A Jewish State

Submitted by Info Tech Guy (United States), Apr 12, 2005 at 08:10

Whether or not Sharon's planned forcible removal of Jewish settlers from Gaza is without historical precedent, the motivating factor left unmentioned has to do with the ethnic/religious composition of Israel. Muslims in the Gaza and the West Bank have a much higher rate of population increase than Israeli Jews. The argument can be made that Jewish settlements in a growing sea of muslims is a threat to the idea of a Jewish state. Eventually, Jews would find themselves a minority group in Israel. This idea is at odds with the raison d'etre of Israel. (The Jewish settlement population now in Gaza would be reabsorbed into Israel adding to the overall Jewish population rather than being "lost" in Gaza.)

It is also reasonable to point out that *if* the Israeli government established the Gaza settlements or provided significant material assistance for their establishment, Sharon may feel compelled to undo the actions of previous governments.

It is also worth noting that it would play very poorly in Israel for Israeli Jews to be "abandoned" in Gaza to the mercies of a Palestinian government, various armed groups and a majority-muslim population. Certainly Sharon has no desire to watch news accounts of Jews being shot and bombed by Hamas or other groups in Gaza after an Israeli withdrawal.

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