Jewish Refugees and Palestinian Refugees – both are Victims!

Some of my friends approached me stating that I should write about Jewish refugees as I always seem to be laying emphasis on the plight of the Palestinian refugees in my writings. I have decided to follow their advice and attempt to give a sense of balance to both sides within my severe limitations. It is very difficult to maintain 100 per cent objectivity as this subject is very emotional and is bound to upset many people.

When the State of Israel was declared on 15^th May 1948, Jewish Communities in Arab lands were persecuted even though they were not instrumental in Israel’s declaration of independence. Jewish communities had lived in the Arab countries even before the advent of Islam in the 7^th Century A.D. Until the 10^th Century A.D, 90 per cent of world Jewry lived in Arab countries. There has been an uninterrupted presence of large Jewish communities in the Middle East from time immemorial. The ancient Jewish communities of the Middle East and North Africa (including in the Land of Israel) has existed for over 2,500 years before the birth of the modern Arab states.

When the United Nations resolution on the partition of Israel and Palestine in November 1947 was passed with an overwhelming majority Arab riots broke out against many Jewish communities in the Arab world. Jewish shops, homes and synagogues were burned and looted; hundreds of Jews were murdered, thousands were imprisoned, their movement was restricted, emigration to Israel banned and many Jews were deprived of their citizenship. Jews who at one time were influential in commerce suddenly lost their holdings; bank accounts belonging to Jews were frozen, and property valued at millions of dollars was confiscated. As in previous centuries, Jews were further removed from government agencies and their admission to public office was severely restricted. They lost their means of survival and became hostages in their own countries of birth and origin. Consequently, they could no longer remain there. Where once Jewish communities flourished and thrived, their traces have been erased as Jews in large numbers were compelled to uproot and displace themselves and to leave all their property behind. This resulted in a large Jewish refugee problem.

In 1948 there were over 850 000 Jews living in the Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa. When the State of Israel was declared as an independent Jewish state in 1948, there was an intensification of anti-Jewish measures against the ancient Jewish communities in many Arab countries.

Country		Date of Jewish Community
	Algeria	1st-2nd century CE
	Egypt
	Iraq	6th century BCE
	Lebanon	1st century BCE
	Libya	3rd century BCE
	Morocco	1st century CE
	Syria	1st century CE
	Tunisia	200 CE
	Yemen	3rd century BCE

From Justice for Jews Website.

As one can see from these tables, there are hardly any Jews left in the Arab countries today.

In order to understand the origins of the Palestinian – Israeli conflict, it is important to see both sides of the conflict and acknowledge that both peoples were victims of injustices.

Much research has been done on the plight of Palestinian refugees but very little has been researched on the Jewish refugee problem. The former has come to world attention because of research done by the “new historians” such as Dr. Ilan Pappe, lecturer at Exeter University, England (formerly of Haifa University), Benny Morris of University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel, Professor Avi Shlain and Tom Segev, a writer for Haaretz newspaper. This is a positive development as certain truths about the Palestinian Refugee problem and a greater understanding of it has been the result. At the same time, acceptance of the Jewish refugee problem is also very important as what happened to the one side is a result of what happened to the other side.

A more objective and balanced approach to the tragedies of both Jews from Arab countries and Palestinians could have a moderating effect on both populations. Jews from Arab countries would have their history and heritage restored and would become more open to a peaceful arrangement. In turn, the Palestinians would realize that they are not the only ones who have suffered, making them more prone to reconciliation. This conciliatory effect could provide a key to a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians whether it be a two-state solution or a binational state solution depending on the will of both peoples in a plebiscite. I have dealt at length on this subject in previous articles and do not intend to discuss this here.

The Arab states that had sizeable Jewish communities must be held responsible for the creation of a Jewish refugee problem as well as increasing the flow of Jewish refugees into Israel. This Jewish refugee problem would not have occurred had the Arab states not created a situation whereby the Jewish citizens of their respective countries were forced to leave. The Arab leadership should never have adopted discriminatory measures against their Jewish communities and made them into “personae non gratae”. The Arab states in 1948 were responsible for the increase of the population of Israel by default. They were also against partition into a Jewish state and a Palestinian state. Perhaps a parallel to the destruction of the two-state solution was also caused by the illegal settlers many years later in the occupied territories captured in the 1967 June War. Somehow the tactics on the Israeli, Palestinian and Arab sides have been disastrous and ill timed. Many Jewish refugees were absorbed into Israel and the Jewish refugee problem was solved. Also many Jewish refugees were also absorbed in other countries such as the US, Canada, England and France where many of them built flourishing Jewish communities and became citizens of their adopted countries.

The Palestinian refugee problem was never addressed and these unfortunate Palestinian refugees remained in refugee camps for at least three generations in the most appalling sub-human conditions. There was no motivation on the part of the neighbouring Arab states to absorb the Palestinian Arab refugees into their countries. They felt that by not solving the tragic Palestinian refugee problem, they could continue to delegitimize Israel’s right to exist and blame Israel for Palestinian suffering.

The tragic history of Palestinian suffering is never forgotten because this history is spread by word of mouth from generation to generation by elders in the Palestinian community, many of whom still have the keys and title deeds to their original homes before they were evicted.

The only way that this conflict can be solved is by engaging in grass roots reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis. A gross injustice has been inflicted on both sides. Both sides must acknowledge these injustices towards each other. Both sides are victims of these injustices which have resulted in the stronger side oppressing the weaker side and causing the occupation.

Jewish Populations of Arab Countries: 1948 and 2001/2008
Country or territory	1948 Jewish population	Jewish % of total population, 1948	Estimated Jewish population 2001[9]	Estimated Jewish population 2008
Aden	8,000[10]		~0
Algeria	140,000[10][11]	1.6%	~0
Bahrain	550-600[12]	0.5%	36	around 30 people. See [13].
Egypt	75,000[10]-80,000[11]	0.4%	~100	Less than a hundred remain. See[14]
Iraq	135,000[10]-140,000[11]	2.6%	~200	20 in Baghdad and fewer than 100 remain. See [15].
Lebanon	5,000[10]-20,000[16]	0.4-1.5%	<>	around 40 in Beirut. See [17]
Libya	35,000[11]-38,000[10]	3.6%	0
Morocco	250,000[11]-265,000[10]	2.8%	5,230	less than 7,000. See [18]
Qatar	?	?	?	a few Jews are reported. See [19]
Syria	15,000[11]-30,000[10]	0.4-0.9%	~100	fewer than 30 remain. See [20]
Tunisia	50,000[11]-105,000[10]	1.4-3.0%	~1,000	in 2004 estimated 1,500 remain. See [21]
Yemen	45,000[11]-55,000[10]	1.0%	~200	a few hundred remain. See [22]
Total	758,000 - 881,000		<6,500	<8,600+

Jewish Populations of non-Arab Muslim Countries: 1948 and 2001
Country or territory	1948 Jewish population	Estimated Jewish population 2001	Estimated Jewish population 2008
Afghanistan	5,000	1[23]
Iran	70,000-120,000,[24] 100,000, 140,000–150,000	11,000-40,000	less than 40,000 remain. See [25].
Pakistan	2,000	N/A
Turkey	80,000[26]	18,000-30,000[27]

From Wikipedia