Friday, October 23, 2009

Israel in the process of solving its demographic problems


Years ago, when the economy of the Federal Republic of Germany, was second to none rather than just better than most, I remember having a conversation with a friend from Liverpool in a Munich bar about the so-called "Volksdeutsche" (ethnic Germans) in Khazikstan, the Vojvidina, in Rumania, Hungary, Poland and elsewhere, discovering their German roots and heading for the land of milk and honey and on arrival there they were producing photos of little Petr, now called Peter, running around in his "Lederhosen" somewhere between Novi Sad and Belgrade. The discussion moved on to how German they might really be, whereupon my friend said that if you offered half of Liverpool a German passport they would be over here tomorrow. The times they have a changed, or have they? 

Today Israel has solved its demographic problem with the 'Jerusalem Post' reporting that the Shavei Israel organization has just brought 7 descendents of the Jewish community of Kaifeng, China, to Zionistan. Moreover, those seven might only be an advanced party for a much larger part of the approximately 1,000 descendants of the Jewish community there. Of course, even if all 1,000 were to come that wouldn't change the fact that Jews are condemned to be in the minority in the land that they are occupying. However, we should not bank on that and my experience of China informs me that the Chinese can be very pragmatic and who knows in the People's Republic there might be a few million just waiting to "discover" that having Jewish roots might offer the opportunity for a better life than the one that they are having at the moment. Yes, the times they might have changed but some things never change.
The picture shows the Kaifeng "Jews" arriving at Ben Gurion Airport and hopefully all of those nasty people out there will stop accusing Israel of racism.

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