But they said it was very difficult to start a new life "We should say we accept a two-state solution, but that it means going back to the 1967 borders, and a fully independent and sovereign Palestinian state We should give them six months. But today, more Jewish people from the former Soviet Union are emigrating to Germany than Israel, and some who arrived in the Nineties have left, frustrated by not getting jobs to match their qualifications. In a country full of doctors, a medically qualified migrant from the former Soviet Union can end up a cleaner.A new situation is beginning to emerge in which some Palestinians are suggesting demographics is their greatest weapon, and that they should use it against Israel. "Sharon is building the wall because he wants to squeeze Palestinians into cantons on half of the West Bank," Professor Ali Jirbawi, of the West Bank's Bir Zeit University, says. "They want to call half of the West Bank 'Palestine' so they can squeeze the Palestinians into as small a space as possible and allay their own fears of the demographic effect in the future."Professor Jirbawi is advocating that the Palestinians should set a six-month time limit on negotiations for a two-state solution. In Israel's immigrant society, many Israelis have second passports, and can leave the country easily. In the past year, embassies in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary have had long queues of second-generation Israelis claiming their right to their parents' old citizenship.In the Nineties, a million immigrants arrived in Israel from the former Soviet Union, swelling the population and slowing the rate at which the Palestinian population was overtaking it. "They said they were too frightened for their children to stay here," Ms Max says "They went back to Australia, where they had come from. But they said it was very difficult to start a new life."Because Ms Max's former husband is American, her children have US citizenship. "I came here as a Zionist but found Israeli culture was very different from what I was used to." She stayed, she says, first because she met her husband, then for her children.But now her children have left, she wants to follow them Her children went for their own reasons. Only her eldest son, Adam, might return if the suicide bombings stopped and the economic situation improved, she thinks.But Ms Max's neighbours in Jerusalem did leave because of the suicide bombings. The district once occupied by the Muslims is Albaicin, an interesting area across the river from the Alhambra, where the minarets are a reminder of its Islamic history. Granada's cathedral, an imposing building just off the Gran Via (00 34 958 222 959), is worth a visit, but far more impressive is the small Capilla Real (00 34 958 227 848; open 10.30am-1pm and 3.30-6.30pm Monday to Saturday, from 11am on Sunday; entrance costs €2.50, £1.50), at the side of the cathedral with its entrance on Calle Oficios.
It was built for Ferdinand and Isabella, who finally drove the Moors out of Spain in 1492 and united the country; they are buried in the chapel in adjacent tombs. Tickets cost €7 (£5) and should be booked in advance at busy times (from BBVA, 00 34 91 537 9178, ). The Generalife Gardens, at the side of the Alhambra, were built in Arabic style as part of the summer palace. Enclosed within the Alhambra's walls are a series of gardens and palaces, one in Islamic style and a later addition in Renaissance style, as well as the Alcazaba, built as a defence for the city in the ninth century. |
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