Opinion
Kids should leave Israel
Nechama Duek
Published: 07.03.11, 11:19
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29 Talkbacks for this article
1. Eli Yishai should leave Israel
Haim ,   Tel Aviv   (03.07.11)
The deispicabel man has blood on his hands from the Carmel fire disastour. Instead of ensuring adequate funds for the fire fighters he transfered tax payers money to fund the so called Shas education system, now he turns his talents to deporting children. Incase he has forgotten it was his party that brought foreign workers in to the country in the first place as cheap labor.
2. Israel's mission in the Earth,,,
Rinah   (03.07.11)
is to administer balance in justice and mercy.T his is what I see in the solution you offer Nachama. Well said. I hope the authorities take note.
3. Nechama Duek! Thank u! This definitely needed to b said!
Ani ,   Can!   (03.07.11)
and you have said it clearly and respectfully to all and for that too I thank you very much!
4. It is obvious the write has never spoken to a foreign worker
Israeli   (03.07.11)
Foreign workers and refugees speak to their children in Hebrew actually because their children go to Hebrew schools so Hebrew becomes their dominant language. I agree that the government has to decide how the state deals with non-citizens who are here legal and illegal. I personally have no problem with letting them all be citizens. I think it can only add to the melting pot. And yes, I don't care if they are not Jewish and marry Jews. If Judaism is so important to someone, they won't marry them or ask them to convert. This is alot of noise for very little and mostly based on bigotry and smallmindedness.
5. instead of showing you Sound Logic,
Salma ,   Palestine   (03.07.11)
Say it directly......."Israel" is not a healthy place for Kids.
6. #4 Israeli are you saying that:
Jewish immigrant ,   Israel   (03.07.11)
that non-Jewish illegal foreign workers are more Jewish and Israeli than all of my friends and me? You see my friends and I are all Jews and we have immigrated to Israel from the four corners of the earth and you know what our children speak the languages that we brought with us from the four corners of the earth and speak Hebrew amongst themselves. So really #4 either you think I am exceedingly not as patriotic as these Non-Jewish Illegals or you are just "flash dancing" a really silly story in my general direction! Which is it?
7. #5 if that is the case then pls do take ur children & go!
(03.07.11)
8. To: No. 5
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (03.07.11)
Then take your immature child-like self and go someplace else.
9. #4 is right...
Gabriel ,   Tel Aviv   (03.07.11)
If the Israeli government is so worried about the future of Israel, why does it not tackle any issues that actually matter? This is such a minor issue. Yes, it needs a long-term plan but so much of the opposition to these kids is based on racism. They aren't going to destroy Israel. We're doing fine in that regard ourselves.
10. no illegals in Israel ! They should leave right now !
(03.07.11)
11. What's the hard part?
Vered, Israel   (03.07.11)
Workers agreed to come here for a specified time period. After that time expires, they go home, with their families. Why does this have to be seen as some sort of humanitarian crisis? We uprooted our kids to move here. They didn't speak the language. They do now. People migrate all the time, and they always have. If we allow foreigners to stay here past the time they agreed, then that will just open the floodgates to economic migrants purposely exploiting our spinelesnes, the way the African migrants are doing now to our southern border. Why does EVERYONE feel that they have an absolute right to live in Israel, and we are somehow the ones who need to explain why they don't. Every country has rules for who can live there. We need to enforce ours.
12. kids should leave israel
ernst ,   haifa, israel   (03.07.11)
we want cheap labour.. why not put them into camps after their working day, seperately for men and women. food will be provided by us. so we solve two problems: they won't live in our cities and no children will be born. reminds me of something in the past.
13. Why is this such an issue?
Rachel ,   US   (03.07.11)
Western nations depart people all the time without all this fanfare?
14. Nechama Duek is an idiot!
Leah ,   Beersheva   (03.07.11)
Next time you have someone write an op-ed, perhaps they could do some ACTUAL research. The fact that Nechama Duek "has a feeling" or "thinks" something is really useless. Op-eds, while opinions, usually include some sort of tangible evidence supporting an opinions. A third grader could write a more eloquent argument than this Nechama Duek.
15. Why is this an issue? Send then home!
David Levy ,   Jerusalem   (03.07.11)
Many countries do not have naturalization laws, and most countries do not allow individuals whose children were born in their countries while their parents were working to become citizens. Just because they are from a Third World country, then all the sudden it is a humanitarian case. Send them home. Their parents came to Israel to work, and should go home when their contracts end. Stop the anchor baby practice, and send them home. Evey other Western country in the world does this.
16. Israel is a Jewish country, and should remain that
Baruch ,   Boston, USA   (03.07.11)
giving citizenship widely to gentiles using bleeding-heart liberal reasoniing will destroy the basis for Israel's existence.
17. Nechama
Michael Pielet ,   boca Raton, usa   (03.07.11)
Why are jews so stupid or were they just born that way. The land of Israel is for the people of Israel, and not for the arabs or any other foreign non Jews. Just imagine a state of israel where the jews are a minority. where do al these do gooders come from. If you feel sorry for these foreigners send them to the PA authority, gaza, europe, the US or wherever!
18. Cheap labor
Michael Pielet ,   Boca raton, usa   (03.07.11)
Send the cheap labor and their children back where they came from. Better yet let them move next door in the neighborhoods where all these phoney Israeli do gooders including Duek live. Israelies are a bunch of self righteous hypocrites. I want all those foreign non Jews moved from South Tel Aviv to Ramat Aviv, Kfar Shmaryahu, Herzlia Pituach Savyon where they can live in the style that they are accustomed .
19. Simple really
Mike Carmel ,   Rishon le Zion   (03.07.11)
The issue isn't complicated. Israel MUST align itself with modern Western democratic nations on this and ALL issues. Children born in a country MUST be granted AUTOMATIC CITIZENSHIP of that country, even if their parents cannot be citizens for whatever reason. Their religion is IRRELEVANT with regard to civil matters.
20. Separating children from parents for ..
ORA ,   JERUSALEM   (03.07.11)
their wellbeing is nonsense.
21. No illegals in Israel! They should become citizens now!
Andrew Brehm   (03.07.11)
Seriously, what's the problem here? Israel has so many non-Jews from the former Soviet-Union and those children are a problem??? Ridiculous. Encourage them to convert and tell the Rabbinuth to contact them. I am sure half of them would consider becoming Jewish. Problem solved.
22. Reply:Eli Yishai should leave Israel. WHERE?
Gilon ,   USA   (03.07.11)
You seem to be calling Eli Yishai a "despicable man" and demanding he leave Israel. Where do you think he should go? Eli is a Mizrahi Jew just like me and most of Israelis. We have lived in middle east for thousands of years. We lost land 4 times bigger than Israel to Arabs. It is ok to criticize him but its not ok to tell him to leave the country. ~Shalom
23. Issue seems clear to me
Erik ,   Norway   (03.07.11)
While i've tried to find one good reason to not allow these handful of children to stay in Israel and tried to see it with the nay-sayers eyes, i havent really found any moral or rational reason for this. My arguements for letting them stay would be 1. Israel obviously knows about the experience Europe had in the 1970's when it imported cheap guest workers and how many of these people eventually settled into their adopted country. Hence, that this would have been replicated in Israel was entirely predictable and it was terribly naive if the government thought otherwise. If the government wasnt prepared for this eventuality, they shouldnt have imported these people in the first place 2. As for the "Jewish character" of the state, Israel has already a 20% Arab minority, yet it's still a solidly Zionist country today. Israel is already a heteregenous country so exactly why would a few hundred Filippino and African children make any difference? 3. Only allowing one group/religion residency/citizenship in the country would make Israel too similar to countries that no civilized country would like to be compared too(Saudi-Arabia). 4. They apparently dont live in "parralel societies" or ghettoes like immigrants in Western Europe, Nor do the leech off government aid or benefits. They seem to be hardworking people who try to integrate fully into the country. That doesnt mean Israel should open the floodgates and let everyone and their mother in. It just means Israel should have a humane and just immigration policy, where they treat each foreign worker's/asylum seeker case individually instead of stroking them all with the same brush, like all countries in the world should.
24. All African refugees should be welcomed to Israel
Kyle ,   Southpark, CO, USA   (03.07.11)
Land area of Israel: 11.7 million sq mi Land area of Africa: 8630 sq. miles There's more than enough room for everybody! Oh wait, I got the land areas mixed up. My bad.
25. This arguement is based on a false assumption
Larry Feld ,   NYC   (03.07.11)
"The problem is that Israel has no naturalization laws with the exception of the Law of Return..." I suggest the author visit the following website. http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/State/Acquisition+of+Israeli+Nationality.htm And look under the section entitled "Acquisition of Israeli nationality by Naturalization."
26. Re #19
Andrew Brehm   (03.07.11)
You are talking about jus solis (law of land) countries like the US and Great Britain. Most western countries in Europe use jus sanguis (law of blood). For example in Germany citizenship is granted to children of Germans (even if the parents were not German citizens), not necessarily to children born in German (to non-German parents).
27. "Have a feeling?"
Israeli ,   Tel Aviv   (03.07.11)
I volunteer once a week teaching English to children of foreign workers. All of the children are fluent in Hebrew and the vast majority of the children do NOT speak their "mother tongue", and instead communicate with their parents in Hebrew or in broken English.
28. CHILDREN DEPORATAION
MICHAL ,   ISR   (03.07.11)
HOW SURE YOU ARE ????/ THAT WHEN THEY GO HOME THE ISRAEL GOVERMENT WILL allow them to come back in israel the day when they are at the right age?...your law is changing evry year..it measn there will be a chance that after sending home those thousand foreign children,,you government will say.../WE CHANGE OUR MIND WE CANT ALLOW THEM TO COME BACK because they became familiar with the country,,,HAHA...so what will those children do...,,till it to me when your in their shoe..
29. #16 Baruch USA is a christian country and should remain that
Avi ,   Israel   (03.08.11)
How hypocritical of you, yet you choose to live in the US why Israel not good enough for you ? If your so keen to promote Israel as a Jewish country so then why do you live in the US. Thanks for the lecture on how to live our lives in Israel while you can not commit to aliah.
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