Mideast conflict:
One of the interesting things I just looked up, is where the world's Jews live. Since the ethnic cleansing by the Roman Legions in the first century in the Jewish homeland, the majority have lived outside of Israel. But this 2000-year-old Diaspora is coming to an end. In the 20th Century, through mass murder and emigration, the Jews are no longer dispersed.
Of the world's 13.1M Jews:
5.8M = 44% in the U.S.
4.8M = 37% in Israel
10.6M = 81% sum, in both countries
And, of the remaining nations with any significant Jewish population, most of them (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Argentina) are giving their Jews good economic reasons (the best incentive) to leave. So, by 2010, if present trends continue, it's likely that 90% of the world's Jews will be in those two countries, about equally divided.
The odd thing, is the persistence of virulent antisemitism, even in countries with very few Jews left. Across Europe, east and west, France to Hungary, much "anti-Israel" sentiment is just thinly veiled antisemitism.
One of the main reasons why the Arabs are finally saying they will consider peace with Israel, is that the large immigration of ex-Soviet Jews into Israel, in the last 10 years, has made the Arabs realise that time is not on their side. If a million more Jews come to Israel, and Sharon settles them in the West Bank, then the Palestinian State becomes impossible. |
