Subscribe to Print Edition | Sat., July 12, 2008 Tamuz 9, 5768 | | Israel Time: 08:51 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Peres Conference Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Fathna Ibrahim, a blind Sudanese refugee from Darfur who lost her husband and was tortured by the Janjaweed, holds her daughter in her hut in a refugee camp in Chad (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) Last update - 02:42 01/07/2008 Darfur is our problem, too By Haaretz Editorial Tags: Jewish World, Darfur, Israel  On Saturday, the Egyptians shot a 7-year-old girl from Sudan who tried to cross the border from Egypt to Israel just south of Rafah. Had she and her family made it through, they would have surely landed in Ketziot Prison. The "new policy" that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet declared vis-a-vis asylum seekers is, in fact, cruelty by any other name. The anti-infiltration law that the government is promoting has not yet been put on the law books, and it remains doubtful whether the Knesset would approve it in its stringent form. But its message is loud and clear. After nearly 10,000 Africans crossed over to Israel from Egypt last year, the authorities want to signal to anyone planning on coming here that their lives are not going to be easy. As far as Israel is concerned, the refugees can either get killed in their country of origin or at the Egyptian border, or be arrested indefinitely or wait for the Knesset to pass a law stating they will be tried and imprisoned for five to seven years. And it is the asylum seekers from Sudan, where a savage war has claimed the lives of 2 million people, who can expect to receive the harshest sentences under the new law. That's because Sudan is defined as an enemy state. Advertisement Unlike Israel's policy toward other illegal immigrants - those who forget to leave after arriving here as tourists or with a temporary work permit - sending the African asylum seekers back could mean a death sentence. This issue is about saving lives in the simplest meaning of the phrase - at least in the case of the Darfur refugees, who constitute 25 percent of the people who arrive at our borders. The difference between job seekers and asylum seekers isn't always clear. To determine which is which, we have the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Those who are defined as refugees should be afforded protection from deportation and legal status. In Israel, merely being processed for recognition as an asylum seeker is difficult because of the long queue - which the government needs to shorten before it does anything else. That would be the first meaningful step. The whole world is facing immigration problems, and a closed-gate policy is always cruel. At a time when the European Union is considering issuing a "Blue Card" for desirable immigrants like the American Green Card, it is, in fact, barring all the undesirables from entering. The distinction between job seekers and refugees is essential and humane, and it stems from our experience and commitment as the offspring of refugees who knocked in vain on the world's door, to be delivered by no one. We cannot evade our responsibility for the refugees, and other countries do not evade theirs. Nor can we solve the refugee problem by giving the Egyptians a wink to do our dirty work for us. Refugees from Darfur need to find a home here. Too soon we have forgotten the suffering that is the lot of the persecuted. Perhaps we have grown accustomed to concern ourselves only with our own plight after absorbing Jewish refugees since the founding of the state. Today, when we are more prosperous, when the reservoir of Jewish refugees has dried up, there is fortunately no reason to scan the globe for people who could be considered Jewish and coax them to come here. And there is no reason to remain indifferent to the suffering of non-Jews who could contribute to the State of Israel as much as any Jew. Darfur and its refugees are like an alarm bell for the collective conscience, and that bell is supposed to ring also when non-Jews are suffering. More Jewish World news and features Bookmark to del.icio.us   Photoshopped launch Did Iran doctor an image of its provocative missile test launch? 'Hitler was a good boss' Nazi bodyguard describes the fuhrer's last moments in a Berlin bunker.   1.   Jews: We`re at the crossroads 09:38  |  Adam Astan 30/06/08   2.   Jayyous is Israel`s problem,too 09:43  |  Ted 30/06/08   3.   Darfur 09:50  |  Ralph 30/06/08   4.   Yes it is -not ? 10:10  |  Sal 30/06/08   5.   Israel has solved its "Darfur problem" 10:34  |  Natallie Durson 30/06/08   6.   Israel should find solutions for Darfour refugees 10:39  |  Ulf 30/06/08   7.   Stupid Article 10:40  |  Anonymous 30/06/08   8.   Darfurians (and Palestinians) are an Arab problem! 10:42  |  Paul Henzen 30/06/08   9.   AS LONG AS THEY AREN`T ARABS 11:11  |  indrajaya 30/06/08   10.   Darfur iis Arab rape,slave trade, genocide and ethnic cleansing 11:42  |  PETER SM 30/06/08   11.   What a hogwash! The "Dafurians"`ve been living in Egypt 11:46  |  Absolute Sweden 30/06/08   12.   indrajaya No 9, yes, you are correct, but why? 12:30  |  Harvey (Chaim) 30/06/08   13.   East Timor is Israel`s Problem, Too 13:05  |  dyinglikeflies 30/06/08   14.   How many muslim newspapers say `Darfur is Our Problem`? 13:29  |  Ronnie Wolman 30/06/08   15.   Technically they are migrants and not refugees 13:44  |  Ilan 30/06/08   16.   ONE thing is for sure.It is no problem for the"intelligencia" 13:50  |  PETER SM 30/06/08   17.   A little hypocrite 14:59  |  PVDH 30/06/08   18.   Israel cannot handle Darfur problem alone 15:05  |  Free Gilad Shalit 30/06/08   19.   Adam in Israel #1 15:07  |  CHGODMK 30/06/08   20.   What about Palestinian Refugees? 15:29  |  Sharif Hafez 30/06/08   21.   Darfour is everybody`s problem 15:30  |  Ulf 30/06/08   22.   #9 Darfourian are refugees not terrorists 15:32  |  Ulf 30/06/08   23.   Sharif Hafez Darfur is an Arab League and Egyptian acute problem 16:01  |  Genuine Tosefta 30/06/08   24.   Is Jakarta RAT willing to take in the Darfur refugees? 16:11  |  Genuine Tosefta 30/06/08   25.   #20 Sharif I am sorry 16:11  |  Ulf 30/06/08   26.   #9 - indrajaya - for once you are correct 16:18  |  Arie 30/06/08   27.   HAFEZ Who created?? 16:59  |  PETER SM 30/06/08   28.   HAFEZ 2 here is what you created.What are you doing about it? 17:06  |  PETER SM 30/06/08   29.   Better Late Than Never 17:19  |  FK 30/06/08   30.   Sharif Hafez stay focused on Darfur and your resposibility for it 17:24  |  Genuine Tosefta 30/06/08   31.   HAFEZ 3 Your brothers in Cairo set fire to Jewish properties 17:27  |  PETER SM 30/06/08   32.   # 14, RONNIE WOLMAN 17:45  |  indrajaya 30/06/08   33.   # 26, ARIE 17:49  |  indrajaya 30/06/08   34.   I would like to agree with most of the "Talkbacks" 18:01  |  Czarkazem13 30/06/08   35.   indraRATS debating how to steal more from Black Africans 18:04  |  Genuine Tosefta 30/06/08   36.   TAKE CARE OF YOUR OWN FIRST !!! 18:42  |  Ajay Kaur 30/06/08   37.   #34 I like your stuff: You are so right! 18:46  |  Ulf 30/06/08   38.   Dear Sharif Hafez #20 18:46  |  Ajay Kaur 30/06/08   39.   to #5 Durson 19:41  |  leo 30/06/08   40.   Israel should let them in and use them as slave labor 20:43  |  Fair Man 30/06/08   41.   Natallie Durson - 21:44  |  David Israel 30/06/08   42.   #40 How you can be so disgusting? 22:27  |  Ulf 30/06/08   43.   #34 Czarkazem13 22:33  |  human being 30/06/08   44.   #31 peter sm do shut up fool 22:50  |  Labhras 30/06/08   45.   5 things 10:30  |  Jon Cohen 01/07/08   46.   20 new arrivals every day - still 10:33  |  Helen 01/07/08   47.   #46 You have done enough? 12:35  |  Ulf 01/07/08   48.   The Israel problemas are others but Darfur 13:34  |  Manolo ME expert 01/07/08   49.   Israel is not WEST 13:45  |  Manolo 01/07/08   50.   Israel Can Solve the Darfur Problem 17:16  |  Josh 01/07/08   51.   They can Contibute to Rape 18:21  |  Motti 01/07/08   52.   Manolo, if Israel is not West, Spain isn`t either 23:36  |  Ulf 01/07/08   53.   Oh Yeah, Darfur is our problem not yours! 14:22  |  Sharif Hafez 02/07/08   54.   Ulf: imporve differentes West / East 16:40  |  Manolo ME expert 02/07/08   55.   #54 Spain is more Africa & Latinamerica than Europe 09:08  |  Ulf 03/07/08   56.   Spain is more West tha Israel ever 16:01  |  Manolo 03/07/08   57.   Darfurians are the todays sheople. 16:07  |  JMK 03/07/08   58.   `the independent` extra 16:13  |  Manolo 03/07/08   59.   Darfur 09:13  |  joel armstrong 06/07/08

Read & React Did Iran doctor an image of its missile test launch? Responses: 173 Hitler's bodyguard: The Fuhrer was a good boss Responses: 137 PM suspected of asking various bodies to fund same foreign trips Responses: 57 Ari Shavit: The real problem is America Responses: 126 H.A. Hellyer: Who speaks for Europe's Muslims? Responses: 54 Rosner's Domain Did Mossad chief Meir Dagan pay a visit to the White House? (WTR) Is the Arab love affair with Obama over? (WTR) On Iraq, Obama draws to the ground of reality Poll: The more religious the Jewish voter, the more pro-McCain More Headlines 08:28 Two policemen wounded in Jerusalem shooting attack 04:05 Olmert suspected of defrauding state, charities to fund trips abroad 03:49 NRP Chairman: In a civilized country, Olmert would have resigned long ago 03:52 Olmert, Zaken, and Rishon Tours: A case of deja vu 07:11 Ron Arad's daughter: You can't declare him dead with no info 07:13 For Jewish American soldiers in Iraq, there is a different kind of service 07:17 Former U.S. diplomat gets year in prison for anti-Arab remarks