At 8:41 PM -0800 2/4/02, Jonathan Julius Dobkin wrote:
>The Law of Return merely says that Jews who settle in Israeli have the
>right to immediate citizenship--as ethnic Germans, for example, have the
>right to immediate citizenship in Germany, even if their ancestors have
>all lived in Russia since the 18th century; or as I have the right as
>an Armenian to Armenian citizenship
This whole concept is total nonsense! What the hell is an "ethnic German" anyhow? My missus is descended from German ancestors. Does that make her "ethnic German"? Does she have an entitlement to claim German citizenship, even though she's never set foot in the country? What the hell, I've got Anglo-Saxon ancestors, which is also "ethnic German" if you want to go back a few centuries, so I could claim to be "ethnic German" too. Maybe I'm entitled to German citizenship? I somehow doubt it.
Either way, this Israeli "Law of Return" seems quite a different kettle of fish. Unless the right of "ethnic Germans" to German citizenship is based on adherence to the Lutheran church or something. With non-Lutherans who had actually been born in Germany being denied any right to citizenship, as refugees from Palestine are refused any so-called "right of return" to their country of birth.
As I understand it, what the Israelis are doing is pretty much what the Nazis did, especially to German Jews. The ethnic purity policy of Nazi Germany is actually the philosophical source of this "Right of return" law.
The Nazis' denial of citizenship to German Jews was only the first step of course. Then they tried to expel them and finished up trying to kill them all. It was a logical solution to the same problem the Jewish state has with the Palestinians who are inconveniently in the way. And they seem to have struck out on the same journey.
Realistically, there's no such thing as an "ethnic Jew", anymore than one can be an "ethnic Moslem". Judaism is a religion.
Frankly, this whole "ethnic" this that or the other seems totally irrational. But in the case of Israel, it is merely a deception, given that the Israeli government stridently rejects the notion of allowing people who were actually born there any "right of return". Not to mention the fact that very few of those who actually do enjoy the "right of return" could conceivably trace any ancestors to the geographic area.
Obviously they aren't returning and it isn't a right related to any roots in the area anyhow. No matter how they dress it up, it is a right to migrate to Israel that derives from religious affilliation.
If Germany granted people who were Lutherans, or whose parents were Lutherans, a "right of return" to Germany, whether or not their ancestors had ever been anywhere near Germany, that would be be analogous. Especially if the same right was denied to non-Lutherans who had been fled from Germany as refugees.
Does the German "right of return" exclude German Jews I wonder? How would people feel about that I wonder?
The ugly truth is that Israel has an outright discriminatory immigration policy. It is no different from the old White Australia Policy, which refused citizenship to non-whites. Even aborigines were refused citizenship until 1967. Of course the White Australia Policy also operated on a transparent pretext, I think a subjective language test was the actual mechanism. The reason for it was that Australia wanted to keep itself purely ethnic European. Such sickening naked discrimination is unacceptable in civilised society nowadays of course. No matter how you try to dress it up, it is precisely what the Israeli government is doing. Trying to manufacture an ethnicly pure nation.
A revolting objective. One that the Nazis would have approved of perhaps, but one that civilised people should not attempt to apologise for.
Bill Bartlett
Bracknell Tas
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