Posted: Sat 21. Apr 2012 11:58 pm Post subject: Jødiske flyktninger fra arabiske land, glemte flyktninger?
Jødiske flyktninger fra arabiske land, glemte flyktninger?
Den første MFA konferansen om jødiske flyktninger fra arabiske land
Det er på tide at uretten som de arabiske landene har betått mot sine jødiske innbyggere, slik at de måtte flykte, blir anerkjent av dem som deres ansvar, og deres etterlatte eiendommer og enorme verdier blir kompensert for.
Det er også på tide at UNRWA løser det palestinske flyktninge problemet istedet for å preservere det.
DFM Ayalon: "At this juncture in time I call for putting an end to the historic injustice and call upon the Arab League to assume responsibility and admit it was they who caused the Jews from Arab countries to become refugees."
On Tuesday (April 3, 2012), the Foreign Ministry hosted a special conference headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and presented for the first time a special ministry report titled "The Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries." The conference was attended by representatives from the organizations of Jews from Arab countries and by correspondents from the Israeli and international media; and was broadcast live to all the Israeli missions abroad.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ayalon opened the conference by recognizing the historic wrong and the perversion of justice done to the Jewish refugees from the Arab countries starting in 1948. Ayalon then appealed directly to the Arab League, on this the tenth anniversary of the Saudi Initiative, and demanded they acknowledge their historic guilt and assume responsibility for expelling the Jews from Arab countries, thereby turning them into refugees, and simultaneously acknowledge their responsibility for creating the Palestinian refugees by going to war against Israel. Ayalon emphasized, "Particularly at this juncture in time I call upon the Arab League to assume responsibility and admit it was they who caused the Jews from Arab countries to become refugees."
Ayalon stated that the issue of compensation for the Jewish refugees from Arab nations will be an integral part of any future negotiations or settlement. Financial restitution will be based on the "Clinton fund" principles of 2000, according to which the Jewish refugees would be recompensed, as would the countries that took them in, such as Israel and Jordan.
Ayalon made it clear that Israel would insist on the Palestinian refugees being integrated into the Palestinian state when it is established, just as the Jewish refugees were absorbed into Israel.
"Today some 50% of Israel's residents are the same refugees from Arab countries and their progeny, who were fully integrated and who contributed to the establishment and development of the State of Israel. Just as the State of Israel absorbed the Jewish refugees, so the Arab refugees who left Mandatory Palestine should receive the same treatment, all the more in light of the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, the existence of which renders the continued existence of the Arab refugee camps unjustified."
Ayalon instructed all of Israel's missions abroad to persuade the world's parliamentarians to adopt a resolution recognizing the Jewish refugees from Arab states, just as the American Congress did by passing House Resolution 185 in 2008.
"I call upon all the world's enlightened nations to adopt moral, just resolutions like the United States' resolution 185 and thereby help bring an end to the conflict. Acknowledging and taking care of refugees is not just a matter of historic justice but also one that is valid based on UN Resolution 242."
The main points of the report and of the Deputy FM's guidelines for action gained overwhelming support from the organizations’ representatives, who also spoke at the conference. The representatives were grateful and excited that the State of Israel, led by the Foreign Ministry, is finally recognizing their refugee status and working to get the subject onto the Israeli and international agenda.
Zvi Gabay (former ambassador, and activist on the subject): "I congratulate the deputy foreign minister for his goodwill and his willingness to take action on this issue. For years I served in the Foreign Ministry under various ministers, and this is the first time that anyone has brought up the subject."
Meir Kahalon (chairman of the organizations of Jews from Arab countries and Iran): "The Jews from Arab nations are entitled to help and support, and I congratulate Danny Ayalon for taking the initiative after all these years that it didn’t happen."
Levana Zamir (on behalf of Egyptian Jewry): "I support your raising the subject at the United Nations and I urge you to call upon them not only to return the property but also to restore custody and ownership over the Jewish heritage sites and holy places. Your success is our success."
This report, which was specially prepared by the Deputy FM's political staff in cooperation with the National Security Council, is part of a whole array of operations being spearheaded by DFM Ayalon to raise international awareness of the issue. About six months ago, Ayalon submitted Israel's demands for recognizing the Jewish refugees from Arab states, based on Resolution 242, to the UN Council and also protested the UN refugee agency UNRWA's mandate, which perpetuates refugee status for the Palestinians rather than resolve it. At a press conference in Geneva, Ayalon launched the informative film clip, "The Truth about the Refugees," which garnered hundreds of thousands of views.
An international conference on the subject is slated to take place this coming summer, in collaboration with the Jewish organizations in Israel and worldwide, and all other parties involved in this subject.
De jødiske flyktninger fra arabiske land må også huskes, og deres eiendommer må bli kompensert for!
De palestinske flyktningene som har sine slektsrøtter i andre arabiske land, må få hjelp til å bli assimilert i sine respektive arabiske hjemland. Det er ikke særlig smart å plassere hundretusenvis av fiendtlig innstillte palestinere oppe i fjellene over den israelske sivil befolkningen på lavlandet rundt Middelhavskysten. Da vil disse fjellene bli en konstant overbefolket krigstrussel mot Israels sivile. En sånn palestinsk stat, vil bli en tragedie for alle og preservere krigen. De må nok heller taes opp i de statene der de bor nå, eller finne tilbake til sine slektsrøtter.
En palestiner behøver ikke ha noe særlig slektsrøtter i det jødiske antikke hjemland, pga reglene for å få palestinsk nasjonalitet gjelder så få års opphold. Alt for å bekjempe Israel liksom.
Between 1948 and 1951, about 850,000 Jews were expelled or forced out of Arab nations, and became refugees. Between the late 1940s and 1967 the vast majority of the Jews from Arab countries were uprooted from their lands of birth.
General
Up until the present day, an injustice was done to the Jewish refugees from Arab and Muslim countries. Their property rights and their historic justice were abandoned.
During various efforts and talks in pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, negotiators have overlooked an important element pertaining to the Arab-Israeli conflict - the uprooting of around 850,000 Jews living in Arab nations, the loss of their assets and property, and the difficulties they underwent upon migrating to Israel and their absorption.
Close to half of Israel's Jewish citizen's today, including their descendents, came from Arab countries. Thus during the attempt to resolve the conflict through a political process, which will resume at some point in the future, this issue should be expanded, raised to the forefront, and addressed from every angle.
Background
Thriving, prosperous Jewish communities existed in the Middle East and North Africa a thousand years before the rise of Islam and more than 2500 years before the birth of the modern Arab nations. These communities, which extended from Iraq in the east to Morocco in the west, enjoyed a lively fabric of life and were influential in the local economies. Until the 10th century C.E., 90% of the world's Jews lived in regions now known as Arab countries.
Between the late 1940s and 1967 the vast majority of the Jews from Arab countries were uprooted from their lands of birth, most of the Jewish communities in these countries had vanished, leaving behind a few thousand Jews scattered throughout a small number of cities.
Even before the Partition Plan of November 1947, increasing hostile measures were taken by the Arab nations, led by the Arab League, against their Jewish communities. Following the Partition Plan, Arab governments started confiscating Jewish property. Simultaneously riots and massacres broke out against the Jewish communities throughout the Arab world. Jewish-owned stores and synagogues were looted and burned, hundreds of Jews were killed and thousands were imprisoned.
As Israel was established as an independent state in May 1948, the Arab League Political Committee convened and drafted a series of recommendations for all Arab and Muslim countries on how to take action against the Jews in their countries. Among other recommendations, the citizenship of Jews was revoked, and they were henceforth considered citizens only of the newly established Jewish state. Their assets were confiscated, their bank accounts frozen, and property worth millions of dollars nationalized. Jews were barred from government ministries, their entry in to the civil service was severely restricted, and many lost their means of livelihood.
The anti-Jewish trend only increased over time, and an organized plan of oppression and persecution was implemented against Jews in Arab states. Between 1948 and 1951, about 850,000 Jews were expelled or, as explained above, forced out of Arab nations, and became refugees. In fact, a two-way migration of populations began, along with the creation of two different refugee groups. The Arab nations, led by the Arab League, were responsible for causing both groups of refugees, Jews and Palestinians.
The ratio between the two refugee groups was 2:3, with the Palestinian group numbering around 600,000 as opposed to the Jewish refugees, which numbered about 850,000 (up until 1968), and their descendents now account for about one half of the population of the State of Israel.
Another important aspect of this subject is that of lost property. A 2008 study estimated that the ratio of lost property stands at almost 1:2; the Palestinian refugees lost property totaling roughly 450 million dollars (in today's prices around $3.9 billion) whereas the Jewish refugees lost property totaling 700 million dollars (around $6 billion dollars).
The Arab nations, led by the Arab league, perpetuated the refugee problem (except for Jordan, which conferred citizenship on its Palestinian citizens), as opposed to Israel which integrated the Jewish refugees and saw to their rehabilitation. The Palestinian refugees' situation was also perpetuated by the international system through UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which has no mandate to find sustainable solutions for the Palestinian refugee problem.
According to the criteria set by the UN regarding the definition of a refugee, the Jewish refugees are considered full-fledged refugees, and when the Security Council passed Resolution 242 in November 1967, no differentiation was made between Palestinian and Jewish refugees. The Palestinian refugees had their refugee status perpetuated, while the Jewish refugees from Arab countries engaged in building new lives for themselves.
Prominent Milestones
The issue of Jewish refugees in the Middle East came up as far back as the 1970s, and was spearheaded at the time by former MK Mordechai Ben-Porat, among others. The first relevant organization to be established was WOJAC - the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries.
Later JJAC - Justice for Jews from Arab Countries - was founded, and near the time of the Annapolis Conference it exposed UN documents proving that the Arab League nations planned and employed an organized program of oppression and persecution against Jews in Arab countries following the establishment of the State of Israel. Accordingly, claims JJAC, hundreds of thousands of Jews should be recognized as refugees exactly as the Palestinians are.
During the Camp David peace talks of 2000, President Clinton announced that if an agreement would be reached, then an international fund should be established to compensate the refugees, both Arab refugees and Jewish refugees from Arab countries. Clinton's proposal was seconded some years later by the U.S. House of Representatives' decision in April 2008 which stated that Jewish refugees should be recognized as refugees by the UN Convention, and so an international fund should be set up to compensate Jewish and Palestinian refugees for the loss of their property. This House of Representatives decision, known as House Resolution 185, determined that one refugee population problem should not be resolved without also resolving the second refugee problem at the same time.
Nevertheless, the issue of Jewish refugees was pushed to the sidelines of the international debate.
In February 2010 the issue did gain recognition in Israel, with the legislation of the Law for Preservation of the Rights to Compensation of Jewish Refugees from Arab countries and Iran, passed by the Knesset.
The law upholds safeguarding the rights of Jewish refugees from Arab states. According to law, the State of Israel is obligated to make sure that any negotiations for peace in the Middle East include the subject of compensation for the Jewish refugees as well. At the same time, the National Council for Jewish Restitution, chaired by Rafi Eitan, was established under the auspices of the Ministry for Senior Citizens which was given the task of advising the government and the Prime Minister regarding the issue of restitution.
Foreign Ministry's actions
The Foreign Ministry, led by the Deputy Minister, has promoted this issue in the governmental, public diplomacy and media arenas. During the 60 year celebrations of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (December 2011) DFM Ayalon spoke in the United Nations plenum in front of the international community. DFM Ayalon raised the issue of Jewish Refugees from Arab countries, the need for historic Jewish justice and providing a solution for the lost assets of the Jewish refugees. During the event DFM Ayalon held an international media briefing where he showed a video which deals with issue of Jewish refugees, the historic injustice and the problem of perpetuating Palestinians as refugees.
Furthermore, DFM Ayalon wrote a number of articles on the subject that were published in the media such as The Guardian and the Jerusalem Post.
Summary and Recommendations
a. A true solution to the issue of refugees will only be possible when the Arab League will take historic responsibility for its role in creating the Jewish and Palestinian refugee problem, as documented.
b. There should be a joint solution between the Arab countries and the international community in order to provide compensation for both Palestinian and Jewish refugees. In order to achieve this goal an international fund will be created that will be based on President Clinton's suggestion from 2000 and the Congress resolution 185 from 2008 in which Israel will also take part, even only in a symbolic way.
This fund will also compensate the countries that had already been working on absorbing and rehabilitating refugees; amongst others Jordan and Israel (retroactively) and perhaps Lebanon if it is willing to rehabilitate the descendants of Palestinian refugees in its territory. Here we should emphasize that the basis for compensation will be the value of assets of the refugees at the time, which according to research was much greater on the Jewish side than on the Palestinian side.
The fund will also deal with the issue of Jewish property that is still in the hands of Arab and Muslim countries, however the so-called Right of Return will not be relevant as the Jews are not interested in returning to the places from which they were deported from.
The State of Israel will not accept the principle of a Palestinian "right of return" but will prefer to provide compensation by an authorized third party. This demand has historic precedents as in the case of Cyprus.
c. Our embassies and diplomatic delegations around the world are requested to act with Parliaments in their host countries in order to adopt a resolution in the spirit of House Resolution 185 from April 1, 2008 which determines that the definition of a refugee applies also to the Jewish refugees who were pushed out of Arab countries.
d. The issue of Jewish refugees should be raised in every peace negotiation framework whether it is opposite the Palestinians or Arab governments.
e. The Palestinian refugees will be rehabilitated in their place of residence just as the Jewish refugees were rehabilitated in theirs - Israel. There should be an immediate discontinuation of the perpetuation of the Palestinian refugee issue.
f. The rehabilitation process in their place of residence will minimize the demand for the "right of return" during peace talks and in any case the insistence of some Palestinian refugees to be given a right of return will be resolved by their immigration into the future Palestinian state that will be established through a peace agreement.
g. During the peace negotiations (with the Palestinians or Arab countries) the demand for financial compensation for both Palestinian and Jewish refugees should be raised.
h. The Foreign Ministry, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, will lead a Hasbara campaign on the issue of Jewish refugees in coordination with the PM's office which will consolidate the issue into any future negotiations.
i. As part of the negotiation framework, all of Israel's delegations around the world will be directed to distribute and to pass along these messages to any governmental body and public diplomacy forum in their host country.
j. Israel's delegations around the world will also be directed to approach Jews from Arab countries that reside in their host country in order to have them speak on this issue.
H. Res. 185
In the House of Representatives, U. S.,
April 1, 2008.
Whereas armed conflicts in the Middle East have created refugee populations numbering in the millions and comprised of peoples from many ethnic, religious, and national backgrounds;
Whereas Jews have lived mostly as a minority in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf region for more than 2,500 years;
Whereas the United States has long voiced its concern about the mistreatment of minorities and the violation of human rights in the Middle East and elsewhere;
Whereas the United States continues to play a pivotal role in seeking an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East and to promoting a peace that will benefit all the peoples of the region;
Whereas United States administrations historically have called for a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem;
Whereas the Palestinian refugee issue has received considerable attention from countries of the world while the issue of Jewish refugees from the Arab and Muslim worlds has received very little attention;
Whereas a comprehensive peace in the region will require the resolution of all outstanding issues through bilateral and multilateral negotiations involving all concerned parties;
Whereas approximately 850,000 Jews have been displaced from Arab countries since the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948;
Whereas the United States has demonstrated interest and concern about the mistreatment, violation of rights, forced expulsion, and expropriation of assets of minority populations in general, and in particular, former Jewish refugees displaced from Arab countries as evidenced, inter alia, by--
(1) the Memorandum of Understanding signed by President Jimmy Carter and Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan on October 4, 1977, which states that `[a] solution of the problem of Arab refugees and Jewish refugees will be discussed in accordance with rules which should be agreed';
(2) after negotiating the Camp David Accords, the Framework for Peace in the Middle East, the statement by President Jimmy Carter in a press conference on October 27, 1977, that `Palestinians have rights . . . obviously there are Jewish refugees . . . they have the same rights as others do'; and
(3) in an interview after Camp David II in July 2000, at which the issue of Jewish refugees displaced from Arab lands was discussed, the statement by President Clinton that `There will have to be some sort of international fund set up for the refugees. There is, I think, some interest, interestingly enough, on both sides, in also having a fund which compensates the Israelis who were made refugees by the war, which occurred after the birth of the State of Israel. Israel is full of people, Jewish people, who lived in predominantly Arab countries who came to Israel because they were made refugees in their own land.';
Whereas the international definition of a refugee clearly applies to Jews who fled the persecution of Arab regimes, where a refugee is a person who `owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country' (the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees);
Whereas on January 29, 1957, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), determined that Jews fleeing from Arab countries were refugees that fell within the mandate of the UNHCR;
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 of November 22, 1967, calls for a `just settlement of the refugee problem' without distinction between Palestinian and Jewish refugees, and this is evidenced by--
(1) the Soviet Union's United Nations delegation attempt to restrict the `just settlement' mentioned in Resolution 242 solely to Palestinian refugees (S/8236, discussed by the Security Council at its 1382nd meeting of November 22, 1967, notably at paragraph 117, in the words of Ambassador Kouznetsov of the Soviet Union), but this attempt failed, signifying the international community's intention of having the resolution address the rights of all Middle East refugees; and
(2) a statement by Justice Arthur Goldberg, the United States' Chief Delegate to the United Nations at that time, who was instrumental in drafting the unanimously adopted Resolution 242, where he has pointed out that `The resolution addresses the objective of `achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem'. This language presumably refers both to Arab and Jewish refugees, for about an equal number of each abandoned their homes as a result of the several wars.';
Whereas in his opening remarks before the January 28, 1992, organizational meeting for multilateral negotiations on the Middle East in Moscow, United States Secretary of State James Baker made no distinction between Palestinian refugees and Jewish refugees in articulating the mission of the Refugee Working Group, stating that `[t]he refugee group will consider practical ways of improving the lot of people throughout the region who have been displaced from their homes';
Whereas the Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, which refers in Phase III to an `agreed, just, fair, and realistic solution to the refugee issue,' uses language that is equally applicable to all persons displaced as a result of the conflict in the Middle East;
Whereas Israel's agreements with Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinians have affirmed that a comprehensive solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict will require a just solution to the plight of all `refugees';
Whereas the initiative to secure rights and redress for Jews who were forced to flee Arab countries does not conflict with the right of Palestinian refugees to claim redress;
Whereas all countries should be aware of the plight of Jews and other minority groups displaced from countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf;
Whereas an international campaign is proceeding in some 40 countries to record the history and legacy of Jewish refugees from Arab countries;
Whereas a just, comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace cannot be reached without addressing the uprooting of centuries-old Jewish communities in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf; and
Whereas it would be inappropriate and unjust for the United States to recognize rights for Palestinian refugees without recognizing equal rights for Jewish refugees from Arab countries: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That--
(1) for any comprehensive Middle East peace agreement to be credible and enduring, the agreement must address and resolve all outstanding issues relating to the legitimate rights of all refugees, including Jews, Christians, and other populations, displaced from countries in the Middle East; and
(2) the President should instruct the United States Representative to the United Nations and all United States representatives in bilateral and multilateral fora to--
(A) use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States 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; and
(B) make clear that the United States Government supports the position that, as an integral part of any comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, the issue of refugees from the Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf must be resolved in a manner that includes recognition of the legitimate rights of and losses incurred by all refugees displaced from Arab countries, including Jews, Christians, and other groups.
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Debattforumet Porten eies av organisasjonen Med Israel for fred.
Gjennom saklig og allsidig informasjon om Midtøsten-konflikten, det jødiske folk og Israels historie, ønsker MIFF å skape en større sympati for Israel og det jødiske folk.
MIFFs nettsted Porten til Midtøsten er Nordens største pro-israelske nettsted.
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