The second annual gathering of Jewish refugees from Arab countries was held recently at the UN. The event was organized by the Israeli delegation to the UN, headed by Ambassador Ron Prosor, the World Jewish Congress and the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries (WOJAC). The event featured esteemed panelists, testimonials of Jewish refugees from Arab countries, and the screening of a short film entitled “The Forgotten Refugees.”
Jews lived in the lands of the Arab world for 2,500 years, but in the 20th century, with the rise of Arab nationalism and the conflict in Palestine, the new Arab regimes began a campaign of massive violations of the rights of their Jewish citizens. Arab states expropriated property, denaturalized, expelled, arrested, tortured and murdered many of them. The persecutions started even before the establishment of Israel and continued with the outbreak of the 1967 war.
After World War II and the establishment of the State of Israel, the World Jewish Congress was perhaps the foremost organization assisting Jews in Arab and other Muslim countries. In the 1950s, the WJC negotiated the safe passage of Jewish refugees with a number of Arab governments, especially in North Africa.
The WJC is committed to seeing that assets that were illegally seized are returned to their former owners, or adequate compensation is paid. They want the Jews remaining in Arab lands, as well as other religious minorities, to be granted religious freedom and allowed to practice their faith according to their traditions.
“The world needs to hear the stories of these Jews,” said Robert Singer, Executive Vice President and CEO of the WJC. “Without recognition of their rights and history, we really can’t understand the Middle East conflict.”
Israeli Ambassador Proser said, “It has been 65 years and the Arab countries have never been held accountable for the crimes that they committed. In six and a half decades, they have never taken responsibility for creating the Jewish refugees.”
Linda Menuhin, who took part in a panel of testimonies by Jewish refugees, left her homeland in 1951 like most Iraqi Jews. She said, “We are mostly demanding recognition of the fact that there is such a thing as Jewish refugees and they have rights that were taken from them.”
And indeed, WOJAC’s central demand is recognition of the fact that in the course of the wars between Jews and Arabs, two populations fled their homes—Arabs from the land of Israel/Mandatory Palestine and Jews from the Arab lands. Therefore, this mutual flight should be regarded as a de facto population exchange.
The second demand of WOJAC, is compensation for the property that was abandoned or confiscated when they fled.
Tawfiq Kasav, head of the Jewish community in Aleppo, Syria, until 1989, told participants about the ordeals of the city’s Jewish community, the persecution it experienced until being wiped out and its property left behind, including works of art and Judaica.
“There’s a political concept that says that even within the framework of a peace process, one must discuss these issues,” said Tal Dror, “Many prominent Jews who were forced to leave left lots of property. That’s why it’s right to bring up this issue now.”
