A recent decision by Israel’s Supreme Court has reignited the Jewish state’s debate about how it should keep itself Jewish.
“WHICH basic human rights may a country override to keep itself safe? And to keep its demographic status quo? Such questions have been tormenting America and Europe recently. This week they reared their head, not for the first time, in Israel,” writes The Economist.
“By six votes to five, the Supreme Court rejected petitions from two human-rights groups asking it to overturn the “Citizenship and Entry into Israelâ€? law. Passed in 2003 as a temporary, emergency measure after Israel had suffered its worst-ever spate of suicide bombings, the law specifically bans residents of the West Bank and Gaza who marry Israelis from getting Israeli citizenship, residency or even entry permits…
“Nine of the 11 judges found the citizenship law unconstitutional and six deemed it disproportionate—a moral victory, in other words, for the activists. But only five thought the remedy was to throw out the law. The others decided, since the law is up for renewal soon anyway, to let parliament pass a better one…
“Critics of Israel argue that its obsession with its ethnic balance is more appropriate to the 19th century, when European ethnic-nationalist movements first inspired the idea of a Jewish nation-state, than to the modern world. Supporters retort that other countries where the ethnic majority is in peril are doing much the same thing.
“In Denmark, for instance, after high immigration and poor integration prompted 12% of Danes to vote for an anti-immigrant party in 2001, the government put curbs on immigration through marriage, including minimum ages and longer waiting periods for citizenship, and restricted welfare benefits for the first seven years. Israel’s policy could end up looking similar—and very hard to assail in court.”
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.