Jan. 14, 2004

Transfer: An Increasingly Popular Means to Tackle the ’Demographic Problem’ in Israel

‘I think he [Ben-Gurion] made a serious historical mistake in 1948. Even though he understood the demographic issue and the need to establish a Jewish state without a large Arab minority, he got cold feet during the war. In the end, he faltered. [...] If he was already engaged in expulsion, maybe he should have done a complete job.’

Interview with Benny Morris, Jan. 2004

Benny Morris, the ‘New Historian’, whose first book The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem (1987), which revealed chilling details about the atrocities committed 1948/49, earned him the label of being a post-Zionist, now claims that some readers simply misread the book. With appalling moral detachment, he argues that ‘there are circumstances in history that justify ethnic cleansing’. According to Morris, the annihilation of the Native Americans was a necessary evil that paved the way for the creation of the ‘great American democracy’, just like the expulsion of the Palestinian Arabs was inevitable in order to establish a Jewish state in ‘Eretz Israel’.

Furthermore, when asked whether he would advocate transfer today, he replied ‘not at this moment’. However, he went on saying, ‘I am ready to tell you that in other circumstances, apocalyptic ones, which are liable to be realized in five or ten years, I can see expulsions’. Subsequently, Morris describes his apocalyptic vision of the future: ‘The Israeli Arabs are a time bomb’, ‘an emissary of the enemy that is among us’, and if the threat to Israel becomes existential, ‘expulsion will be justified’. Apart from the paranoid fear of one fifth of his fellow citizens, he considers the whole ‘phenomenon of the mass Muslim penetration into the West and their settlement there’ a ‘dangerous internal threat’: ‘A similar process took place in Rome. They let the barbarians in and they toppled the empire from within. ‘

Already in 2001, Benny Morris revealed that he considers the mass expulsion of the Arab Palestinians in 1948 a job half done. Unfortunately, his view of the Arab citizens of Israel being a demographic threat can no longer be termed extremist, since it is shared by a growing number of members of the Israeli intellectual and political establishment. For instance, in 2002, the National Demographic Council - a government institution dealing with the demographic future of Israel - was revived. And Israel’s demographic woes were exacerbated recently when Arnon Sofer, a demographer from Haifa University, declared that there was already a majority of non-Jews in mandatory Palestine, which includes the region inside the Green Line, the West Bank and Gaza. Mr Sofer’s warnings about the demographic danger the Arab population poses to Israel are not new; he has uttered similar statements before. However, the current political climate provides a dangerous environment for such ideas. Public statements of ministers encouraging violence against the Arab minority or even openly pondering transfer as a legitimate population policy and the discriminatory policies of the Sharon government, such as biased budget allocations to Arab communities or frequent house demolitions, confirm that it is increasingly accepted to view the Palestinian community inside Israel as a ‘problem’.

In December 2003, a conference on security issues, organised by the Institute of Policy and Strategy of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herziliya, proved that demographics have become a favourite topic among Israel’s political elite. Minister of Finance and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, ‘if there is a demographic problem, and there is, it is with the Israeli Arabs who will remain Israeli citizens. [...] We therefore need a policy that will first of all guarantee a Jewish majority - I say this with no hesitation, as a liberal, a democrat, and a Jewish patriot...’ He further declared that additional funds will be allocated for the building of the separation wall which is to prevent a ‘demographic spill-over’ from the occupied territories. The passing of the openly racist Nationality and Entry into Israel Law in July 2003 has to be put in this context as well.

The recent developments show that Israel’s security measures are not only aimed at the Palestinians from the Palestinian Authorities but at its own citizens as well. Preventing the growth of the Arab population inside Israel or even diminishing it seems to be as high on the security agenda as ending the violence between Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories. And the openness with which the discussion is led suggests that politicians expect to get elected for inciting fear and hatred against the Arab minority inside Israel.

The HRA has been following this trend with great concern. The Palestinian citizens of Israel are increasingly faced with racist sentiments of the Jewish majority and discriminatory government policies. The current situation is highly alarming and may escalate; the events of October 2000 are still present in our minds. Therefore, we call upon the international community to follow the political and social developments with scrutiny and remind Israel of the international norms it agreed to comply with by ratifying the major human-rights conventions.

We believe that a state that views 20 percent of its population as a time bomb and that adopts terms such as ‘transfer’ and ‘demographic problem’ in its vocabulary cannot convincingly uphold its claim to be a working democracy.