Counter-Terrorism: Dying To Reach The Promised Land

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December 25,2008:  Over the last two years, Egyptian border guards kill about two illegal migrants a month. The victims are caught trying to cross the border  into Israel, and refuse to halt when hailed by the Egyptian border guards. Hundreds more of these migrants, most of them sub-Saharan Africans, have gotten through. Why are Africans so desperate to get into Israel. It's simple; jobs. Since the Palestinians rejected a peace deal in 2000, and undertook a terrorism campaign, there has been a permanent loss of over 70,000 Palestinian jobs inside Israel. As a result, replacement workers have been imported from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Israelis are happy with these workers, and many don't want to replace them with Palestinians. Word of this labor shortage spread, and Africans fleeing poverty and violence, tried, at the risk of their lives, to get to those jobs in Israel.

Some of these Africans also sought to cross the Mediterranean for jobs in Europe, but few considered the prospect of work in the Arab countries they must pass through. That's because there are no jobs to be had in these Arab countries. There are no jobs for many of the same reason there are no jobs south of the Sahara. The problem is corruption, and governments that are hostile to entrepreneurs and economic growth. This lack of economic growth and corrupt behavior by those in power has been a major reason for the growth of Islamic radicalism and terrorism. Fixing it isn't easy, because the cultures in these nations favor the tyrannical leaders who benefit from the situation, and vigorously resist change. Saddam Hussein was one of these tyrants, and look at how difficult it was to get rid of him and his diehard supporters.