Report: Palestinian and Jewish populations to be Equal by 2016
In a special report on the 61st anniversary of the “Nakba” (catastrophe, referring to May 14, 1948, the day the Zionist state declared its independence), the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics surveyed the demographic situation in the Holy Land.
According to the report, the worldwide Palestinian population was 10.6 million at the end of 2008, compared to 1.4 million in 1948 – a sevenfold increase. Moreover, the report stated that the total number of Palestinians living in historic Palestine (between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea), by the end of 2008 totaled 5.1 million compared to 5.6 Jews. The report predicted that the Palestinian and Jewish populations in historic Palestine will be equal by 2016.
UNRWA records at the end 2008 showed that the number of Palestinian registered refugees in UNRWA’s five working areas totaled 4.7 million, constituting 44.3% of the
total worldwide Palestinian population; The distribution is 41.8% living in Jordan, 9.9% in Syria, 9.0% in Lebanon, 16.3% in the West Bank, and 23.0% in Gaza Strip. About one third of Palestinian registered refugees live in the 59 refugee camps, of which 10 are in Jordan, 10 in Syria, 12 in Lebanon, 19 in the West Bank, and 8 in Gaza Strip.
UNRWA estimates represent the minimum estimates for Palestinian refugees since they do not take into consideration non-registered refugees.
The Satmar Rebbe wrote: “The Talmud states that the Messianic Era cannot begin until the lowly kingdom is gone from the Jewish people. The commentary of Rashi explains: Until Jews do not have any government, even an insignificant and lowly one. So we see that before the coming of the messiah the Zionist government will be gone, for there is no way he can come otherwise. That is the only thing holding up the redemption. The Rambam says something similar to this in his letter to Yemen. But we need Heavenly mercy that the Zionist government should disappear through Heavenly power, by the hand of G-d, and not through warfare, for that would be a tremendous danger.” (Introduction to Vayoel Moshe)
The Rebbe wrote these words fifty years ago. At that time, he could not imagine what peaceful solution G-d would devise to remove the Zionist government, but he and other faithful Jews put their trust in G-d, knowing that only He could find such a solution.
Now, with this demographic data we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. If non-Jews outnumber Jews in the Holy Land, and they are given equal democratic rights, there will no longer be a Zionist state.
However, as long as the Jewish population remains the majority, even if democratic rights are granted to non-Jews, we will still oppose the state. The Torah forbids Jews to be politically active in the Holy Land during exile, even in the context of a democratic state not officially connected with the Jewish people, as long as the majority of the state's population is Jewish. Such a state, whatever its official name, would for all intents and purposes be a Jewish state and would represent a deviation from the norm of exile commanded by the Torah.
It must also be stressed that our organization cannot advocate any particular "solution" such as the democratic binational state, because it is Palestinians who have the right to determine what structure their new state will have; it is not for us to impose any structure on them.