Demographics, The Demographic Time-Bomb - The Peace FAQ

Demographics, The Demographic Time-Bomb

Frequently Asked Questions:

● Are Jews 'Judaizing' Jerusalem? Are they overpopulating it and

displacing Arabs?
● Are the Jews a majority in Jerusalem, and how far do such estimates
go back?
● Israel is the only Jewish State, while there are 22 Arab States. Are
Israelis committed to remaining a viable Jewish State?

Are Jews 'Judaizing' Jerusalem? Are they overpopulating it and

displacing Arabs?

● * In Jerusalem Arab growth rate surpasses that of the Jews

1. Since 1967 Jerusalem's Jewish population has increased by only

105%, while its Arab population has increased by 156%. In other
words, despite Arab charges that Israel is "Judaizing"the city,
Jerusalem is less Jewish today than it was in 1967. (This and the
next 2 points are based on 1993 data from the Statistical Yearbook
of Jerusalem.)

2. Excluding the Old City (where little building takes place), the
average size of Jewish homes in Jerusalem is 67.2 square meters,
while the average size of Arab homes is 75.1 square meters.

3. While the Arab population of Jerusalem has increased greatly,

crowding has actually decreased. Since 1967 the number of rooms-
per-person in Arab households has increased by 11%.

4. Much of the new Arab building in Jerusalem has taken place in the
neighborhoods of Ras al-Amud and Arab a-Suwachra in the south-
east, and in Shuafat and Beit Hanina in the north. Arab villages
within the city, such as Isawiya, A-Tur, Sur Bacher and Beit Safafa,
have also grown significantly.

http://www.peacefaq.com/demographics.html (1 of 4)8/9/2007 10:21:16 AM

Demographics, The Demographic Time-Bomb - The Peace FAQ

5. Meron Benvenisti, the former Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, now

much quoted by Israel's critics, in the past criticized propagandists
who distorted Arab and Jewish population growth in Jerusalem:

"These complaints were taken up and accepted in wide circles all

over the world. However, demographic data did not justify such
complaints. The massive Israeli efforts only ensured that the growth
of the Jewish population of the city did not lag behind that of the
Arab community. As in many other areas, the complaints rested not
so much on real facts as on the declarations of politicians. The efforts
made for the rapid construction and development of the city brought
about a relatively swift growth of the Jewish population, but they also
brought about a relatively faster growth of the Arab community. Like
Siamese twins, the two communities nourished each other and were
obliged to advance at the same pace. The true beneficiary of the
efforts directed towards development was not the Jewish community,
nor the Arab one, it was the city as a whole". (Jerusalem, The Torn
City, 1976)

Since Benvenisti wrote these words in 1976, Jewish building in

Jerusalem has continued to lag behind the Arab efforts, as noted
above.

Prepared by:

Alexander Safian, Ph.D., Associate Director of the Committee for

Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America

Are the Jews a majority in Jerusalem, and how far do such

estimates go back?

● "The sedentary population of Jerusalem numbers about 15,500 souls,

of whom 4,000 are Mussulmans [Muslims] and 8,000 Jews. ...[the]
Mussulmans, forming about a fourth of the population [are not a
uniform group, as they are] consisting of Turks, Arabs and Moors."

- Karl Marx, 1854, quoted in Karl Marx and Jerusalem, by Shlomo

Avineri, The Jerusalem Post, Sept 4 2000

"What is the population at present?" asked Will.

http://www.peacefaq.com/demographics.html (2 of 4)8/9/2007 10:21:16 AM

Demographics, The Demographic Time-Bomb - The Peace FAQ

"It is variously estimated," said Mr. Crunden. "No

accurate census has been taken, and we have to
estimate. Ten years ago it was placed at from 25,000
to 30,000. The Episcopal Bishop of Jerusalem now
estimates it at from 50,000 to 60,000. It has increased
rapidly of late years."

"Are the most of these Mohammedans?"

"No. The majority are Jews. The Mohammedans are

next in number. There are, however, perhaps 10,000
Christians, mostly Greeks, though there are many
Roman Catholics, several hundred Armenians, and
some Protestants."

- by B. W. Johnson, in Young Folks in Bible Lands: Chapter X, 1892

Israel is the only Jewish State, while there are 22 Arab States. Are
Israelis committed to remaining a viable Jewish State?

● ...We are dealing with politicians who daily perceive Arab hostility but
who cannot cope with such hostility because of their compulsive,
egalitarian mentality. A mindless self-defense mechanism induces
them to defame as "racist" anyone who, out of concern for the
cultural self-preservation of the Jewish people, recommends some
limitation on the voting power of Israel's burgeoning Arab population.
(The simple desire for cultural self-preservation prompted Japan to
limit citizenship to ethnic Japanese. Which indicates that democracies
which do not make equality a fetish or totalitarian principle [need not
succumb from egalitarinism].)

Is it rational, is it just, that Arabs opposed to Israel's existence

should be accorded the equal political rights of Jews who work or
fight and even die for Israel's existence? How shall we describe those
who insist on such indiscriminate, such monstrous, equality even
though this democratic principle will logically lead to democratic
Israel's demise?

...the egalitarian and culturally neutral principle of one adult/one

vote will enable Israel's prolific Arabs to Transform the country into
an Arab-Islamic dictatorship. ...compulsive egalitarianism prevents
them from addressing this dilemma. This compulsion, permeated by
fear, inhibits politicians across the political and religious spectrum
from confronting the problem of Israel's shrinking Jewish majority.
They surely know from current estimates that Arabs, now 20% of

http://www.peacefaq.com/demographics.html (3 of 4)8/9/2007 10:21:16 AM

Demographics, The Demographic Time-Bomb - The Peace FAQ

Israel's population, may number 8.5 million by the year 2010, a

demographic time-bomb. Even before then, and thanks to the policy
of "territory for peace," Israel will have the highest population
density in the world!

http://www.peacefaq.com/demographics.html (4 of 4)8/9/2007 10:21:16 AM