Palestinian ship, the Karine-A carrying 50 tons of weapons, it went through Dubai after Iran. When nuclear ringleader A.Q. Khan tried to transfer nuclear materials to Libya, he used a Dubai port. When Al Queda sought to transfer its money in the wake of the US invasion of Afghanistan, it went through Dubai in the UAE. Most of the money used to fund the attacks of 9/11 came through Dubai.

On its site Hamas has a special tribute to the father of the current UAE President who poured millions into PLO and Hamas terrorist coffers. Today the UAE continues to specifically provide money for the families of suicide bombers. In 2001, over 100 million dollars was raised in the UAE for those purposes.

Dubai's hatred of Israel is so intense that 50 million dollars worth of hospital goods and equipment were returned because they originated from Israel. Dubai despite boasting of a free trade zone, maintains a boycott on Israel that prevents goods. Anything passing through there must be certified not to come from Israel or to have any components that originate in Israel.

Now a Dubai state owned firm will be taking control of American ports. We may down the road end up facing a situation in which Israeli goods will not be able to pass through US ports.

Bush and deal supporters have argued that security will be in the hands of the Coast Guard not Dubai's DPW. Now comes a document demonstrating that the Coast Guard itself was concerned about DPW's terrorist links.

While 70 percent of Americans and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle oppose the deal, the Bush administration continues to treat it a minor misunderstanding that will blow over soon. It shouldn't be surprising that Dubai has cultivated extensive political and buisness links in the US. The President's brother Neil treats Dubai as his second home. Dubai has a long roster of US political figures on its payroll, including most recently the former Senate Majority Leader and Presidential candidate, Bob Dole. Even the new administrator of the Maritime Administration of the Transportation Department is a former senior executive of DPW, the Dubai company in question.

And the administration and supporters of the deal in the media have no response to all these issues except to cry, racism. It is apparently a form of discrimination not to turn over our ports to a state owned company whose leader met with Bin Laden in Afghanistan. The same administration which sees a critical need to track library loans doesn't see any security threat in transferring control over our ports to a regime which supports terrorists and has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into funding them.

But if we must talk about racism, let's talk about racism. A year ago a schoolbook was withdrawn by order of the Ministry of Education in Dubai because it contained a very offensive picture. Two Jewish children playing together. That is racism.

Refusing to turn over strategic ports to a government with known terrorist ties isn't racism. It's just common sense.