http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3553189,00.html
The forgotten refugees
Jewish refugees from Arab states
just as im****tant as Palestinian refugees
Uzi Arad
Published: 06.08.08, 22:04/Israel Opinion
As Israel and the Palestinians
negotiate the principles of a
final-status agreement,
while looking into mechanisms
that would resolve the Palestinian
refugee problem,
it is im****tant to call their
attention to the refugees who
have been ignored -
the Jews who left Arab countries
just before and just after 1948.
While the Palestinian refugee problem
has been granted preferential treatment
compared to any other refugees,
it appears that the question of
Jewish refugees has been forgotten.
The issue has been dealt with mainly
by NGOs such as the Justice for Jews
of Arab Countries (JJAC) and Jewish
leaders such as Irwin Cotler.
According to JJAC figures,
about 850,000 Jews left Arab
countries in 1948 -
slightly more than the estimated
number of Palestinians who left
the Land of Israel.
It is noteworthy that Jewish communities
existed in Arab countries for hundreds
of years,
including some that preceded
the Muslim occupation,
following which the Jews along with
the Christians were considered
"second class citizens."
In the 20th Century,
the civil rights of Jewish
communities were curbed.
The Jews were subjected to
confiscation of property,
discrimination, pogroms,
abuse on the part of authorities,
and at times even executions.
As a result,
more than a million Jews left Arab
countries since Israel's establishment.
According to estimates,
only about 5,000 Jews remain
in Arab countries today.
The Palestinian refugee problem
has enjoyed great international
attention:
Out of 681 UN resolutions
pertaining to the Middle Eastern
conflict,
about 101 pertain to Palestinian refugees,
and immense international funds were
invested in sup****ting them.
At the same time,
even though the question of Jews
who left Arab countries was granted
legal and political status
(on two op****tunities,
the UN High Commission for
Refugees confirmed that Jews
who left Arab states following
1948 are refugees who deserve
UN assistance)
the issue was not promoted in practice.
Principle of reciprocity
Jewish refugees received indirect
formal expression in agreements
and treaties where the issue of
refugees is expressed using
language that implies parallelism,
without explicitly noting whether
a refugee is Palestinian or Jewish.
This is how the issue was worded
in Resolution 242, in the peace
treaties with Egypt and Jordan,
in the Oslo Accords, and in the
understandings of the Madrid Conference.
Until today,
Israeli government elements
have not given operative weight
to the issue.
Indeed,
in the framework of the
Netanyahu government's
preparations for
final-status talks,
the principles of parallelism
and reciprocity were drafted
in a manner that would condition
progress on the Palestinian refugee
issue on parallel progress with
respect to Jewish refugees.
President Clinton accepted this outline
and it appeared that the Barak government
was willing to adopt it, yet according to
testaments by JJAC members and others,
the last two governments neglected the
issue and refrained from placing it
on the operative agenda.
Now, in order to close the gap,
it is essential to act on two fronts:
Firstly, on the legal-principled level -
entrench the issue as a permanent
element in any framework and agreement,
in a similar manner to the way this is
done with Palestinian refugees.
Secondly, on the practical level -
apply the principal of reciprocity,
according to which there will be no
progress on the issue of Palestinian
refugees without progress on the
issue of Jewish refugees.
Only such condition would grant the
issue the leverage needed to place
it on the agenda and to stimulate it.
This explains the significance of
legislation adopted in April by
the US Congress -
which obligates the Administration -
according to which any explicit reference
to Palestinian refugees must be accompanied
by a similar explicit reference to the Jewish refugees.
It would be appropriate for the
Israeli Knesset not to trail
behind the US Congress and pose
a similar demand.
However,
the issue obliges the Israeli
government even more so, and
it must not leave it up to
organizations and Jewish
leaders in the Dias****a.
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