Israel Today magazine Foreign Arabs clamor to join Mossad, IDF
September 26, 2011 Beneath the revitalized layer of exaggerated hatred for Israel spreading over the Middle East dwell thousands of Arabs who are willing to help and even love the Jewish state. Thanks to the "Arab Spring" revolutions in surrounding nations, a growing number of Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians, Iraqis, etc are realizing just how good and decent Israel is compared to their own totalitarian societies, despite the fact that many were raised from childhood to view Israelis as blood-thirsty monsters. Acting on that realization, and desirous of fleeing new regimes that may actually be worse than the previous rulers, thousands of foreign Arabs have sent requests to Israeli government agencies requesting asylum, visas to visit and even offering to serve the Israeli army and Mossad. Israel's Foreign Ministry told the Yediot Ahronot newspaper that it is receiving requests even from "members of Arab parliaments, members of political movements and other important political figures." Many of the letters arriving demonstrate that those Arabs not content to simply be spoon-fed a diet of anti-Israel propaganda have come to understand the reality of the Jewish state. "You are the only country [in the region] that respects personal freedom," wrote Dawoud, a computer technician from Iraq seeking political asylum in Israel. "The people of Israel are the strongest and most cultured in the region," wrote another young man from Iran who wants to move to the Jewish state with his whole family. Houmam from Iraq wrote in to ask for a loan for treatment for his sick father, noting that "I know you [Israelis] love to help others." Many more wrote in simply wanting to do business with or travel to Israel, activities that are currently forbidden by their own governments. Most of the requests are submitted via the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Arabic website, though others also write directly to the Mossad and IDF. The phenomenon is yet further evidence that while it may be far from perfect, Israel is recognized even by many Arabs as the most decent nation in the region, and certainly not deserving of being singled out as some kind of pariah. It is also reminiscent of the Arab immigration to the British Mandate area from 1922-1947 as a result of the prosperity being created by the growing Jewish community. British records show that during those years the Arab population in the area increased by 120 percent, far outpacing the community's rate of natural growth. -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
