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House passes resolution on Jewish refugees
By Seth Mandel
April 11, 2008

While Palestinian negotiators have long insisted that Arab refugees from Israel's War of Independence be repatriated in Israel, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure to include Jewish refugees in the conversation.

On April 1, the House passed a resolution recognizing that 850,000 Jews were expelled from Arab countries in the Middle East after Israel's independence, and that any reference to a "just settlement" of refugee issues should be applied to both Jewish and Arab refugees.

"We also put forth this measure not just to show our support for its inclusion in the bilateral conversations between Israelis and Palestinians, but also to shed some light on this long ignored historical fact that most people are simply unaware of," Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.), a co-sponsor of the resolution, told The Jewish State. "At the very least an equal number of Jews were expelled or left their Arab homes in 1948 as compared with roughly the same number of Palestinians who left or were removed from their homes in the same year."

The resolution notes that the United States has committed itself to brokering a fair solution to the refugee issue, as have the United Nations, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinians, and other members of the international community. That commitment, the resolution states, must include Jewish refugees as well, since the agreements and resolutions consented to by Israel, the Arab nations, and the United Nations don't specify Jewish or Arab refugees.

The resolution also states that former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton have each gone on record with their determination that Jewish refugees be accorded the same rights as any other refugees.

Sponsored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the bill urges U.S. mediators "to ensure that any resolutions relating to the issue of Middle East refugees, and which include a reference to the required resolution of the Palestinian refugee issue, must also include a similarly explicit reference to the resolution of the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries."

According to Middle East historian Mitchell G. Bard, of the more than 800,000 Jewish refugees expelled from Arab lands between 1948 and 1972, 586,000 were resettled in Israel at Israel's expense, without any offer of compensation from the Arab leaders.

In a legal opinion based on examination of the Jewish refugee issue according to international law, co-authors Irwin Cotler, David Matas, and Stanley A. Urman break down the Jewish refugee distribution as follows:

•        Aden: Had 8,000 Jews in 1948, today has zero

•        Algeria: Had 140,000 Jews in 1948, today has zero

•        Egypt: Had 75,000 Jews in 1948, had 100 in 2005

•        Iraq: Had 135,000 Jews in 1948, had 60 in 2005

•        Lebanon: Had 5,000 Jews in 1948, had 50 in 2005

•        Libya: Had 38,000 Jews in 1948, today has zero

•        Morocco: Had 265,000 Jews in 1948, had 3,500 in 2005

•        Syria: Had 30,000 Jews in 1948, had 100 in 2005

•        Tunisia: Had 105,000 Jews in 1948, had 1,100 in 2005

•        Yemen: Had 55,000 Jews in 1948, had 200 in 2005

The total comes to 856,000 Jews in those Arab nations in 1948, down to 5,110 in 2005.

According to JTA, the Arab American Institute said last week in an action alert to its members that the resolution "only serves to distract attention from current and urgent refugee situations in the Middle East." The institute did not, however, recommend opposing the resolution. The action alert suggested that the resolution should be accompanied by lawmakers addressing other refugee issues, including those in Iraq, among the Palestinians, and in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Rothman didn't identify what the end result of the congressional action may be, but said the peace process should not go on without public recognition of the plight of Jewish refugees.

"We're beginning from a starting point of international awareness of this long ignored or unknown fact, and we believe strongly that it will only be of positive benefit to the people of Israel and to the peace process," Rothman said.