http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0249/foa.php
Israel's population growth rate is a mere 1.48 percent. The Palestinians enjoy a growth rate of about 3.5 percent. But here's the clincher. The fertility rate is 2.54 children for a woman in Israel, 4.77 kids for our sisters in the West Bank, and 6.29 babies for our beleaguered cousins in the Gaza Strip. Those figures make the hair stand up on the heads of many Israeli politicians and keep researchers busy calculating future population statistics.Demographic experts groan over the population growth rates in both Israel and the territories, which they say are among the highest in the world. They estimate that the population will double here every 17 years. They warn that such unchecked growth could have a horrific impact on the quality of life and that we may see future generations fleeing the prophesied "Calcutta environment." By 2015, the experts say, Israel's population will have increased 20 percent, the West Bank's by a hefty 56 percent, and Gaza's by an astounding 72 percent. That's a lot of babies.
A leading Israeli population authority, Arnon Sofer of Haifa University, calculates that by 2020 there will be 6.4 million Jews and 8.8 million Arabs in the area comprising Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. That means a 58 percent Arab majority.
While Arafat puts his faith in the Arab womb, Israelis have counted on Jewish immigration to keep Israel a Jewish state. The arrival here of nearly a million Russian Jews has provided some demographic breathing space, but hardly enough to alter the inevitable.
Arafat has said the womb of the Arab woman is my weapon:
dulles
... passing year. Arafat well understands this, which is why he has often
said that his strongest weapon is "the womb of the Arab woman.". ...
www.dullesnow.org/danger.html - 18k - Cached - Similar pages