Daily News Columnist Predicts Israel's Demise

by Michael Goldblatt

    It is rare indeed that the Philadelphia Daily News allots space in
its op-ed section for an article concerning Israel. Yet when the News
finally did publish an Israel-related op-ed, on July 30, the one it chose
was an article predicting "the approaching Arabization of Israel," that is,
Israel assimilating into the surrounding Arab society.
 
    The article, by David Rabeeya, a local educator, seemed designed to
demoralize friends of Israel. It painted a picture of Israel on the brink
of defeat, unable to stop the tidal wave of social and demographic
pressures that will force it to become part of the Arab world. What Israel
faces, according to Rabeeya, is "the integration of the Jewish population
into the vast Arab world," as a result of an "inescapable demographic
process." Rabeeya's "evidence" was thin indeed, but the average Daily News
reader is not likely to see the flaws in his half-baked theory:
 
    * Many Israeli Jews are actually "Arab Jews," according to
Rabeeya. Since they were born in Arab or Muslim countries, he argues,
"Arabic culture and language occupy an important place in their lives." In
fact, however, the average Jew from an Arab country would be horrified to
be called an "Arab Jew." Such Jews were brutally persecuted by their Arab
rulers and neighbors. They may be familiar with Arabic culture or
language, but they are very Jewish Jews; studies and voting trends
indicate that they tend to be more religious and more nationalistic than
other Israeli Jews. Rabeeya's suggestion that such Jews will spearhead the
assimilation of Israel into Arab society is laughable.
 
    * "About every fourth Israeli citizen is an Arab," Rabeeya writes,
and these Israeli Arabs "are beginning to determine the metamorphosis of
Israel from a Jewish to an Israeli state." Nonsense. The presence of a large
minority of Latinos in the United States does not mean that America is being
transformed into a Latino country. Likewise, the Israeli Arabs --who
comprise one-fifth, not one-fourth, of Israel's population-- are not
altering the character of the State of Israel.
 
* "Mass migration of Jews to Israel has ended," Rabeeya writes,
pointing out that Russian Jewish immigration in drying up. For accuracy's
sake, Rabeeya should have written "has ended for the moment." There are
many large Jewish communities around the world--including the many Jews who
are still in Russia; who can say which community may be next to resettle in
Israel? Who could have predicted the downfall of the USSR and the mass
Russian Jewish immigration to Israel?
 
    * "Hundreds of thousands of Jewish Israelis have left to pursue
their economic and financial future in Europe and the United States,"
Rabeeya declares. He should have noted that his figure refers to a period
of many years. Every country experiences the phenomenon of a small
percentage of its citizens emigrating to other lands. The number of
Israelis who have left is not so large as to have had a significant
demographic impact on the Jewish State.
 
    * There are "more than 2 million Palestinians" in the administered
territories, and millions more living abroad, Rabeeya writes. So what? Of
the Arabs living in the territories, more than 98% live under the rule of
Yasir Arafat's Palestinian Authority. They have no affect on Israel's
demographic future. Likewise for those who live abroad; Israel will not
permit them to enter its borders.
 
    Rabeeya concludes by emphasizing that "Israel is a very small
country in an Arab world of about 250 million people in more than 20
states." So it is. But that is no reason for pessimism or defeatism.
Israel is a vibrant and powerful country, militarily, scientifically, and
culturally. It has survived these 50 years despite being a small Jewish
island in a large Arab sea, and it can survive for many, many more.
 
    Was this the only Israel-related op-ed that the editors of the
Daily News could come up with? When Rabeeya's article came under
consideration, didn't it occur to anybody on the News staff to show it to
an expert in the field, or at least give it to a fact-checker? What in the
world were the News editors thinking?