Subject:
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Re: Babies who threaten to topple Israel?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 6 Jan 2004 10:51:34 GMT
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Viewed:
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310 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Lindsay Frederick Braun wrote:
> In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Scott Arthur wrote:
> > I found this a good read:
> >
> > <http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1115643,00.html
> > Babies who threaten to topple Israel:> "At the heart of all this is simple
> > mathematics. Forecasts from the United States' Population Reference Bureau
> > show Israel's population doubling in 45 years, that of the West Bank in 21
> > years and that of Gaza in 15 years. In other words, Palestinians in the West
> > Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, and Israeli Arabs will outnumber the Jewish
> > population by 2020. This has led commentators such as David Landau, editor
> > of the English-language edition of the newspaper Ha'aretz, to warn of a
> > 'cataclysmic' demographic challenge if Israel is to retain its identity as a
> > Jewish democratic state."
> >
> >
> > There is hope for the Palestinians after all!
> >
> > Scott A
> >
> > (BTW: Some would argue that Landau has misused the word "retain").
>
> This sounds remarkably like the natalist scares/forecasts of interwar Europe
> (and, in fact, even before WWI) that raised a cry over German fecundity that
> would destroy France and England; it also isn't unlike dire predictions
> concerning the rise of the Hispanic plurality in the US and the "threat to
> English-speaking, Protestant values" I keep hearing about.
The Republicans in Northern Ireland are also said to be playing the waiting
game.
> Somehow, it never
> quite comes to that--because something always intercedes, or the demographic
> shift reconciles itself to a new synthesis. In a way the argument is
> bankrupt just because the world won't be the same in even 21 years, so it's
> kind of silly to be projecting linear demographics that way.
I'm not sure how silly it is:
+ Israel’s population growth has not been internal.
+ The current state of affairs must be acting as a disincentive for the
"Diaspora" to move to Israel.
+ The birth rate is higher in the Palestinian community.
I'm sure I read that Sharon has also acknowledged this as an issue.
Personally, I find the insistence on Israel being a "Jewish state" a little
questionable; I don't feel Scotland must remain either "white" or "Christian"...
Scott A
>
> Just my two cents.
>
> LFB
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Babies who threaten to topple Israel?
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| dr_scott_arthur@yahoo.co.uk (Scott A) wrote in <Hr2E5y.17H7@lugnet.com>: (...) Many Jews feel that a Jewish state is the only place on earth where they can be reasonably safe. A feeling that's not wholly unwarranted, given details like the WW2 (...) (21 years ago, 14-Jan-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Babies who threaten to topple Israel?
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| (...) This sounds remarkably like the natalist scares/forecasts of interwar Europe (and, in fact, even before WWI) that raised a cry over German fecundity that would destroy France and England; it also isn't unlike dire predictions concerning the (...) (21 years ago, 6-Jan-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
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