The African refugees living in Israel
Recently, there is talk of African refugees that have been infiltrating Israel, and are now, by some counts, 13% of the population of Tel Aviv. There is increased crime, and a lot of people think they should be deported to “not our problem” land.
My unpopular opinion about this matter (translated from Hebrew on Facebook):
1. I don’t consider breaking the law a moral problem. E.g. in a world without police or punishment, I would never obey the speed limit while driving.
2. The right to pursue happiness, ranging from wanting not to be butchered by gangs in Africa, through wanting a better life and education for you and your children, is universal. It does not belong only to “us”, for any given definition of us, be it Jews, Israeli, White People… but rather for all human beings.
3. The state of Israel must have solid borders, that would be very difficult – impossible to infiltrate (Today it’s rather easy to skip the border into Israel from Egypt).
4. The African refugees that are already in Israel … should get working permits, food, shelter, and education. For starters, let’s try giving each a third of the minimal money allowance given to poor Israeli citizens. It will improve their lives by hundreds of percents.
5. We have to catch and punish criminals. Theft, rape and violence are not acceptable. There is an organization that is supposed to deal with this, its name starts with P and ends with E.
6. Yes, I’m a “hippie leftist”, or whatever the term שמאלני יפה נפש is translated into. To all those suggesting we should just deport the refugees back to Africa, please remember the holocaust.
7. No, Israel can’t accept all the refugees in the world … this is obvious. However, shutting our hearts, drawing a very clear line between “our problem” and “their problem”, and always choosing the solution that is best for us, disregarding how much pain we inflict, is immoral, and it won’t work over time. The world is now global … deal with it.
