The ink is still spilling over Mitt Romney’s claim in Israel Monday that Israelis are more prosperous than Palestinians because their culture is superior to Palestine’s. First he went on Fox yesterday and told Carl Cameron “That is an interesting topic… but I actually didn’t address that.” Then last night he penned a piece for for the National Review online simply called “Culture Does Matter,” in which he asks, “What exactly accounts for prosperity if not culture?”

Cenk Uyguar on Current TV’s “The Young Turks” gives us a great example of one thing that can account for prosperity besides culture: “I don’t know if you know this, but the Palestinians are under occupation. That’s like turning to African Americans during the time of slavery and saying, ‘Ha ha, your GDP per capita is not as high as the white people.’”

By the way, the US gives Israel $3 billion per year in aid and military subsidies it doesn’t give Palestinians. I’m not saying Israel shouldn’t get aid—that’s not what this is about. But it is a $3 billion head start and a piece of the complex geopolitical realities that shape prosperity discrepancy more than simple “cultural superiority.” Watch below.