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‘NYT’ publishes op-ed saying there are ‘too many Palestinians and Arabs’ in Israel

“Preserving Israel’s Uncertain Status Quo,” by Aaron David Miller on the Times Op-Ed page, includes this disturbing argument:

Yes Israel has serious worries… The country’s demographics look bad — too many ultra-Orthodox Jews, Palestinians and Israeli Arabs and not enough secular Jews.

Search for these phrases in the New York Times: Too many blacks in Alabama. Too many Jews in New York City.

Note that Obama’s friend Eric Yoffie, a liberal Zionist, has used the same phrase, “too many Arabs.” I.e., you don’t pay a price for such rhetoric in the U.S. No; you get into the New York Times!

By the way, the thrust of the Aaron David Miller analysis is that things are not bad in Israel, especially in light of the uncertainties of the Arab Spring. Israel is the Silicon Valley of the Middle East, and the so-called economic peace in the West Bank has “generated more than a manageable status quo.”

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thanks phil, i am really not groking the point of the nyt choosing to publish this op ed. it’s just a same ol same ol ‘israel is doing the best that can be expected’ type thing. even the title ‘Preserving Israel’s Uncertain Status Quo’, why would anyone think the status quo is worth preserving? it’s a mess.

“Too many blacks in Alabama. Too many Jews in New York City. ”

Black and Whites are not at war in Alabama, and there is no conflict I know of involving Jews in New York City. There is a conflict between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East.

Surely, Phil, you realize the irony of this argument. Part of the Arab case against Israel was too many Jews in the Holy Land. We’re OK with them as a small minority, but not in any real numbers where they might want sovereignty and rule over us.

Israel’s demographic case has little to do with racism. Israelis are worried, and rightfully so, about being ruled by Arabs just as Arabs were worried about being ruled by Jews. Arabs have been attacking Israel since before its founding, and have made no bones about wanting to drive the Jews out of the Middle East.

Other than that, you ignore the fact that many countries consider demographics in their policymaking. Serbia is not going to allow huge growth in the Albanian population. American politicians make constant cause out of the number of Hispanics from Latin America, and no immigrant I know of engages in rhetoric that their aim is to take over America the way Palestinian rhetoric has focused on reversing 1948. European politicians have repeatedly lamented the number of Muslims in Europe.

It’s easy to make things like this look bad when you ignore history and context.

What Hophmi wrote is such sewage.

“no immigrant I know of engages in rhetoric that their aim is to take over America the way Palestinian rhetoric has focused on reversing 1948.”

Palestinians are the natives, it’s the Israelis who are the immigrants.

It’s like saying “We have to make sure Native Americans never grow in numbers”.
Disgusting.

Miller’s ideas about Israel have become the new received wisdom for Israel’s supporters. There is no hurry, because Israel is doing fine– its just not perfect. Notice that there is no reference to rights or justice or anything else in this formulation about Israel– and without any people power pushing towards a peace they are largely correct. Governments are obviously not going to push Israel to do anything. So Miller’s take on things has a way of shaping reality– I suppose that, at dinner parties and other get togethers, when Israel supporters are forced to confront voices of despair, this will be their answer: “Yes the situation is not ideal, but things are not totally bad.” I suppose we can hope that Iran does get a bomb, and that forces some change in Israeli behavior, but barring that, what is that could conceivably change the status quo and push Israel into some sort of settlement?