01/07/2013
From: Mark Mallarde
I write this from Tel Aviv, Israel, a city that feels a little like New York in its sophistication and a little like Santa Monica in its beachiness. The people lack the surface politeness of many Americans but are thoughtful and trustworthy. Petty theft and violent crime are not a concern among the majority-Jewish population. In stark contrast to much of California, there is an air of competence that includes store clerks and taxi drivers. Absent is the listlessness that one encounters in every minor transaction with virtually anyone outside the professional classes.
VDARE.com has compared Israel’s handling of its illegal aliens to the U.S.’s. While traveling here, I have paid special attention to the large African population. Yes, Israel now has its own African minority class, and they live in many parts of the country. A wrong turn in Tel Aviv took me through a slum neighborhood populated by these illegal aliens. They work menial jobs like illegal aliens in the U.S.
Unlike with our Mexican guests, however, you will not see them waiving Eritrean or Sudanese flags. Nor do they blast their music in restaurant kitchens for the natives to hear while they finish their brunch. Nor do they stage protests demanding “rights” and announcing on TV that they are violating Israel’s laws. In fact, they keep their heads down and stay quiet on city streets. They move silently, acting just like what they are — uninvited guests.
It is not hard to recognize the differences between Israel and U.S. that drive their disparate handling of illegal immigration. Israelis have a strong ethnic majority highly sensitive to its majority status. The raison d’etre of the nation is to exist as a Jewish majority nation. Also, it is small in population and in geography so nearly any amount of illegal immigration can disrupt its social fabric.
In the U.S., we have adopted a culture of the anti-nation. We celebrate the dilution of the majority population. We also are large enough that illegal immigrants can take over entire cities–like South Gate, California–without directly changing the lifestyles of any citizens at a safe distance.
One Israeli I spoke with about their illegal immigration problem supported Netanyahu. When I told him our government would not do anything about our illegal immigration problem, he said Israel’s problem is different. Their African illegals cause real trouble. In Israel women have always felt safe walking alone at night and now they do not, he said.
I reflexively agreed with him. Only later did I wish that I had corrected him.
Maybe per capita our illegal immigrants commit fewer violent crimes than Israel’s, but they do kill and maim Americans and cause other social stresses that dwarf those caused by Israel’s illegals. Maybe our streets have been unsafe for so long that a few hundred thousand more gangbangers from Latin America are not enough to outrage most Americans.
See previous letters by Mark Mallarde.
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