"If anything, Israel may have more reason than the United States or other developed countries to handle asylum seekers with fairness and decency for the sake of its international reputation. It's not clear that the country can afford to act as the United States does when it ships home truckloads of Mexicans. The uncertain plight of the Africans has already prompted protest and bad press in the Arab world."

In an otherwise well written and entertaining column, these few sentences stand out like a Wookie on Endor.

When did illegal immigrants from Mexico suddenly become refugees? How would Israel refusing actual refugees compare with the US deporting illegal aliens?

The last sentence is quite unbelievable coming from any person with even cursory knowledge of the Middle East. The writer makes this statement as if Israel doesn't get protest and bad press in the Arab world on a continuous basis.

And what right does the so-called "Arab world" have to make these protestations and denunciations. They wouldn't even (and still won't) take in the Palestinians whom they encouraged to leave Israel once it was created. Not only that, but they annexed the land set aside by the UN for a seperate Palestinian state. If there are any countries worthy of condemnation for their treatment of refugees they are Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt.