U.S. Congress to consider resolution on Jewish refugees

By Paul Lungen

Staff Reporter - Canadian Jewish News - June 1, 2006

The U.S. Congress will consider a resolution that calls on the president to instruct government officials to match any reference to Palestinian refugees in international fora with a reference to Jewish and Christian refugees from Arab lands.

The resolution also urges the president to “make clear that the government of the United States supports the position that, as an integral part of any comprehensive peace, the issue of refugees and mass violations of human rights of minorities in Arab and Muslim countries… must be resolved in a manner that includes recognition of the legitimate rights of all refugees displaced from Arab countries.”

The bipartisan resolution has been introduced in the Senate and is expected to come before the House of Representatives this week. It is being advanced by prominent U.S. lawmakers and stands a good chance of passing before the November congressional elections, said Stanley Urman, executive director of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC), a coalition of American Jewish organizations.

The resolution, which JJAC is supporting, is “the strongest declaration on Jewish refugees” by the United States, he said. “It sets the standard for how to deal with the issue of Middle East refugees, based on principles of law and equity.”

While it is only a “sense of the Congress” statement and cannot compel the executive branch to comply, it has tremendous educational and symbolic value, Urman said.

Both houses of Congress will hold hearings to discuss the resolution, providing the venue for advocates on behalf of Jewish refugees to present the human rights case for Jews who were expelled from Arab countries beginning in the 1940s.

An estimated 850,000 to 900,000 Jews were forced to leave their homes in Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Iran, Iraq and Yemen.

According to the American Sephardi Association, a partner of JJAC, discrimination against Jews increased after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and Jews “endured humiliation, discrimination, human rights abuses, organized persecution and expulsion.”

In addition, Jewish property was seized without compensation and hundreds were murdered in riots and pogroms. Approximately 600,000 Jews from Arab lands settled in Israel.

Urman said discussion of the Mideast refugee issue has focused exclusively on Palestinians, ignoring the Jewish dimension to the problem. JJAC has been trying to put the Jewish refugee issue on the agenda of the “Quartet” of parties that sponsored the “Road Map” Mideast peace plan – the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.

Representations have already been made to the EU and Russia, and Urman is hoping for a followup meeting this summer with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss the issue.

The congressional resolution is being spearheaded by Senator Rick Santorum, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate, Senator Norm Coleman, Senator Dick Durbin and Senator Frank Lautenberg. Supporters in the House include Tom Lantos and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, co-chairs of Congress’ Mideast subcommittee of the international affairs committee, and congressmen Jerrold Nadler and Michael Ferguson.

Santorum introduced a similar resolution in mid-2004, but it, along with all non-budgetary resolutions, died on the order paper as the presidential election campaign swung into high gear.

“For any Middle East peace to be durable and enduring, it must address all outstanding issue, including the legitimate rights of all victims of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This resolution puts this critical issue on the international agenda,” Durbin said.

“Compensation for refugees displaced by wars in the Middle East and their aftermath has long been a cornerstone of Middle East peace making,” said Lantos. “This principle must apply to all refugees, Jewish as well as Palestinian.”

JJAC operates under the auspices of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the American Sephardi Federation and the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries. JJAC is in partnership with the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress, Anti-Defamation League, B’nai Brith International, the Jewish Public Council for Public Affairs and the World Sephardic Congress.