US Congress Recognizes Jewish Refugees From Arab Lands
 
by Hillel Fendel
April 2, 2008

(IsraelNN.com) U.S. House Resolution 185, adopted on Tuesday, 
recognizes for the first time the rights of Jews who became refugees 
as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Resolution expresses 
"the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the creation 
of refugee populations."  

The non-binding bill asks the President to ensure that in all international 
forums, when the issue of Middle East refugees is discussed, 
US representatives will make sure that any explicit reference to 
Palestinian Arab refugees is matched by a similar explicit reference 
to Palestinian Jewish and other refugees. Many Jews lost their 
resources, their homes, and their heritage sites, fleeing in the 
face of persecution, pogroms, revolutions and brutal dictatorships. 


The bill's sponsors aimed to increase awareness of the fact that 
not only is there an Arab/Palestinian refugee issue as a result of 
the Middle East conflict, but that Jews, as well, lost their homes 
and livelihoods under similar circumstances.  It is estimated that 
850,000 Jews were displaced from their homes, often under 
threats and with violence, as a result of Israel's War of Independence 
and afterwards.

Many note that while many of the Arabs living in the Land of Israel 
left their homes voluntarily, goaded on by Arab promises that they 
would come back as victors and be able to displace the Jews, 
the Jews in Arab countries were generally expelled under duress 
and violence.

"We believe this Resolution will produce a more balanced and 
accurate historical account," stated JIMENA (Jews Indigenous to 
the Middle East and North Africa), "and ultimately, a more just 
resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict." 

JIMENA, which lobbied heavily for the bill, is a human rights 
organization that educates and advocates for the plight of Jewish 
refugees from the Middle East.  It was co-founded by Regina 
Bubil-Waldman, whose family was nearly murdered - twice - 
while escaping from Libya in 1967.  

JIMENA notes that before 1948, approximately 850,000 Jews lived 
in Muslim countries of the Middle East, North Africa, and the 
Persian Gulf, while today, 99% percent of these ancient Jewish 
communities no longer exist due to Arab and Islamic government 
actions that led directly to their displacement.  

The Jews in Arab/Moslem countries, according to JIMENA, were 
subjected to a wide-spread pattern of persecution, including 
official decrees and legislation denying human and civil rights to 
Jews and other minorities, expropriation of their property, 
nullification of their citizenship, and the stripping of other means 
of livelihood. Jews in Arab lands prior to and following the creation 
of the State of Israel were often victims of murder, arbitrary arrest 
and detention, torture, and expulsions.

Since 1947, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted 
close to 700 resolutions on the Middle East conflict, including 
101 resolutions on Palestinian refugees - yet there were "no UN 
resolutions, nor any recognition or assistance from the international 
community, for Jewish and other refugees from Arab countries," 
said Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL).

The passage of the resolution was the result of a bi-partisan 
House effort spearheaded by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), along 
with Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Michael Ferguson (R-NJ), 
and Joseph Crowley (D-NY). 

"Discussions of Middle Eastern refugees invariably focus exclusively, 
and shortsightedly, on the plight of those of Palestinian descent," 
said Rep. Ros-Lehtinen. "Far fewer people are aware of the 
injustice faced by Jewish refugees from Arab lands and Iran. 
Many Jews saw their communities, which had existed vibrantly 
for centuries, systematically dismantled. They lost their resources, 
their homes, and their heritage sites, fleeing in the face of 
persecution, pogroms, revolutions and brutal dictatorships."