People who live in Western countries may complain about their homeland, but they do not subject it to critical evaluation in the same way as those who come to Israel. They simply stay in those countries, without thinking about how difficult or easy things are, or about other circumstances. They accept their surroundings, and their home is not related to their feelings.
That does not make their lives easier or more difficult. It does not mean that they will like or dislike their country, their surroundings, their environment, or their neighborhood. It does not mean that they will or will not adjust to their local society more effectively. It simply means that they have accepted their own decision to live in that country.
People who live in more difficult places, which are plagued by disease, war, or pestilence, also accept their homeland. They also don't evaluate it.
They exhibit this behavior even when it works against them. Jews in Germany and other eastern European countries were warned about an impending tragedy. Most of them did not leave, and they suffered the Holocaust. They stayed in their homeland.
After the fall of the Shah, Jews were urged to leave Iran. Some left, but many stayed behind, rather than lose their economic base in the country. That economy worsened for the Jews, but they can no longer leave.
In both cases, the people accepted their homeland, despite its failings and its ultimate attacks against the Jews. Their economic ties, family, contacts, language, and culture, kept them from considering the option to leave their home.
Yes, their situation is different from that of people who make Aliyah from the West. There was no way for people from some countries to take their property when they left. Perhaps there are other differences.
Clearly, however, there is no stronger force than a determination to stay in the country that you consider your own.
That force is the single attraction that keeps new immigrants in Israel.
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Keywords: Complaining, Economy, War
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