Benjamin Franklin designed a seal for the United States that depicted Pharoahs armies being drowned in the Red Sea as the Israelites fled for freedom to the Promised Land. Indeed. inscribed on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia is the ancient Hebrew proclamation: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land. and to all of the inhabitants thereof." Yet. there is another kind of historical context that links the American people with the Israelis. Our Nation. termed by Abraham Lincoln as "the last. best hope for mankind." is a land of immigrants. At times we have been negligent in our commitment to honoring the symbols associated with the Statue of Liberty. but on balance. we have been good in opening our shores to the oppressed. This is where the Israelis have followed our example. Immediately after emerging victorious in their war for independence. the Israelis began to absorb 2 million refugees from all over the world. These were the oppressed survivors of Hitlers death camps and hundreds of thousands of refugees from North Africa and Arabia who were exiled from their homelands. It was remarkable how a nation as small as Israel. managed to integrate the number of refugees it did in the small amount of time it took. This is especially notable when compared with the shocking neglect accorded those persons who fled Israeli soil upon the urgings of the Governments of Jordan. Syria.
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immigrants refugees