Ditto for the Jews in Palestine. Hence Israel's gerrymander conundrum: all along, Israeli leaders have been at pains to draw the proper lines of Israel's purview. They jettison the Gaza strip all the more eagerly as they've understood that, demographically speaking, it's a lost cause (3 million Arabs vs a handful of Jewish settlements). Yet, at the same time, they straightjacket Jerusalem with a wall to check any Arab sprawl around Eastern Jerusalem....
I think there is a symbiotic relationship between the Palestinians and the Israelis. While there are similarities to the relationship between the French and Algerians, there are important differences as well. Even though Algeria was incorporated into 'Metropolitan' France, the two were separated by a major sea. Israel and Palestine are continguous.
France felt it was part of its manifest destiny to occupy Algeria in order to siphon off Algeria's resources; to increase its sphere of influence in the world; and to act as a counter to Brit. and Spanish expansion efforts. Whereas with the occ. territories, they were acquired through war and held because the Israelis felt threatened by their Arab neighbors and very much liked the idea of having a buffer between them..........not unlike the buffer the Russians created between them and the rest of Europe.
In other words, psychological security played a big role in Israel's efforts to take on the occupied territories.......at least initially......and not so much as a fulfillment of its manifest destiny like with France. Later in the 1980s, I think they/Sharon as Housing Minister seriously considered annexing at least the West Bank esp. around Jerusalem, and accordingly, they accelerated their housing development. However, by the 1990s, I believe that notion died when they realized the demographics were working against them.......a slowing Israeli birth rate and a reduced in migration flow coupled with growing out migration made it very clear that the Arabs were becoming a bigger and bigger manority, and would, in time, become the majority even without annexation, and with annexation, the process would be speeded up considerably.
As I said earlier, I think there are similarities with France/Algerian relationship but I also think the differences are considerable and prevent the two relationships from becoming analogous.
ted |
