Israel and her little corner of the world are not so foreign as all that, for a lot of Americans. There are millions of American jews who have parents, children, grandchildren and siblings living in Israel, and at least tens of thousands of people have dual citizenship, US-Israeli. Obviously this means that there are also millions of Israelis who have close relatives living in the US -- and not just in New York and New Jersey, either. American culture is woven into Israeli life, and most Israelis don't mind being able to buy Disney videos, Dell computers and Kodak instant cameras. You can hear plenty of english being spoken in the streets of Jerusalem. America has to be able to absorb Arabs, too, and Muslims from all over the world -- that is part of the glory of America, and they should be welcome. On the other hand, it is hard for me to envision them becoming as intimate and familiar and accepted a piece and part of the American community as Israel and American Jews are. For one thing, millions of non-Jewish Americans, myself included, have married Jews. That alone creates a vast network of relationships that can't be severed or disentangled, or even calculated. (I have since divorced and re-married, but I still have that strong network of relatives and relationships.)