John Mearsheimer likes to point out that the reports that Palestinians will soon outnumber Jews in the lands between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean do not take into account the huge number of Israelis who have already left town-- they may outnumber them already. Well, this is a cable from an unnamed State Department aide in Moscow in 2008.
[Name removed] xxxxx said that the immigration of Russian Jews to Israel created a bond between the two countries that had a profound impact on Russia-Israel relations. This did not mean that those who fled Soviet anti-Semitism had pressured their new homeland for closer ties with the country that had repressed them. Instead they created in Israel a center of Russian culture and formed a "bridge" between the countries. xxxxx said that many Russian-speakers in Israel maintained strong ties to their homeland and some had even returned. The Israeli Embassy estimated that "tens of thousands" of Israel's Russian-speakers currently live and work in Moscow. xxxxx said that he personally knew many Russian-speaking Israelis who came to participate in Russia's economic boom. With their knowledge of Russian language and culture, plus university degrees and business experience gained in Israel, Europe or the U.S., they could easily find opportunities here.
When you read this, remember that 100s of thousands of Palestinians who were born in what is now Israel can't move back to their homes. Some of them are a few miles away. Many of these people are angry. And you can understand why.
Then there's this, no more emigration from Russia to Israel, and booming economic relations between the two:
Israeli investment might also come to Moscow 00001991 003 of 003 Russia, as it did in the case of Lev Levayev [he of settlement construction and Leviev diamonds], whose development company is reportedly undertaking large-scale projects in Moscow and will expand its existing jewelry factory in Perm. xxxxx thought Russia-Israel trade, which is estimated at $2.3 billion in 2006, could be several times higher.
Immigration to Israel is "Dead"
¶11. (C) While Russia continues to benefit from the presence of its existing emigres in Israel, Russian immigration to Israel is "all but dead" according to Leonard Terlitskiy, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society's representative in the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States]. Terlitskiy, who was among the first Jews to leave the USSR during the Brezhnev era, told us that "anyone who wanted to leave has already left." The Russian economy offered enough opportunities and anti-Semitism is not the problem it once was, allowing Jews to remain where they face less chance of becoming a victim of terrorism than they would in Israel. Russian daily Vremya Novestey reported that in 2007, only 6,700 people immigrated from the CIS to Israel, compared to 34,000 in 2001. Meanwhile, 38,000 Israeli nationals were known to have returned recently to live in Russia and the CIS.
One of the fascinations of reading Herzl's diaries and the wonderful recent book Capitalism and the Jews by Jerry Muller is an understanding of some of the economic factors of antisemitism in Europe. Muller says that in the1900s, Jewish population in eastern Europe soared because the Jewish mortality rate began crashing (he says for cultural/hygiene reasons, and because of Jewish adoption of modern medicine) with the result that Jews proletarianized. People who had traditionally been in trade and commerce were being forced into manual labor because the opportunities weren't there. And this led to Jewish involvement in socialist movements.... And Jewish involvement in socialism was a major cause of antagonism from governments. Meanwhile, Herzl observed the large "intellectual proletariat" of the large cities of central Europe: highly-educated Jews who didn't have opportunities, because of anti-Semitism, and were regarded by the governments as a bad element. Because they were drawn to revolutionary thinking, and to the stock markets... Herzl proposed to the authorities to transfer this "bad" element and leave the "good" Jews, the assimilating ones.
I offer these snippets to flesh out Zionism's economic context. And this State Department cable underlines that. I don't know why anti-Semitism isn't the problem it once was in Russia. I do wonder how much of it had a component of class resentment.
There is still anti-semitism promoted in Russia. It is a grand rationalization to diminish the reality of anti-semitism by claiming it was “economic” or “class” oriented.
There is also though a large, assertive, Jewish renewal movement (not the Jewish Renewal movement of Aleph, or Michael Lerner).
It is a good that Jews are more safe in Russia than in previous generations, and a large cause of that is the presence of Israel.
The greater Israel agenda is a morally poor one. The enough Israel agenda is a morally just one.
“The enough Israel agenda is a morally just one’”
~less a few decades of colonization, Richard.
No viable state can be constructed for Palestinians as of today.
Is your desire for the failure of a Palestinian State? Uniting the remaining Bantustans is not a plan for success.
In a previous demographically-challenged apartheid state — South Africa — rates of immigration and emigration were highly sensitive statistics. For years, South Africa sought to lure European immigrants, often called ‘two-year wonders’ referring to their initial work contracts. The appeal was sunshine, warm weather, and the inevitable, ubiquitous services of black maids, gardeners and drivers — no need to do laundry, sweep the floor, wash dishes or cut the grass when dirt-cheap labor was available to do it for you.
Yet despite these enticements, not enough Europeans elected to stay. Maybe they sensed that the apartheid state was unstable. It certainly featured a high rate of violent crime. Meanwhile, native South Africans were leaving for Europe, the US or Australia themselves if they could. As a result, the minority white population was static at best, while the penned-in black population continued to soar.
Israel, too, is fighting a losing demographic battle. The global Jewish population of 15 million is a small pool to draw from. Most of them already live in countries that they like. Russian Israelis returning to Russia are an example of this. Meanwhile, the Palestinian birth rate is high, and most of them are politically and economically constrained from leaving.
The ultimate vulnerability, though, is that the Zionist dream of a ‘Jewish democratic state’ makes no sense when a significant minority population is present. Even though this dream began in the 19th century, long before WW II, the Holocaust was used to justify a Jewish-controlled state. But after the Gaza ‘Cast Lead’ attack, it became obvious to the world that Jewish control is only maintained by brutal force and suppression of minority rights. This colonial concept is obsolete; was already obsolete when established in 1948.
It’s going to go, as the South African apartheid state did. It’s only a question of when. Sooner rather than later, I’d say.
Every day Israel undermines its credibility. Do they not realize their perceived value is fading quickly? Even if they can bully a subservient Congress, via AIPAC, into providing more blanketed support, it’s a small victory in the overall success of Israel. Are they proud that they are able to manipulate the levers of their sole ally? I would worry about this strategy… in fact, I don’t think Lipni has any better ideas.
Jewish people worldwide must realize it’s better to stay put than to deal with Netenyahu (or Olmert’s) corrupt central government. Which is why we are reading this article about emmigration.
Who out there in the diaspora (who is educated enough to emigrate to the state) would want to be a part of this current State and its stale philosophy of Zionism coupled with it’s bulldozer pogrom?
Two roads for Israel are to negotiate and settle and receive the backing of the the majority of the world, or go it alone and become a military cult intent on worshiping itself.
The history of the rapidity of the late 19th Century increase in the numbers of Jews in Eastern Europe is well covered in the Leslie Epstein’s 1979 novel, King of the Jews.
The mixture of antisemitism and the recent “ascent” in Russia to its specific form of gangster capitalism fit perfectly with the patterns of the flea from Russia, and now a return to Russia. Israel quite frankly admits that approximately 250,000 of the Russians in Israel are not even Jewish, they are a portion of the population in Russia which became the victims of capitalism which I described in a post –
HOW TO CREATE BILLIONAIRES AND MASSIVE POVERTY
Like other groups which took advantage of the new capitalism, there was a portion of Jewish cadre involved in Russia. What this amounts to are those enriched by the capitalistic system in Russia re-investing in Jewish communities, which has created a returning. You can see this in another post -
SECOND THOUGHTS ABOUT THE PROMISED LAND
“As many as 100,000 Russian-Israelis have gone back to Russia, says Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz, the director of the Lubavitch-run Federation of Jewish Communities, one of Russia’s two main (and rival) umbrella groups. In a fast-growing market with a population over 20 times the size of Israel’s, they often get better work. Today, a Russian Jew in Moscow will be more expensively dressed than his cousin in Tel Aviv: a big reversal from ten years ago.”
“…patterns of the flea…” should read patterns of the FLEE, although I am sure there were some fleas on board…lol
I don’t have a lot of time (at work), so I’ll just be blunt re. a very sensitive topic: What about the view that Jews became communists in such high numbers because it was good for their group–”Is it good for the Jews?” thinking. Communism has always been about taking away from the old order and giving to someone else.
Also, didn’t Elena Bronner (sp?–Sakharov’s second wife) say that the anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union wasn’t that bad or that at least it wasn’t what was motivating Jews to want to leave for Israel–that this was a way for Jews to get out and lead a better life in a place w/o so many economic problems?
If things were so bad in the Soviet Union/Russia, how could they possibly want to return so quickly?
I’m just exploring other possibilities–that’s all. Just want to put all options on the table before we decide that the one that is “Abe Foxman approved” is the one we pick. (Although perhaps the Abe Foxman view of history is correct here–I honestly don’t know.)
More interesting stuff on Russia/Israel from the embassy cables, this one sarcastically titled “ISRAEL, A PROMISED LAND FOR ORGANISED CRIME?“:
Israeli Crime Reaches American Shores
————————————–
¶20. (SBU) Israel’s multi-ethnic population provides a deep well of
opportunity for Israeli OC to expand into new territory. Most
Israeli crime families trace their roots to North Africa or Eastern
Europe, and many of their Israeli operatives hold foreign passports
allowing them to move freely in European countries, most of which
participate in the visa waiver program with the United States.
Approximately one million Russians moved to Israel following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union, and Russian citizens no longer
require visas to enter Israel. Many Russian oligarchs of Jewish
origin and Jewish members of OC groups have received Israeli
citizenship, or at least maintain residences in the country. Little
is known about the full extent of Russian criminal activity in
Israel, but sources in the police estimate that Russian OC has
laundered as much as USD 10 billion through Israeli holdings. While
most Israeli OC families are native-born and the stereotype that
Russian immigrants tend to be mobsters is greatly overblown,
indigenous OC groups routinely employ “muscle” from the former
Soviet Union.
Also some serious misgivings from the same cable that, unlike many other countries, the US for reasons I don’t understand can’t automatically prevent the entry of Israelis involved in organised crime from entering the US:
Unlike OC groups from the former Soviet Union,
Italy, China, and Central America, application of INA
212(a)(3)(A)(ii) against Israeli OC is not specifically authorized
per Foreign Affairs Manual 40.31 N5.3. As such, Israelis who are
known to work for or belong to OC families are not automatically
ineligible for travel to the United States.
“for reasons I don’t understand ”
Oh, really! Make an effort. Get hold of the Foreign Affairs Manual and read 40.31 N5.3. Look at what it says about INA 212(a)(3)(A)(ii). (You do remember INA 212(a)(3)(A)(ii), don’t you? If not, hang your head in shame and read it again.)
for what it’s worth, my old roomie..a young ex orthodox rabbi told me there’s a real hot spot in russia lots of orthodox jews are moving to. some chabad place where they meet yearly. he said there were communities there 100′s of years old where many jews feel very comfortable nowadays. groovy architecture, synagogues, the whole shebang. it there was a new trend, especially a brooklyn/russia trend.. bingo.