Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
time with their indigenous neighbors. And Israeli settlers, planted by their
government in land Palestinians claim, are having a tough time with their
indigenous neighbors as well.
h is is a story repeated time and again through history. During dii cult
times, military families from Soviet Russia retired in relative comfort in little
Estonia. Today Estonia—now independent—struggles with a big Russian
minority that refuses to integrate.
In the 16th century, the Habsburg monarchy planted Serbs—who were
escaping from the Ottomans farther south—along the Croatian-Bosnian
border, to provide a “human shield” against those same Ottomans. Many
centuries later, descendants of those Serbian settlers and the indigenous
Croats were embroiled in some of the bloodiest i ghting of the war following
the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Back when Britain ruled Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) and used it as a
big tea plantation, they couldn't get the local Sinhalese to pick the tea cheaply
enough, so they imported Tamils from India (who were more desperate and
willing to work for less). When colonial rule became more trouble than the tea
was worth, the Brits gave the island its freedom. And today, thanks to England's
love of tea, the Sinhalese and Tamils are locked in a tragic civil war.
When I consider the problems that come with planting Jews in Palestine,
Protestants in Ireland, Russians in Estonia, Serbs in Croatia, and Tamils in
Sinhalese Sri Lanka, I'm impressed both by the spine of the people who were
there i rst and the hardship borne by the ancestors of the original settlers. When
observing this sort of sectarian strife, travelers see that when people from one
land displace others from their historic homeland—regardless of the rationale
or justii cation—a harsh lesson is learned. Too often the resulting pain (which
can last for so many centuries that many even forget its roots) is far greater for
all involved than the short-term gain for the powers doing the planting.
European Challenges: An Aging Continent Grapples
with Immigration
I am a Europhile. I freely admit I have a romantic fascination with Europe and
an appreciation for its way of life. But I'm not blind to the fact that Europe
has its character l aws and is grappling—not always very well—with some
serious challenges of its own.
As the birthrate has dropped in recent years, Europe is becoming a
geriatric continent. While this is not a problem in itself, Europe's luxurious
