Israeli refugees and us

Editorial

There has been a huge increase in Israelis applying for refugee status in Canada, according to recent news reports, and a massive increase in the number of claims granted.

The Globe and Mail reports that, "More than 500 Israelis applied for refugee status in Canada last year, up from 253 in 2000. The acceptance rate rose from five per cent to 31 per cent in 2005 and 18 per cent last year, when [the Immigration and Refugee Board] accepted 45 claims – an implicit recognition that these individuals suffered persecution in a state that could not protect their rights."

It is understandable that people who feel discriminated against or threatened would seek refuge in Canada. This country is world renowned as a beacon of human freedom. Though hardly boasting an unblemished record, Canada nonetheless stands head and shoulders above most countries in the world in defending human dignity and security of the person. There is a fair case to be made that this country could throw the gates open and accept far more newcomers who are oppressed elsewhere.

But the Israeli case is unique. Here we have a democratic state, with human rights legislation and an infrastructure for recourse. There is no doubt that some Israelis feel isolated and vilified in the system, just as some Canadians can feel isolated or discriminated against by reason of their ethnicity, First Nations status, gender, sexual orientation, religion, physical or mental ability and so forth. But Canada has processes by which citizens can seek redress and set precedents for better treatment in future. So does Israel.

People in free countries are free to vote with their feet by leaving the country, abandoning their citizenship and claiming refugee status elsewhere. Free countries like Canada are free to determine the definition and nature of "refugees." If, on the basis of individual cases, Canadian refugee board decisions determine that, say, the threat of violence or particular religious or cultural persecution constitutes intolerable hardship, well, that is an issue between Canadians and their refugee board. We can hardly fault individual applicants from other places for wanting to share in the comparatively peaceable and prosperous society we have created here, though it would be nice to think people would respect the processes that are in place for ordinary immigration.

Though it may pain us to see Israel depicted as the sort of country from which Canada accepts asylum seekers, this is only as outrageous as it would be to see Canadians accepted as refugees elsewhere because they, say, find aspects of our society too liberal, or too secular, or too cold. If another country wants to accept these claimants as refugees, well, fill your boots.

The implication – that these refugee claimants suffered persecution that Israel, for whatever reasons, could not prevent or ameliorate – contradicts both the perception and reality of Israel as a pluralist, freedom-guaranteeing state. Discrimination exists in free countries, as well as in tyrannies. The difference in free states is that processes exist to deal with and fix such incidents. Sometimes these processes take time – ask Canadian First Nations, people with disabilities and others about the long path to justice. But in Canada, as in Israel, there is a path.

Until such time as Canadian authorities decide not to accept some Israeli refugee claimants, our community is challenged to respond.

These new Canadians should be welcomed into our community, of course, as any Jew should be, regardless of ideology, religious affiliation, background or cultural identity. But they should be made aware, also, that Canada is a country with due process, like Israel. We have a Charter of Rights and Freedoms and, just as in Israel or other democratic states, there is a process by which people who experience discrimination can seek recourse. In such an environment, the civic thing to do is to challenge existing discrimination and not simply to flee.

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