Ah, Ilan Pappe. Well, he’s certainly a reliable source.
It is incredibly difficult to convert to Judaism… If you look into it you’ll see that. The idea that a Palestinian arab could convert is frankly laughable.
As an example you could look at the six month unilateral cease fire imposed by Hamas. Hamas promised to stop rocket attacks and largely succeeded in an attempt to ease the stranglehold on Gaza… after 6 months they requested Israel open the crossings which it refused to do. The rocket attacks then restarted and Israel responded with Operation Cast Lead.
I can’t ever see Israel allowing those refugees back, it would upset the demographic of the Jewish State, but I can see how those people and their children, would see Palestine as their home. In my opinion they have as much right to live there as a Jew from NYC or Eastern Europe.
If you’re trying to rubbish Pappe it would be nice to offer some evidence in support. Other than that old… self loathing Jew stuff that gets dragged out whenever he or Finkelstein talk about their country.
Who’s Ilan Pappe?
Why should someone born in New York City with no Israeli national ancestry at all have any claim?
Because the Israeli government allows it, if that person is Jewish. Israel being a sovereign nation, it can set immigration policy as it chooses and I could imagine (but don’t expect to see anytime soon) them making a concession to allow people born before 1948 in what is now Israeli territory to return. Since this cohort is in their sixties or older, their numbers have dwindled somewhat and they are far less likely to produce more children after returning to Israel, so I don’t think they’d have a hugely significant demographic impact, except possibly to drive up health-care costs, as any influx of an aged population would.
It doesn’t strike me as particularly bigoted to not allow the descendants (who were born after 1948, not in Israeli territory) to enter. Frankly, I like the idea of there being someplace on Earth where a Jew will absolutely not be persecuted just for being a Jew. My peaceful nation of Canada invites relaxation, if not full-on complacency, but this is also that land of “None is Too Many” and some minor degree of vigilance is warranted.
Well, like Pappe’s promotion of the Tantura massacre when no massacre occurred? Or his statement, in the introduction to “A History of Modern Palestine”:
quote]My bias is apparent despite the desire of my peers that I stick to facts and the “truth” when reconstructing past realities. I view any such construction as vain and presumptuous. This book is written by one who admits compassion for the colonized not the colonizer; who sympathizes with the occupied not the occupiers, and sides with the workers, not the bosses.
[/quote]
God forbid a historian should take facts into account when writing. And his comment:
If you’re going to rely on the New Historians, rely on somebody like Benny Morris or Avi Shlaim. I don’t always agree with their conclusions, but at least they do real history, instead of just making things up in furtherance of their ideology.
Communist historian, formerly at the University of Haifa, now at the University of Exeter. His studies focus on how terrible Israel is.
You know what can happen. Didn’t you watch “Battlestar Galactica”?
Because sovereign nations get to determine who can and cannot be a citizen. I don’t like that rule, either, but you and I don’t get votes on that issue.
Not considered in isolation, perhaps, but in the context of the country freely granting residency and citizenship to people who’ve never been there, and whose ancestors for millennia past haven’t either, solely on the basis of religion, does put that light on it.
Frankly, is that a real issue anymore in the 21st century? When will it become appropriate for the special rules Israel claims for itself to be dropped?
Are you honestly saying that you cannot see any potential countries who might target Jews?
Potential ain’t real.
Where do you see such a realistic possibility, and to what extent?
Let’s see…
Any country in the middle east where there are still more than three Jews. And don’t give me the BS about how Jews were treated well in the middle east until Israel was founded. They were treated slightly better than they were in Europe–which is like saying if you shoot eight cows out of ten, you’re treating them better than if you shot nine of them.
Places where militant Islam is quickly spreading, such as Spain.
Parts of Eastern Europe.
Besides, Israel already saved many Jews… Ever heard of Ethiopia?
There’s a credible threat of a new Holocaust in Spain? 
Anybody else care to try?
I never said a new holocaust. But there certainly is a credible threat of people breaking windows, drawing swastikas on Jewish temples, or beating people for being Jewish. Spain is a place where this is more likely to happen, but it is happening all over the world already.
Except Israel.
This said, I’ve just thought of something I read on this board recently, but I don’t remember the exact specifics. Apparently, spouses of Israeli citizens can apply for naturalization as Israeli citizens, unless the spouse in question is a Palestinian. Can someone refresh my memory on what the rule was? Because that would be an example of an actual law that is ethnically discriminatory or “racist”. Possibly justified, depending on the exact wording, but nevertheless racist.
Well, in 2003, after some Palestinians with Israeli identity cards were involved in terrorism, the Knesset passed the “The Nationality and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) 5763-2003”, which basically did what you said…forbade Palestinians married to Israelis from getting Israeli visas.
In 2005, it was amended to only apply to men between the ages of 18-35, and women between 18-25.
In 2007, it was extended to cases where the spouse is a citizen of Lebanon, Syria, Iran or Iraq, all of which are categorized as “enemy states” under Israeli law.
Here’s an article from earlier this year, because the policy was challenged in court:
The Supreme Court hasn’t made a decision yet.
The site you linked to is not credible:
If you need a tinfoil hat to read the articles properly you can’t claim it as valid source. Sorry.