Israel Matzav

Pipes: Mass Muslim migration moving to Israel

American analyst Daniel Pipes has warned the Knesset Immigration Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee that Muslims facing persecution in Egypt, Syria and Yemen as a result of the 'Arab spring' may make their way to Israel as a refuge.

Their citizens might look for greener pastures in Israel in a way similar to the infiltration of tens of thousands of sub- Saharan Africans to the country over the past few years, giving rise to a “Muslim aliya,” he said.

“There could be a new era.

Particularly, the Sinai and Golan areas may see an immigration very different than what it’s seen,” he said.

Shlomo Brom, a senior research fellow and director at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, disagrees.

“That a few Syrian refugees might come here in small numbers might happen – we saw that during Black September,” he said, referring to a few dozen Palestinian gunmen in 1970 who sought refuge in Israel – their avowed enemy – rather than be captured by Jordanian forces during a crackdown. “But if anything like that happens it will be on a very small scale.”

Brom said the potential for a mass migration of Muslims from places as far away as Yemen, who would have to travel over 1,600 kilometers and risk being shot at the border to reach Israel, was “completely unsubstantiated.”

“It doesn’t seem to be based on anything,” he said.

I don't think Brom is being realistic. According to the Interior Ministry, between 1500 and 2000 refugees per month enter Israel, mostly from Sudan and Eritrea, both of which are much further away than Egypt or Syria, and comparable to Yemen in distance. It definitely could happen. Are we ready for it? I doubt it. We'll just let them all in on humanitarian grounds and let the problems fester until later.

Oh - and I hope you all notice the irony of where the Egyptians and Syrians who hate us and want to destroy us run to when the chips are down. Unfortunately, that will be lost on the 'human rights' groups.

Labels: Arab spring, Egypt, Syrian refugees, Yemen

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:40 AM