As if a million Arab Israelis were not enough, Zionists must also cope with about 250,000 unassimilating Russkies --talk about a JINX!!
Friday, March 14, 2003 Adar2 10, 5763
Nixing the ethnics
Israel's ethnic Russians want autonomy, an NPO of their own and eventually, a Russian village, complete with a church. But the state perceives them as a threat to the country's Jewish character.
By Lily Galili
In the midst of a long conversation, Maxim Mushkalev began to weep. He was describing how all kinds of people he knows here beg him in tears: "Take me to church. I haven't been there for so long," but he cannot always help them. It seemed, though, that Mushkelev was not only weeping for others' distress, but rather for himself and his fate as a member of the minority of "ethnic" - that is, non-Jewish - Russians who are living in the Jewish state.
[...]
When he talks about his life and the life of the non-Jewish Russian community in Israel, he uses terms that Jews use when talking about life in the Diaspora. He is worried about assimilation and a life here that could erode the heritage and culture that the exiles have brought with them. He also feels hostility and suspicion from his Jewish surroundings when someone notices the cross he wears around his neck.
[...]
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