To many, the State of Israel and the territory beforehand has always been a place which has taken in more foreign nationals, pilgrims, refugees, colonial citizens and even Crusaders, Greeks and Roman Legions in its long and turbulent history than any other place in the world. Before 1948, the territory called Palestine was taken by the British, before the Ottomans as well as European Crusaders and numerous ancient powers in the region. Since 1948, Jewish settlers from Europe, the Middle East and other parts of the world have built the State of Israel, in the process taking in most of its initial population from the 1920s until the 1980s as migrants from all around the world. While the vast majority of these people are Jewish from many countries worldwide, Israel has also taken in other non-Jewish people such as Baha'i and other smaller minorities from around the world.
CNN's program Impact this week has addressed another refugee crisis affecting Africa and Israel these past few months. Many refugees from Africa who have traditionally become victims of civil strife and lack of economic opportunities in their own countries have traditionally tried to make it to Europe or other countries in the Middle East. Now many African migrants have chosen Israel as a place to gain refugee status. With difficulties processing migrants in Southern Europe and countries such as Yemen and Saudi Arabia, Israel has been challenged to process many African migrants passing through the porous Egyptian border in through the Sinai Desert towards Israel.
As discussed in the International Herald Tribune this week, a new debate has arisen in Israel about African refugees. The crisis in Darfur, which has gone for years without any real assistance from Europe and the United States has become a real issue in Israel. Many of the asylum seekers coming to Israel are not economic migrants, but are coming from the region of Darfur making the deadly voyage through the African deserts towards Israel. While in Israel many see the state as being created from the refugees of the Holocaust, there is also a strong realisation that Israel with its sensitive economy, relatively small population and other uniquely Israeli burdens may not be the best country to try to deal with large refugee crisis such as Darfur, especially when none of the major international players have made any serious efforts to try to resolve the crisis in Darfur. While it was not seen to be a realistic action to be taken by the Israeli government, it was decided this past week that Israel would no longer be accepting refugees from Darfur, but would allow those already in Israel to stay.
The lack of action by the International Community who is often concerned with the stability in the Middle East is becoming a major crisis in the region. Israel, while being one of the smallest countries in the region would likely have a lot of difficulties being one of the only countries to accept Darfur refugees with no assistance in aiding those lucky to make it to Israel from other countries. A similar crisis in Jordan and Syria also reflects the lack of assistance from the International community, absorbing more than 2 million Iraqis with little help from the International community except for a request in the UN to absorb more individuals in countries with little extra resources or space. While terrorism and extremism have always been the characteristic terms defining the Middle East, the real issue in the region is and was always based upon the crisis of refugees eternally roaming the deserts to find a peaceful life.
