By Hillel Brumer, Hasbara Fellowships Canada High School Intern
Defeated, demoralized, distraught, dejected, disheartened, hopeless. This is what the Jews were feeling after the Holocaust. Three years later, that all changes. Enter a Jewish state. The state of Israel. The Jews needed a home, a safe place to go. For the past five years, the Jewish people had experienced a vicious and merciless genocide with no one to turn to for help. With the creation of the State of Israel, they had a chance to live freely and safely as Jews in the ancient, eternal home of the Jewish people. Thus the law of return was established.
What is the law of return?
The law of return was created in 1950 and it stated that “Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an Oleh (immigrant).” The only exceptions to this are if the immigrant is engaged in anti-Israel activities, or is a threat to society. In 1954 the law of return was updated to say if the Oleh has a criminal past they could be denied entry. In 1970, the law was clarified to answer the complicated question: Who is considered a Jew? The decision was made to include grandchildren of Jewish people, even if they are not Jewish themselves according to halacha (Jewish law). So, in addition to those who are clearly Jewish according to Jewish law, the Law of Return includes children of Jews, grandchildren of Jews, and those who are married to Jews.
Why was the law of return created?
Six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust during World War II and the world refused to help. During the war, 30,000 Jews were turned back at the Switzerland border, and the USA denied a request to take in 20,000 children. The St. Louis ship tried to get into Cuba and then the USA, before being sent back to Europe where its passengers were murdered. There is also the iconic response given by a Canadian government official when asked how many Jews Canada would admit after the war: “None is too many.” This is why the law of return was needed — the Jews had nowhere to go. Even after the terrors of World War II, no one would accept them, so Israel opened its doors. Without the Law of Return, the application process to become an Israeli citizen is long and complicated, requiring time that many Jews didn’t have. Jews in Europe were living in Displaced Persons camps, which is where a lot of Jews ended up after the Holocaust because they had nowhere to go.
Those in the Middle East were facing constant antisemitic attacks and policies. They needed to escape these situations as soon as possible. We once again see the parallel between the law of return and the Holocaust when defining Jews. Some people argue that the criteria that one must meet in order to be eligible for the law of return is unfairly broad as it includes people who are not Jewish according to traditional Jewish standards. The reason for this broad categorization is that during the Holocaust, people were persecuted as Jews even if just one of their grandparents were Jewish, so Israel made the same decision If you would have been persecuted in the Holocaust, then you qualify for the right of return.
Is the law of return discriminatory?
People often criticize the Law of Return on the basis that it discriminates against Arabs by preventing them from immigrating to Israel. However, this is not true. Nowhere in the law of return are Arabs singled out in any way. For people who are not Jewish under the criteria of the Law of Return, immigrating to Israel is just the same as immigrating anywhere else in that there are regulations that must be followed and qualifications that must be met. You need to be able to speak Hebrew to move to Israel, as well as have permanent residency for at least three years. Both of these two requirements are totally reasonable as they show commitment to the state of Israel and neither of them are at all targeting Arabs or making it more difficult for them to immigrate.
The law of return gives the Jews a home, a place where they are safe and guaranteed to be accepted in times of persecution.
