Is Giving $100M In Humanitarian Aid To Gaza A Good Idea?

(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

On the morning of Wednesday, October 18, President Joe Biden announced that the United States would be giving $100 million in humanitarian aid to residents of the Gaza Strip.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, October 18, Sen. Rick Scott announced that he would try to block that aid until Hamas released its hostages, which is shorthand for “never.”

The right-wing media agreed, criticizing Biden for offering a penny in humanitarian aid.

What’s a person to think?

First, innocent people are suffering in the Gaza Strip. I know, I know: Lindsay Graham thinks that we should “level the place.” Others insist that everyone in the Gaza Strip is a terrorist. These people are idiots.

Infants and toddlers are in the Gaza Strip, and they’re injured by bombs as much as the Hamas terrorists. I’d be happy to bury the terrorists in the bouncing rubble, but I have some reservations about the 3-year-old living next door.

I understand that Hamas uses civilians as human shields, and Hamas hides weapons and militants in mosques and hospitals. I also understand that this is a war crime, and mosques and hospitals become legitimate targets when Hamas stores weapons there. Any resulting deaths are Hamas’s fault.

But there are still 3-year-olds suffering grievous injury. Those kids are cute; they’re not terrorists, and they deserve protection. If they’re injured, they deserve help.

Moreover, the $100 million that Biden proposes to send to the Gaza Strip is a fraction of what the U.S. is sending to Israel to prosecute the war. At the same time that Biden proposes sending $100 million to the Gaza Strip, he’s proposing to send roughly $14 billion to Israel. You can believe simultaneously that Israel must destroy Hamas and that innocent civilians shouldn’t suffer needlessly.

Some portion of the $100 million in humanitarian aid may make its way to injured civilians; that’s just and good. And giving aid shows the world, including the Arab street that loathes both Israel and the United States, that the United States has a conscience. We’ll never convince the Arab street that the United States occasionally does some good, but we should at least try try to make that point.

Lastly, people suspect that Hamas will steal any humanitarian aid directed to Gaza. Biden says the aid will be protected by the United Nations and that, if Hamas steals the aid, the aid will stop. Biden is, of course, wrong — and he probably knows that he’s wrong. Whenever the United States government gives away large amounts of money — whether it’s COVID relief funds or aid to the Gaza Strip — a bunch of that money is stolen. And when you’re giving money to a place as corrupt as the Gaza Strip, you can anticipate that the vast majority of aid will end up in the wrong place. That’s a cost of giving stuff away.

So make the aid truly humanitarian — food, water, medical supplies — and assume that Hamas will steal some of it. At least a tiny fraction of the aid will get to the innocent 3-year-olds, and providing the aid will still make a point to the world.

That’s it for substance. I’ll close on a point of personal privilege. Kayleigh McEnany was a columnist at Above the Law. She graduated from these humble environs to become White House press secretary. Kashmir Hill was a columnist at Above the Law; she graduated to The New York Times. Elie Mystal was a columnist at Above the Law; he graduated to The Nation. And then there’s me:  I’ve been writing these columns for 13 years, and I’ve now been asked to write occasional opinion pieces at The Daily Beast.

What the hell did I do wrong?

Shoot! Now the folks at The Daily Beast will read that last sentence, not realize that it’s a joke, and withdraw the invitation.

Oh, well.  Glory can be fleeting.

Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at [email protected].