Opinion

January 26, 2011

Israel must grant entry to asylum seekers

by Janice Kamenir-Reznik

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In 1939, sailing from Hamburg, Germany, 938 refugee Jews boarded the St. Louis to flee the Third Reich. They were destined for Cuba. We all know the end of this story. Anti-Semitism and xenophobia prevailed in Cuba; efforts were made for the St. Louis to divert to the United States, but the same exclusionary forces prevailed here. Americans and Cubans alike feared that the Jews would steal jobs and that relaxed immigration policies and quotas would hurt economic recovery; politicians were persuaded that these Jews would somehow bring down, or perhaps sully, society. In that instance alone, 938 Jews were sent back to Europe, most to face extermination in the Holocaust. It is commonly accepted that it is the story of the St. Louis and others like it that helped secure the world’s support to establish the state of Israel at the conclusion of World War II.

“Keep them out.” “They will destroy our country.” “They will dilute our religious values.” “They are thieves.” “They will take our jobs, take over our cities and bring down our economy.”

While these could be the words of the Cubans or Americans who rallied against allowing the Jews asylum in 1939, the irony is that these are actually words spoken in 2010 and 2011 by Israeli citizens in reference to people fleeing genocide in Sudan and violence in Eritrea. (See the Jewish Journal cover article “When Africa Comes to Israel,” Jan. 7-13, 2011).

Unlike Cuba and the United States in 1939, Israel did take in those African refugees who would have faced death had they been turned away. This is an amazing fact, given all of the complex existential and security problems with which Israel is constantly confronted. Indeed, from the national security perspective alone, it is especially amazing for Israel to receive Sudanese and Eritrean refugees at its borders, many of whom are Muslim, and all of whom have come from enemy states or states aligned with Israel’s enemies. This Israeli policy is surely based upon not only our modern experience as Jews who were reviled and rejected, but also upon the teachings of our Torah and our ancient heritage.

However, Israel’s practice of receiving asylum seekers escaping genocide could be threatened by the voices of many in Israeli society who are villainizing and spreading untrue vitriol about the behavior or intentions of the refugees. Most disturbing is that, according to a recent Jewish Journal cover story, some of the loudest xenophobic expressions in Israel are coming from among the extreme Orthodox community. It was reported that the local rabbis in B’nai Brak recently sent a message to their ultra-religious community “not to rent apartments to refugees or illegal foreign laborers”; how do those rabbis reconcile their directives with the words of Isaiah 1:17 — “Do right. Seek justice. Encourage the oppressed” Or, exactly how do those rabbis understand Leviticus 19:33-34, which says, “The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt”?

Our own recent history, coupled with the core values articulated in the Torah, can and should be our guide as we consider today’s most perplexing and complex moral problems, such as giving asylum to those fleeing genocide and grave bodily danger. The founding core value of Jewish World Watch is found in Leviticus 19:16, “Do not stand idly by while your neighbor’s life s threatened ...” I hope and pray that the government of Israel will educate and respond to the asylum detractors, and that Israel will continue to realize its responsibility as a modern developed nation to open its arms to those fleeing genocide and certain destruction. By so doing, Israel and the Jewish people will embrace the compassion and humanity that form the foundational core of the Jewish people.

Janice Kamenir-Reznik is co-founder and president of Jewish World Watch.

A version of this article appeared in print.

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Ms. Kamenir Reznik, who are you represting? who elected you? Who are you speaking for?

Comment by Avi on 1/26/11 at 1:49 pm

Israel is located in an area –the Middle East and Africa—which is stricken with poverty and human rights abuses. Israel is an oasis, and they all want to find refuge there, but there is no way it can accommodate all of them.

Israel is an oasis, but a tiny one, Its mission, as determined by the Brits and approved by the UN, has been to become a home for Jewish people. It is tiny, it is dense, it is short of water, and it is running out of space. The little that is left should be kept for Jewish people like you who may become victims of persecution in other parts of the world.

Comment by avi on 1/26/11 at 2:33 pm

Save Israel from the preaching about asylum seekers. When Ethiopian Jews were in trouble, Israel was the country that rescued them. When the USSR collapsed, Israel absorbed millions of Jews. Israel is the destination for French Jews who are running away from anti-Semitism. Now the Tunisian Jews are coming, and the Jews from Malmo, Sweden are on the way. Where are Jews in trouble expected to go if Israel does no longer remain a Jewish homeland?

Comment by avi on 1/26/11 at 2:36 pm

The issue you raised needs to be addressed by the international community, and not by one tiny country. Israel is already doing more than the rest of the world for refugees and asylum seekers. Please take the rest of them to your home, which is much bigger than ours, and let’s see how this works out for you.

Comment by Avi on 1/26/11 at 2:38 pm

Avi:  I represent a large Jewish organization based in Los Angeles who fights to end genocide—Your comments reflect the point of view of those who see our obligations as Jews differently than I do or than my organization does.  Go to our website to better understand our work (www.jewishworldwatch.org).  It is not true that Israel does more for the world’s refugees than anyone else; however, that is not the point.  The point is that we must remember our own experience and treat others differently than we were treated by the world during the genocide that almost destroyed our people.  To be a light unto the nations is challenging, but it is what the Torah and our faith demands of us.

Comment by janice on 1/26/11 at 5:37 pm

Janice, I do not doubt your good intentions. I think they are admirable. But I believe you are not an Israeli, so I only challenged your rights to make demands of Israel as a non-citizen. Besides, you have not addressed any of the issues I raised. What specifically would you like Israel to do?

Comment by Avi on 1/26/11 at 10:57 pm

We have the right to expect honesty and not a twisted truth. The issues Janice raised are concerning mostly African illegal immigrants, who crossed the border to Israel from Egypt. Thus, they are not longer seeking asylum; they come purely for economical reasons. They settle in the poorest of the poor neighborhood and wreak havoc on the lives of the most vulnerable segment of the Israeli society: hard street crime, drugs, alcohol, filth, and decay.  Why don’t you, Janice, go there to live among them to set a personal example? You may get a perspective of what its like, rather than preach to others. And please, don’t call me a racist for being non-PC, this is not about race.

Comment by Avi on 1/26/11 at 11:15 pm

Avi - I am an Israeli citizen, and like Janice I agree that Israel has both a moral and legal (under international law) obligation to treat these asylum seekers humanely. While you are correct that most of these asylum seekers crossed the border illegally, you do not quite understand the implications of international refugee law here. Under international law, as soon as a person crosses an international border and registers for asylum status with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, he or she is an “asylum seeker” until their case is fully processed. At that point, it is determined whether or not they are bona fide refugees – a person fleeing persecution, violence and even threat of death.

Comment by Naama on 1/27/11 at 7:32 am

And while cases are being processed, Israel has the obligation to treat the asylum seekers humanely – and Israeli citizens should do the same. The greatest concern here is that when the great influx of African asylum seekers began in 2007, Israel did not have an effective refugee policy that would be able to process the vast numbers of cases of asylum seekers flooding its borders. At one point we learned that a case could take 6-8 years to process! Israel still has not developed an effective policy, and many innocent people are languishing as do their cases. This should be an immediate priority for Israel.

Comment by Naama on 1/27/11 at 7:34 am

Naama, thank you. This is a difficult situation, and I agree with you. But Janice’s essay was one sided, critical of Israel, totally ignoring the plight of the poor Israelis who have been required to carry the weight of all this, an incredible price to pay for this situation.

Comment by Avi on 1/27/11 at 8:17 am

To Avi’s point that “poor Israelis are required to carry the weight of all this” Jewish World Watch recognizes this burden on the communities, indeed the government of Israel, financial and even more existential issues.  That is why we are doing what we can to continuously fund programs like that at the Bialik-Rogosin School in South Tel Aviv, when 88 Darfuri children are now spending their days in a warm, nurturing educational environment.  . . . .

Comment by Tzivia Schwartz - Getzug on 1/27/11 at 10:22 am

. . . .  We know the issue of immigration to Israel (and to the US for that matter) is very complicated and neither Janice, nor Jewish World Watch has taken a position on economic refugees- but when a refugee is legitimately determined to be fleeing a genocide, like those fleeing Darfur, we Jews CANNOT turn our backs.

Comment by Tzivia Schwartz - Getzug on 1/27/11 at 10:23 am

To Naama: In think Avi is aware of the humanitarian aspects, and you are drowning us with legalistic issues concerning international law. But none of you have clearly defined what you expect of Israel, a tiny troubled dot in the Middle East. In your opinion, at what point this stops being Israel’s sole responsibility and it becomes an international issue? When do you think, enough is enough? Why hasn’t the Israeli government dealt with a policy, I don’t know. Could it possibly be that Israel is being held to different standards than the rest of the world, so no matter what they do they will be declared racist?

Comment by Mini on 1/27/11 at 11:10 am

To Tzivia: Yout post confirms that Israel is not the heartless country portrayed by Kamenir-Reznik

Comment by Mini on 1/27/11 at 11:13 am

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