Nissan has donated $200,000 to various organizations helping displaced victims in Lebanon. A Nissan spokesman said, “We recognize that there may be some level of risk in making donations when the situation is political, but from the standpoint of corporate social responsibility, we concluded that this was a just cause.” Though they will undoubtedly get some good PR for this donation (and possibly some negative PR), the big wigs at Nissan deserve some praise for helping innocent people. I don’t think the victims are gonna care where the aid comes from, as long as it comes. Still, $200,000 splits up to less than 50 cents per displaced person.

On the other side of the issue, the Sinai Temple group of Los Angeles has organized a two-day trip in which 100 people, including 30 doctors, will be visiting Israel. That’s not all. The group will be bringing over 6.6 million dollars with them, mostly from member donations, along with 250,000 dollars worth of medical equipment donated by Cedars-Sinai and Encino/Tarzana Regional Medical Center.

“We could have just donated another $200,000 to Israel,” said Aaron Leibovic, a member of the Sinai Temple board of directors, of the price of everyone’s plane fare. “It’s so much more important to come here and deliver it in person,” he explained. “I’m doing it as much for myself as I am for Israel.”

That’s right, their plane fare alone is equal to Nissan’s full donation to Lebanon. The 6.6 million from the Sinai Temple group is on top of the 3 billion dollars Israel already receives annually, in economic and military funding from the US, loans excluded. Could you imagine Japanese-Americans sending millions of dollars to Japan as it invaded Southeast Asian countries before our involvement in WWII? The damage inflicted by Israel to Lebanon’s infrastructure and economy amounts to roughly 4 billion dollars, since the bombardment began. It sure would be nice if even a fraction of that money could go towards Lebanese victims as well. Too bad the determining factor of who receives aid is based on race rather than need.

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