Israel has quite a moral dilemma on its hands as its leaders decide what to do with tens of thousands of migrants from Africa who have entered the country illegally over the past few years. Our government wants to get rid of these people, as do many Israelis, describing them as "infiltrators", because many of them come from countries that are hostile to Israel. Not all Israelis, however, share the view that these people represent a threat to the country and should be deported as soon as possible. I am one of them.
Yes, many of these migrants are from countries hostile to Israel. Yes, some recent criminal activity in Israel has been attributed to these people. Yes, many of them are probably not genuine asylum seekers and have made their way out of their home countries and into Israel for economic reasons. And yes, Israel must ensure secure borders, meaning that no one can be allowed to cross the border illegally. After all, a porous border is a threat to the security of Israeli citizens. But I still think that Israel needs to be more compassionate to these people. Not to the extent of allowing all of them to remain in the country, but by allowing them to keep their dignity and their lives. Simply deporting these people back to Africa, to third countries like Rwanda or Uganda, is wrong and contravenes both Jewish and universal morals. Our Bible teaches us to treat the foreigners among us with compassion, reminding us of our bitter bondage in Egypt. Our most recent history also teaches us that we should treat people looking for a better life with dignity and tolerance, lest we forget that when the Nazis were slaughtering us by the millions, those of us trying to escape the Holocaust were turned away by most countries. We as Jews cannot show the same disrespect and intolerance shown to us in the past, otherwise we are no better than those who closed their borders to us and let millions of us perish in the concentration camps. In fact, for this reason, some Holocaust survivors have publicly discouraged Israel from deporting the African migrants.
Now just to be fair, Israel has already shown these people a lot more compassion than some of its neighbours. In fact, if these people had been caught in Egypt trying to cross the border into Israel, they may not be alive today. They may have been shot and killed as soon as they came within sight of Egyptian authorities, as has happened in the past. Yet the world's media makes Israel look like the villain for wanting to deport the migrants. At least in Israel, these people have a roof over their heads and food to eat. They are not tortured and killed as they are in the Arab world simply because they have darker skin and non-Arab heritage.
So what should Israel do with these people? Well, a few days ago, it appeared that a solution had been found when the Israeli government reached an agreement with the United Nations to deport half of the migrants to Western countries that would be willing to take them, including Canada. The remaining migrants would be allowed to stay in Israel. But under pressure from members of his coalition government and his own party, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly reneged on the deal. Now we're back to square one.
In his heart, I think Bibi knows that deporting the migrants back to Africa is wrong. But of course, he's a politician and most politicians want to stay in power above all else. He still has a chance, however, to remove the migrants from Israel and still be humanitarian and compassionate while doing so. The deal with the U.N. may be dead, but I think the idea of Western countries taking in some or all of the African migrants. Now of course, immigration of any kind is very unpopular in Europe and the U.S. right now. But Canada is still welcoming immigrants with open arms. Indeed, Canada represents the other extreme of immigration policy. That policy being to open the borders to anyone who wants to come, with little regard for whether or not potential newcomers will be a benefit or a burden to the country. In light of this, I think that Israel should approach the Canadian government about taking some or all of the African migrants, and should do so as soon as possible.
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