It's the Demography Stupid!

Nobody does demographics quite like Israel.

Hispanics? No way, Jose - not even in the US of A:

"NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (NSWJBD) chief executive Vic Alhadaff... reported on his trip to America for the AIPAC conference. He said the increasing Latin-American population in the US could potentially have a negative impact on Israel's security. 'In 1960, there were 900,000 Hispanics in the US or 9% of foreign born residents. Today, the number of Hispanics in the US is 55 million, 16% of the nation's total population', Alhadeff said. 'The significance of this is that historically, support for Israel has been sharply lacking in some key nations in the Latin American world'. He said there had been 122 resolutions against Israel at the United Nations in the past 7 years and Brazil and Chile had supported all of them. 'This sector is beginning to make itself heard in the corridors of power in the US, not to mention in business and key NGO sectors. US Jewish leaders have been talking up the Latin American influence in the US body politic for years now and that issue was driven home during this trip'." (A helping hand, Australian Jewish News, 24/6/11)

Darfuris? Fine - just not in Israel, OK?:

"AJN: After an approach by the Darfuri community, the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) has asked the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the Israel embassy to look into the resettlement of some 1500 Israel-based Darfuri refugees in Australia. Abdelhadi Matar, board member of Darfur Australia Network: I need to emphasise that the main issue is not resettling those Darfuris in Australia but finding safe countries around the world where they can be resettled. Our aim [with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] is to find a lasting solution. There's some improvement now for those Darfuris living in Israel. They've now granted them work permits. But these are temporary solutions. As the Jewish state, Israel has its own challenges, and as Darfuris, we don't want to add more problems. If we can find a lasting solution, that would be great." (A chat with Abdelhadi Matar, AJN, 24/6/11)

Palestinian refugees? F**k off!:

"[Palestinians] must abandon their demand to settle the descendents of Palestinian refugees in Israel and gradually 'eat away' at the State of Israel..." (Netanyahu: Palestinian refugees must never return to their homes, maannews.net, 13/7/09)

Lost Jewish tribes? The more the merrier!:

"The Ministerial Committee on Immigrant Absorption, led by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman... has reached a historic decision in principle: To bring to Israel the 7,300 members of Bnei Menashe - a north-eastern Indian community claiming decent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel." (Aliyah approved for Bnei Menashe, AJN, 1/7/11)