Israel´s demography and why it matters

A breakthrough report was recently published by The Marker. The document is based on data from the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bureau of Statistics and casts lights on an enlightening figure: of the 12 million residents living in Israel and the Palestinian Authority's areas (West Bank), only 5.9 million are Jews. A report whereby, as of today (well, particularly as of 25 April 2012), there are more Palestinians than Jews in the territory under the name of "Israel", thus underlying a terrifying fact for the Israeli Government: Jews are nowadays a minority in the historic territory of Palestine, in the area of what some call "greater Israel". Imagine what could happen if all these Arabs were granted the same rights (especially regarding right to public participation) as Jews!!

I instantly linked this data to the results of a poll (sample of 503 people out of approximately 5.9 million Jewish Israelis) also recently published in Haaretz whereby 58% of Israelis admit that Israel has an apartheid political system (even though the term is usually rejected in public among the population). Those who took the survey were asked whether Jewish citizens would support rights for the 2.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank if Israel annexed it: even though 48% would oppose the annexation , 38% would support it. That's not the worst bit: 69% of respondents said Palestinians should be prevented from voting in elections, and 47% would even support the expulsion of Arabs from Israel to Palestinian-controlled territory!

Moreover, 69% of the respondents believe Jews should be given preference over Israel's Palestinian Arab citizens as candidates for government jobs. 42% conceded they did not want to share a building with an Arab family (or even allow their children to be in the same class as Arab children!). 74% of Jewish settlers in the West Bank affirmed they favour segregated roads across the territory. Even though this may seem like shocking news, the survey merely (and sadly) confirms what is already happening on the ground: Israel is an apartheid system where a Jewish minority rules over an Arab majority. It should be reminded that, under International Law, apartheid is a crime against humanity.

Source: El Pais

Comments

What about Lebanon?

I would never dare to think I have enough knowledge so as to freely talk about this issue and produce a meaningful article, but I will try to write down what I have understood so far (I already had to edit as I misunderstood some facts, thanks Louis!). Lebanon and Syria have always been deeply interconnected. Both countries were part of the Ottoman Empire, both countries were under the dominance of France's colonization, both countries share an extremely complicated ethnic/religious division, and both countries political scenes still depend on the other's. More recently, Syria was a key player in the brokering of the 1989 Taif Accords putting an end to Lebanon's civil war, and its troops (and many authorities) stayed in the country (allegedly guaranteeing the non resumption of violence) until 2005, when the country's population unanimously demanded their retreat. It all started in Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city, next to the country's northern borde

A Palestinian Spring?

I won't sum up the evolution and characteristics of the Arab Spring for you, you are all aware of them. I won't even enter into the debate on the term "Arab Spring" and its real meaning (at least, not now!). But I have to admit I really like the sound of it, moreover when it is used to add a new country to this encouraging domino effect movement, and that seems to be the case of Palestine. Nonetheless, this case presents a new surprising feature... It looks like one of the leaders of the country the events are taking place in is actually supporting the uprising!! So... who/what do the people go against (besides, as always, the Israeli occupiers)? Well, they are mainly demonstrating against the other visible authority of the Palestinian Authority. Wouldn't it be nice if I put names to all of these characters? A (key?) meeting of the Arab League was held last week in Cairo (President Morsi surprised us again with flammable declarations about Syria, he does se

Did you say "Syrian opposition"?

Weeks after the outset of the uprising, on August 2011, a new coalition named Syrian National Council (SNC) ( SNC´s web ) emerged as the single and main representative of the Syrian Opposition, following the Libyan example of the National Transitional Council (NTC), a group that gained international recognition as the legitimate governing authority in Libya and acted as such during and after the 2011 Libyan civil war, before handing power to an elected assembly on 8 August (actually, the Council was recognized by the NTC in Libya as the sole legitimate government of Syria). According to Wikipedia , the SNC was in principle a coalition of Syrian opposition groups (in principle: exiled Syrian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, Damascus Declaration, the Assyrian Democratic Organization, the National Democratic Rally, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, the Supreme Council of the Syrian Revolution, the Syrian Revolution General Commission, the Free Syrian

Discovering MENA and other thoughts

Search This Blog