In a previous article, cpr@igc.apc.org (Center for Policy Research) says:  >6. Your answer to the question concerning rights to return >conflicts with what I was told, namely that hundreds of thousands >of non-Jews who left for some reason or other the area under >Israel control during the war of 1947-8, were prevented from >returning for the sole reason they were not Jews. Jews who also >left, for example to Europe, to avoid the clashes, were allowed to >return. How can you justify such discrimination, if this is true ? >Is the mere fact of a person leaving area of combat to seek refuge >somewhere else a reason for stripping him of his right to live in >his homeland ?  You are conveniently ommitting the fact that the Arab governments told the Arab citizens of Israel to leave Israel, join with the Arab armies so that after what they felt like an assured victory occured, these Arabs could return to their former homes, reclaim them as well as anything else they wanted that belonged to Jews.  When the Arabs lost, Israel was left with a bunch of people who has just tried to kill them who now wanted back into the country as citizens.  What would you have done?  Let them in so they could kill Jews?  Israel sees those Arabs who stayed as citizens  because they were loyal to Israel during the war and didn't leave.  Of course some Arabs could have left to avoid the fighting but distinguishing between the two is impossible.  Therefore a decision was made based on secuturity of the country.  >8.  You maintain that there are some Israeli Arabs living in >Israeli kibbutzim. I wonder how many and where. There is very >little evidence available about that. As much as I know, many >Arabs are working *for* kibbutzim, even for many years, but are >not accepted as members. Could it be that kibbutzim do not want >Arabs ?  No kibbutz that I have ever visited has any "employees" unless they had to hire some people for the restaurants, hotels etc if there weren't enough  people ON the kibbutz to do them.  In such cases, they are paid properly. If a kibbutz turns away an Arab, 9I have never seen or heard of this) but it reflects only on the membership comittee of that kibbutz, not the whole kibbutz movement.  >to keep it what way'. I am certain that if only religious >communities in the U.S. would be asked, they would gladly abolish >civil marriage so that people would depend upon rabbis and priests >to officiate marriages. But Israel has always been ruled by a >secular majority. Your answer is not satisfactory.  This just shows how ignorant you are of Israeli politics.  Although the  major parties in Israel aren't religious (however not totally secular), due to the format of the government (coalition) the religious parties have always had a lot of pull since they were needed to form a majority coalition. In fact, from what I heard the present government is the least influenced by the religious parties in the existance of Israel.  Israel CANNOT be called a secular state.  For instace, Haifa is the only city in the country (except for maybe some Arab cities) where buses run on the Jewish Sabbath.   There are many other examples of religion in Israel.  Marriages in Israel are NOT contolled by the state, but by Rabbis and Priests.  Obviously your  disbelief of this fact sheds some light of your ignorance of the country you claim to know so much about.    Steve --