On Wed, 18 Jul 2001, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
> A racial group is a group defined by descent: you belong to it if your
> parents did. Israel is a uniquely racist state, because every other
> state, whether democratic or dictatorial, is said to be the state of its
> inhabitants: Israel however proclaims itself "the state of the Jewish
> people world-wide"
Actually that doesn't make Israel unique. Germany also has a law of return, and so does every state that bases its citizenship on the jus sanguinis, which is still quite common today, especially in eastern europe and the former soviet union, which is where Israel got its citizenship traditions.
By "state of its inhabitants" you mean pure jus solis, which is really only found in its extreme form in the US. Everywhere else, being born in a state doesn't by itself make you a citizen.
Sadly, everything else you say is true.
Michael
__________________________________________________________________________ Michael Pollak................New York City..............mpollak at panix.com