Recently, I was speaking with an investment counselor re: why I want socially responsible investments and specifically, do not want to invest in US Treasury Bonds as my money may end up in a war zone or going to Israel. The counselor promptly asked what my problem with Israel is. I spoke of Israel’s blatant disregard for: human rights of Palestinians, and UN resolutions condemning same, and Geneva Conventions. He mentioned he is Jewish and firmly believes in Israel’s right to defend itself, since, after all, Jews have been victims for centuries. I acknowledged that, indeed, Jews have been persecuted at the hands of Christians as well as Muslims, but that doesn’t make it moral for them to commit similar atrocities against Palestinians.   He then asked me, “How many Noble Prize winners have been Palestinians?”  To which he answered himself, “None. Many Jewish people have won prizes and that’s why we should support Israel: they contribute to the world.”  I was taken aback, and continue to ponder this. Does a Nobel Prize winner have more right to exist over a Palestinian farmer?  Who decides who lives and who dies? [For the record, I found at least three Egyptian Nobel Laureates, one Iranian, and one Palestinian, Yasar Arafat, for peace.] This reminds me of the Lifeboat exercise that is often done for teambuilding. This is a  [paper] group exercise whereby a ship is sinking and only x number of people can fit in the lifeboat. Participants decide who gets in the lifeboat. Typically, scientists, doctors, and children are chosen, while elderly and disabled folks and those whose skills aren’t as valued are left behind. [The exercise so upset me that, when doing teambuilding with groups, I substitute the 10 Essentials problem, where participants decide which items are chosen to go into to a survival backpack.] When the Titanic went down, passengers in the poor section, steerage, were left behind. ‘Women and children first’ is often the rule.    We who are living in affluent countries already choose who gets in the lifeboat. We choose among our own countryfolk who will get financial aid and who won’t, based on criteria utilizing values of the time. We choose who in the international community gets aid and how much and who doesn’t because we are boycotting them. [So Cubans aren’t valued because of ‘human rights violations’, although the US, China, Saudi Arabia are  guilty of violating human rights.] Darfur and other genocidal African nations aren’t getting as much aid as those allies who are of strategic importance. Israel, Egypt, and Pakistan top the aid list—Israel uses its aid to purchase weapons from US manufacturers, whereas the others have a mixed menu. These nations are touted as democracies surrounded by terrorists, justifying huge aid packages.    Well, Palestine has a constitution, unlike Israel who never produced one, and held democratic [according to sources who watched] fair elections. The US didn’t like the outcome when Hamas won Gaza. Given a chance to be a fully functioning nation, without walls and checkpoints preventing livelihood and visits from families and to hospitals, without having its elected officials sitting in Israeli jails, without house demolitions and settlements occupied by foreigners, with Palestinian homes to go to instead of packed refugee camps in many countries, perhaps Palestine could be democratic and therefore worthy of being an ally. Perhaps Palestinians could sit in the lifeboat.    Some may say, “the government is doing all this choosing.” Well, in a democracy, We the People are the Government. Our silence allows the powerful, rich lobbies, like American Israeli PAC and Weapons Manufacturers, to influence our elected officials.  Our apathy pushes underserved people out of the lifeboat. Our voices must be heard. Our elected officials work for us, they are our employees. Our votes count. We must tell our employees that People count, not corporation profits; that we want our tax dollars spent for diplomacy, peace, negotiations, fairness, justice, not wars. It is time to speak up now, before falling from the lifeboat.