Israel orders new fence to keep out African migrants

[ensho]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-orders-new-fence-to-keep-out-african-migrants-1864827.html


Critics accuse Netanyahu of exaggerating the dangers posed by refugees


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the construction of two massive fences along his country's southern border with Egypt in a bid to keep out African asylum seekers he claims are threatening the country's Jewish character.


The barrier will also thwart terrorists from infiltrating the porous border, according to Mr. Netanyahu. "We are talking about a strategic decision to guarantee the Jewish and democratic character of the state of Israel," Mr. Netanyahu said.

The prime minister insisted that the step will not stop refugees in dire need from reaching Israel, saying that the country would "remain open" to those with a genuine claim.

But critics dispute this. "This nationalist and racist rhetoric is divorced from reality," said Dov Khenin, a left-wing member of the Knesset. He added that it was "intended to frighten the Israelis that 'the Africans are coming'. Sudanese and Eritreans make up many of the about 20,000 asylum seekers to reach Israel via Egypt since 2005.

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[Sebastian Doyle]

1. Could some of these Africans be Jewish?

Moses had an Ethiopian wife, if I recall.

[Ozymanithrax]

3. Moses was a myth, but the right of return allows Jews, such as the Lemba, to return...

These are economic immigrants coming for work, kind of like our own economic immigrants trying to cross the border into the U.S., or economic immigrants in various countries of Europe.

[SoCalDem]

2. Looks like their plan for a super-elite private "clubhouse" country

may be an idea that cannot last in the "modern" world.

[invictus]

4. What do you expect from an apartheid state?