Africans Flock to ‘Apartheid’ Israel

JP over at Curiouser and Curiouser has an interesting take on Israel’s Sudanese refugee crisis.

He questions why, if Israel is an Apartheid State, would so many black Muslims choose to flee there. They have so many Muslim/Arab neighboring states to choose from, but trek hundreds of mile more under harrowing conditions to come to the Jewish state.

The answer comes from a Sudanese Muslim refugee (via a quote in the New Scotsman)

"The Jewish people I've met here understand my plight. For the first time in my life I feel free. I know that sounds funny but I do. I feel freer here than I ever did in Sudan."

I heard similar sentiments last year from a Rwandan genocide survivor that I met at the Save Darfur rally in London. She lives in Haifa and said she feels more at home there than she ever did in Rwanda.

I am always concerned that the affinity of genocide victims for the Jewish state is out of a shared feeling of victimhood. But I was assured that it was actually the opposite. Israel is seen as a beacon of hope for many survivors. It is perceived as the model for throwing off the shackles of oppression and building something better in its place.

For me one of the most notable events of Menachem Begin’s leadship was his decision in 1977 to offer asylum to nearly 400 Vietnamese boat people. Of course at the core of Zionism is the liberation of the Jewish people. But in so doing, we also have a responsibility to share our triumph with others.

Comments

[Hard Rain]

See also Operation Moses in Ethiopia and then talk about the "racism" of Zionism.

[Gary]

Also in 1977, Israel took in several thousand Vietnamese boat people, who had been rejected by a plethora of other countries.

[Steve]

In the 1990s Israel took in hundreds of Muslims from the Balkans during the war there.

One of them is Sara Pechanek. Carte Blanche did a documentary on her. During the Holocaust her parents saved a Jewish family.

Years later, when she was living in war torn Serbia (I think it was Serbia but may be wrong) Israel took her and her family in (along with about a hundred others). Today they are citizens of Israel. Sara eventually decided to convert to Judaism.

[Gary]

But people will simply go on believing what they want to believe...that Israel is a 'racist'' 'apartheid' 'nazi' state.
They have made up their minds. Don't confuse them with the facts!

[Brett]

Question: The article talks about the Sudeanese refugees here being Muslims - alot of the press here talks about the refugees being Christians persecuted by Muslims in Sudan?

[Steve]

Brett,
I believe that most of the refugees that arrived where Christian Sudanese from the south of Sudan; not the Muslim refugees from Darfur.

I think that Israel accepted a nominal number of the small amount of refugees that arrived from Darfur.