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Last update - 10:38 19/02/2008 A demographic threat on the wane By Meron Benvenisti Tags: Israel The publication of the census results by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, which found that the population in the occupied territories has reached approximately 3.8 million people, was not widely discussed among the Israeli media - although the data (along with other figures published earlier this year by the Central Bureau of Statistics in Israel) shows that the number of Jews and Arabs living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean is close to parity. If we subtract the 200,000 East Jerusalem residents, who were counted twice, the number of Jews stands at about 5.4 million and the number of Arabs - both Israeli citizens and those living in the territories - at approximately 5.2 million. These figures indicate that the "demographic revolution" - the Arabs becoming the majority in the area west of the Jordan River - will happen in a year or two. Such a dramatic development cries for a comment by those politicians and analysts who continuously nourish the idea of a "demographic threat," which they believe threatens the existence of the Jewish Zionist state. According to their view, a non-Jewish majority automatically turns the Jewish community into a minority in its homeland. Therefore, statistics play a central role in all plans that aim to "erase" the Arabs from the demographic equation - starting from the "disengagement" to the "convergence" to the "removal" of Arab towns in the Triangle region and neighborhoods on the edge of East Jerusalem. The pullout from the Gaza Strip improved the demographic balance: 1.5 million Palestinians were removed from the count. Advertisement That is why it is so important to sever the Gaza Strip from Israel and link it to Egypt - all in order to bolster the illusion that Gaza is not part of the Jewish-Palestinian equation. Right-wing groups in Israel, who want to rid themselves of the demographic justification for evacuating the Palestinian territories, are making a supreme effort to undermine the credibility of the Palestinian data. Indeed, the Palestinians themselves are contributing to this by declaring that the fact that a census was held constitutes an "expression of Palestinian sovereignty." There is also a certain degree of doubt about the data's reliability, because the census results are suspiciously similar to the prognoses published by the Palestinians in 2004. Statistical tables have lost their factual scientific significance and become another tool in the struggle for legitimacy and public opinion. The significance of demographic data as a means for rallying political support is also on the wane. The "demographic threat" - the battle cry in the war of womb versus womb - is increasingly losing ground as its realization draws closer. This comes as no surprise since the phrase has always been a rhetorical slogan aimed at the future, not at a real situation that should be dealt with in concrete terms. In any case, an efficient way to defeat demography already has been found: break down Palestinian communities into smaller groups, which will make it easier for the dominant Jewish community to deal with them. Only the statisticians and geographers - and the politicians on the sidelines of the left and the right - will continue to refer to the Palestinians as a monolithic group. The rest will deal separately with 1.5 million residents of the Gaza Strip, 2.3 million residents of the West Bank, and 1.2 million Israeli Arabs, as if they were different peoples, and not part of one, single, threatening, mass. Surprisingly, the Palestinians themselves accept this demographic breakdown and are contributing to the illusion that the demographic threat has passed. As for the 11 million people living in this land, whose lives as Jews and Arabs are defined by their demographic division - they continue to pray for a miracle. Bookmark to del.icio.us   The black sheep The U.S. freezes Assad's cousin's assets for trying to weaken Iraq and Lebanon. Pristina, Ramallah Yasser Abed Rabbo called on the West Bank to declare independence like Kosovo.   1.   I AM OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THIS 11:10  |  indrajaya 19/02/08   2.   meron benevisti has never wanted israeli success 11:18  |  natke nir 19/02/08   3.   what about the palestinians in jordan 11:21  |  natke nir 19/02/08   4.   meron benvenisti why make a meal of it 11:23  |  natke nir 19/02/08   5.   Nonsense 11:29  |  Yishai Kohen 19/02/08   6.   What is this article saying?? 11:37  |  nina 19/02/08   7.   HERE WE GO AGAIN WITH THE ZIONIST PROPAGANDA MACHINE 11:37  |  TripleJump 19/02/08   8.   Demographic threat? You forget these Arabs are THE indegenous. 11:40  |  James 19/02/08   9.   WOULD THE ARABS LIE OR "DOCTOR" DEMOGRAPHICS? 12:05  |  Stan 19/02/08   10.   USE THE "SERB WAY" OR COMPROMIZE 12:45  |  indrajaya 19/02/08   11.   Triple Jump...get some much needed perspective!!!!!!!! 12:47  |  Ben Uziel 19/02/08   12.   i am waiting for 12:47  |  cool 19/02/08   13.   Natke Nir & Jordan Palestinians 12:50  |  Bandar Michaels 19/02/08   14.   Hashem created the land, then he created man. 12:54  |  David 19/02/08   15.   Pres 12:58  |  19/02/08   16.   Dont worry, I am sure Jewish Agency will discover more Jews 13:00  |  El-Birawi 19/02/08   17.   ARAFAT the Egyptian said the woman`s womb was his best weapon 13:03  |  PETER SM 19/02/08   18.   TRIPLE JUMP1.2 MILL..ARABS IN ISRAEL HOW MANY JEWS IN ARAB LANDS? 13:10  |  PETER SM 19/02/08   19.   Yeah lets kick all Non-jews out!!!!!!!!! 13:18  |  Nihat 19/02/08   20.   To David #12: Yes I have some questions 13:22  |  Machevelli Spinoza 19/02/08   21.   INDRAJAYA.ARABS TRIED IT THEIR WAY."WAR OF EXTERMINATION" 13:23  |  PETER SM 19/02/08   22.   Those that love to LIE, love to HATE,and KILL 13:39  |  STennon 19/02/08   23.   Israel already has plans to deal with the demographic "threat" 13:44  |  Clickfool 19/02/08   24.   who ratified the phoney plo figures ?? 13:45  |  v hardman 19/02/08   25.   So Now What? 13:46  |  Maki 19/02/08   26.   Meron, hmm very revealing 14:03  |  Buzaglow 19/02/08   27.   The creation of an artificial state in the midst of an indigenous 14:04  |  lakshmi 19/02/08   28.   Meron Should Clarify 14:27  |  Yaakov Sullivan 19/02/08   29.   Bravo, El-Barawi 14:30  |  Ben-Amozeg 19/02/08   30.   CFOOL please provide your OFFICIAL sources for"the plan"? 14:36  |  PETER SM 19/02/08   31.   One man one vote 14:57  |  christa 19/02/08   32.   Zionist Founders of the Bi-national State 14:59  |  MB 19/02/08   33.   bandar micheals may i give you the example of germany 14:59  |  natke nir 19/02/08   34.   one state solution or genocide 15:01  |  iymen 19/02/08   35.   bandar michaels 15 million refugees were created 15:04  |  natke nir 19/02/08   36.   The confirmation of Israel as an Apartheid Regime 15:05  |  Labhras 19/02/08   37.   cretin maki from floripa 15:11  |  vladimir 19/02/08   38.   The squatter down unde shouting again 15:12  |  Labhras 19/02/08   39.   Benvenisti - these figures are RUBBISH - ignore 15:16  |  S Judah 19/02/08   40.   The real demgraphic threat is Bienvisti & co - Amira,Marcus,Eldar 15:25  |  Logical Guy 19/02/08   41.   Check the statisitcs: 2.6M in W. B. and Gaza 15:26  |  ARA 19/02/08   42.   Yoram Ettinger: PA Continues to Lie About Demographic Threat 15:52  |  S Judah 19/02/08   43.   Triple Jump, is Benvenisti part of Zionist propaganda machine? 16:07  |  A Jew 19/02/08   44.   to 3: if intelectual integrity existed ... 16:35  |  Michele 19/02/08   45.   #2 Israeli success 17:16  |  Warren 19/02/08   46.   the differences between the people of gaza and the west bank 17:38  |  amnon reshef 19/02/08   47.   PETER SM#18... THERE ARE THOUSANDS JEWS IN ARAB COUNTRIES.....BUT 18:01  |  TripleJump 19/02/08   48.   Palestinians are staying WHERE THEY BELONG 18:04  |  Eric 19/02/08   49.   The REAL THREAT is the land grabbing! 18:05  |  Janjoji 19/02/08   50.   For Peter SM on 5 Ghetto Palestine # 30 18:41  |  Clickfool 19/02/08   51.   Yaacov Sullivan- The Beauty of Benvenisti 19:38  |  Dorothy 19/02/08   52.   Demographic Threat 19:50  |  Fred 19/02/08   53.   A Greater Fool 20:09  |  Alan 19/02/08   54.   Benvenisti falls victim to PA Lies 20:57  |  Yael 19/02/08   55.   CFOOL Current is NOT the final state of affairs in the WB 21:05  |  PETER SM 19/02/08   56.   55.PETER S&M would have us believe she is for settler removal 21:22  |  Assad-u-LLAH 19/02/08   57.   Here we go again with the Arab lies. 21:32  |  David 19/02/08   58.   Gaza can`t be included in this equation!! 21:58  |  Dr eric 19/02/08   59.   Israel must encourage emigration 22:00  |  Dr Eric 19/02/08   60.   Many questions indeed 22:47  |  Hadi 19/02/08   61.   Parity 22:53  |  Joe 19/02/08   62.   I am more concerned with chemical bombs and no gas masks for Isra 22:57  |  Reuveni 19/02/08   63.   Indra 23:19  |  Realistic 19/02/08   64.   #55 PeterSm Squatter from daaan unde 23:19  |  Labhras 19/02/08   65.   Clickfool 23:22  |  Realistic 19/02/08   66.   -u-LLAH.Israel has swapped land for peace.What peace do Pals 23:28  |  PETER SM 19/02/08   67.   now here`s the funny part ..... 23:33  |  ho-ho-ho 19/02/08   68.   #66 Peter Sm 23:51  |  Labhras 19/02/08   69.   The Israelis don`t get it 00:24  |  ELIAS KHOURY 20/02/08   70.   The redrawing of a Peace Map.(as I said before)* 00:26  |  Akram Zekaria 20/02/08   71.   the pope crawled to the muslims when he insulted them 00:36  |  papalbull 20/02/08   72.   the pope and the red cross were in league 00:38  |  papalbull 20/02/08   73.   LABRAHAS .No the Pals have no rights to kill Israelis 00:47  |  PETER SM 20/02/08   74.   #30 PeterSM Something for you to read @... 01:08  |  Maureen Ann 20/02/08   75.   dorothy writes the most amazingly savage witty prose 01:46  |  hussein obama 20/02/08   76.   demographics 01:53  |  Paul 20/02/08   77.   demographics 01:54  |  Paul 20/02/08   78.   demographics 02:01  |  Paul 20/02/08   79.   I have a question.... 02:12  |  Che Vive 20/02/08   80.   MAUREEN 1941 was before Hitlers genocide plans became known.Nazis 02:13  |  PETER SM 20/02/08   81.   Whose fault it is ? 02:26  |  Sandy 20/02/08   82.   Another onslaught of fraudulent, politically motivated data. 02:49  |  Chaim 20/02/08   83.   # 80 Israel needs you PeterSM. 03:11  |  Maureen Ann 20/02/08   84.   69# Elias Khoury. You get it wrong in all dimensions. 03:13  |  Akram Zekaria 20/02/08   85.   Um, JEWS WERE IN ISRAEL LONG BEFORE ARABS 03:24  |  Mary 20/02/08   86.   #80 PeterSM. Please note... 04:24  |  Maureen Ann 20/02/08   87.   Benvenisti wrong to doubt census without evidence 04:34  |  Fed Up 20/02/08   88.   Clickfool`s demographic threat 04:53  |  Natallie Durson 20/02/08   89.   There is a solution - actually two 05:32  |  Mark Lincoln 20/02/08   90.   @85 Mary on the value of history in politics 06:20  |  Mark B. 20/02/08   91.   Dorothy the big thinker 06:51  |  Danite 20/02/08   92.   Israeli Arabs 06:56  |  Ron 20/02/08   93.   #92.. Emigrate Out.. 07:25  |  Therzal 20/02/08   94.   Double counting 07:33  |  Jay 20/02/08   95.   #89 Just to point out, Mark Lincoln.... 08:19  |  Johnboy 20/02/08   96.   MAUREEN.Palestine needs you.Womans womb is a weapon 08:20  |  PETER SM 20/02/08   97.   MAUREEN Hitler didn`t say in 1938 that he wanted to KILL all Jews 08:30  |  PETER SM 20/02/08   98.   # 88, NATALLIE (PROBABLY FAKE ONE) 08:38  |  indrajaya 20/02/08   99.   # 89, MARK LINCOLN 09:13  |  indrajaya 20/02/08   100.   # 85, MARY 09:16  |  indrajaya 20/02/08   101.   On the propensity of idiots to fake other posters # 88 09:40  |  Clickfool 20/02/08   102.   Hello Danite 14:03  |  Dorothy 20/02/08   103.   # 76 and all the rest by Chicago Paul. Hey There.. 02:16  |  KATHY 21/02/08   104.   Worry about the internal demographic threat 01:18  |  arun 22/02/08

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