The United States should revoke its aid to Iran so long as its leadership rejects Israel?s aid.



Sound as inhuman and immature as the Iranians? I?m so bitter that I would spite human beings in pain because of the stupidity of their rulers?



No. This boils down to priorities, in tandem with terms and conditions. I have given this careful thought.



When Iran?s rulers singled out Israel to turn down its offer of help for Iran?s earthquake victims, my initial reaction was emotional. If they don?t want Israel?s help, they should not receive help from any country. This is insulting.



As an American citizen, I don?t want my tax money and my government?s moral authority employed to help a country with this kind of attitude toward my people.



How dare one Iranian leader, Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari, call Israel ?a force of occupation? when his country accepts aid from the United States, Britain, Germany and Russia?



It does not bother Lari how America displaced the American Indian and enslaved millions of black people for 300 years; how Britain occupied countries throughout the world, including a number of Arab nations; how Germany launched two world wars, which resulted in millions of deaths of innocent people; and how Russia murdered its own citizens and occupied a network of eastern European countries for 44 years.



Then it occurred to me that a reversal on America?s part would make us as small-minded as people such as Lari. Saving lives is more important than our pride. For the record, I am singling out the United States because I am an American citizen; I don?t feel comfortable lobbying other governments.



In fact, on the surface, Lari and I agree that people?s lives are the priority, as he told the Associated Press: ?We have not lost hope for survivors, and our priority remains to find them.?



Yet, if he was serious about helping his own people, Lari would not rebuff any offer of aid.



Giving it more thought, I considered America?s problems. Cities and states throughout the country are cutting services and raising taxes. Millions of my fellow citizens are out of work or underemployed. Poverty in my city, Philadelphia, grows, and thousands in rural Maine, where I often vacation, have lost their jobs in recent years. We are already siphoning off anywhere from $100 billion to $200 billion for the war in Iraq.



Of course, America should help Iran, even when it adds to our difficulties. However, my country is making a sacrifice to help Iran, and their leaders kick us in the teeth for the effort.



Jewish citizens of the United States work hard and pay their taxes. While we are a small minority, Jews have always been deeply involved in making America great, and, as we are often reminded, a sizeable number of Jews are wealthy and as such pay an excessive amount of taxes.



So let?s get this straight: One particular group of people in America is contributing much of the money which will help the Iranians ? money that is sorely needed for their fellow American citizens ? and the Iranians insult this particular group.



It is bad enough that not enough of my tax money goes to reduce poverty in neighborhoods that are a 10-minute subway ride away. It is also bad enough that not much of my tax money is being spent to extend unemployment compensation on the thousands of residents of Maine, a state where I have had some great times during the summer.



Why should I ignore the plight of my neighbors and other Americans to whom I have sentimental ties, when the Iranian leadership tells the world, in so many words, that my people are subhuman?



As that Iranian leader might put it, our priority remains to help our fellow Americans.