To: Emile Vidrine who wrote (249350 ) 4/19/2002 6:05:16 PM From: Neocon Respond to I am not in favor of expansion, with the one exception of the Jerusalem suburbs, for reasons of expanding the security corridor. I look at Israel in its historical context, as providing a homeland for a people who have been persecuted through the centuries, and were almost exterminated by the Nazis. For this reason, they deserve special consideration in trying to establish a haven for world Jewry, and a state that can speak for Jewish interests in the forums of the world. It is not hypocritical to make an exception when an exception is warranted. Besides, I do not demand of every country in the world that it have unlimited immigration policies, not even this one. I just don't see any reason to exclude most peoples, in our case. Also, Christians and Muslims live in Israel as citizens, they are just not invited in through immigration. Israel is an officially secular state, and few Israelis are very religious. Because of proportional representation, religious parties have too much clout in the Knesset, but they do not determine most policies. You are quite deluded on that score, as well as about the "racism" of Zionism. Jews of all nations, including the Ethiopian Jews, who became black through intermarriage, and the Cochin Jews, who became East Indian through intermarriage, have been welcomed into Israel. Actually, there is no requirement to be religious to become Israeli, nor to be a certain race. There is a requirement to be ascertained to be a member of the historical Jewish community. Unfortunately, the Orthodox imposed a quasi- religious standard, which many people in Israel disagree with, and which is likely to be changed, eventually: namely, that either one be converted by an Orthodox rabbi, or one's mother be a Jew. As for Talmudic Judaism, again, you are terribly misinformed and deluded. Christianity is barely present in the Talmud, and although there are a few legends, the work is mainly a record of debates and commentaries on the Jewish law.
