After more than 60 years Israel's government is finally pushing for a law which would recognize the refugee status of Middle Eastern, or Mizrahi, Jews who were forced to flee from their native lands due to persecution under newly formed Arab countries and governments. An Israeli bill, which stipulates recognition for the dispossession of Middle Eastern Jews, passed its first hearing two weeks ago. The bill will be subjected to two more hearings before it can officially become a law.
Recognition for Middle Eastern Jews isn't simply about money. Much more than money or businesses were lost by Mizrahi Jewry. This is about justice for these Jewish minorities who suffered both under Islamic sharia rule and Arab Nationalist governments, and who lost loved ones and their identities when they were driven out of their homes. It is also about addressing a distorted narrative of the Israel-Arab conflict which omits mention of the Middle Eastern Jews.
Here is an excerpt from the Jerusalem Post (2/18/10):
I am very sorry that two of my grandparents from the Middle East, who escaped religious persecution and were refugees to a tiny and poor Israel, aren't alive today. I am certain they would have welcomed the knowledge that their plight is finally being recognized.
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Recognition for Middle Eastern Jews isn't simply about money. Much more than money or businesses were lost by Mizrahi Jewry. This is about justice for these Jewish minorities who suffered both under Islamic sharia rule and Arab Nationalist governments, and who lost loved ones and their identities when they were driven out of their homes. It is also about addressing a distorted narrative of the Israel-Arab conflict which omits mention of the Middle Eastern Jews.
Here is an excerpt from the Jerusalem Post (2/18/10):
Lawmakers put together a bill demanding compensation on behalf of current Jewish Israeli citizens, who were expelled from Arab countries after Israel was established in 1948, leaving behind a significant amount of valuable property.Read it all here.
Originally submitted almost a year ago to the Knesset, the bill passed its first hearing two weeks ago. Now various interest groups are pushing the bill with the Knesset’s 120 members before it is subjected to a second and third hearing next week.
The bill was sponsored by MK Nissim Ze’ev (Shas) and follows a resolution passed in the US House of Representatives in 2008, calling for refugee recognition to be extended to Jews and Christians similar to that extended to Palestinians in the course of Middle East peace talks.
“I think the term ‘compensation’ is too limited a term,” former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler told The Media Line.
Cotler, a vocal advocate of the campaign, was one of several international representatives at the Knesset conference discussing the bill, organized by MK Nissim Ze’ev on Monday.
“We’re not just speaking about financial compensation or indemnification,” Cotler said. “We’re talking about justice for Jews from Arab countries. This speaks to the question of, among other things, rectifying the justice and peace narrative of the last 62 years where the question of Jews from Arab countries has not been part of the narrative.”
“There have been more than 160 UN resolutions on the matter of refugees,” he continued. “All 160 dealt with Palestinian refugees only. I’m not saying they shouldn’t address Palestinian refugees, but I’m saying there’s no justice and no truth if it does not also address the plight of Jews seeking justice from Arab countries.” [....]
I am very sorry that two of my grandparents from the Middle East, who escaped religious persecution and were refugees to a tiny and poor Israel, aren't alive today. I am certain they would have welcomed the knowledge that their plight is finally being recognized.
