What other countries? Most of Europe worrying about birthrates by north africans and other immigrants, the US worried about latinos, and a whole range of other countries. There's absolutely nothing strange about Jews in Israel worried that they'll lose their essential national characteristics to demographic changes.
-I spent many years in New Jewish Agenda in the 80s, in which friends who -were active in the Middle East work repeated slogans about wanting a -"democratic Jewish state". I look back in some kind of amazement at how -long it took before it dawned on me that that made no sense at all. Or about -as much as a "democratic white/black/Christian/Islamic/whatever" state.
Very true. Just as much sense as India electing a party like the BJP worried about losing the essential Hinduness of that country, or Arab countries that import Indians to do most of the work but would never think of letting them have citizenship. Governments all over the world are incredibly conscious of demographics and the relation of population to national identity.
In the ideal, I'm against all borders, but given the reality of them, why are Jewish borders so much more suspect than every other nationalities? I condemn Israel's occupation of its territorities, but understand their nationalism as much as the Kurds in Iraq who really want their own country have centuries of living under the yoke of other groups.
-- Nathan