Below we linked to news that anti-Semitic hate-crimes in the USA are seven times more prevalent than anti-Muslim hate-crimes - despite the fact that there are many times more Muslims in the USA than Jews. And despite the whining complaints of rampant islamophobia from CAIR.
Now comes more counter-intuitive news - from HAARETZ:
World Jewish groups began a global campaign yesterday calling for recognition of Jews from Arab countries as refugees in the Middle East conflict. "The world sees the plight of Palestinian refugees, and not withstanding their plight, there must be recognition that Jews from Arab countries are also victims of the Arab-Israeli conflict," said Stanley Urman, executive director of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC). JJAC, a U.S.-based coalition of Jewish organizations, is one of the groups coordinating the campaign, which aims to record testimonies of Jews who fled in the face of persecution, list asset losses and lobby foreign governments on their behalf.SO.... how many Arab refugees fled Israel in 1948? Was it more or less than the number of Jews who fled Arabia? LESS: only 720,000. Yet, until now, no one cared about the Jewish regugees from Arabia. Until now. Any deal on Arab refugees from Israel MUST includes a deal for the Jewish refugees from Arabia.
Jewish groups have estimated that since 1948 at least 900,000 Jews have been forced to leave their homes in Arab countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
[BTW: for you doubters out there, according to Koran, Medina was largely a Jewish town until Mohamet wiped out the Jews there. And Baghdad alone had as many as 150,000 Jews in 1948. For those interested in reading the human drama of this exodus I recommend the memoir OUT OF EGYPT.]
You paint a simple picture of a more complex reality.
ReplyDeleteForced to leave? Fled? No doubt this was partly true but there was also the Zionist belief that all Jews should return to Israel. Many thousands were actively encouraged and helped to move. Don't forget how important it was to the Zionist movement to populate the Jewish State with, well, with Jews. There was an incentive to leave "foreign" lands and return to the "homeland".
In contrast, except to racists who lump all Arabs into one group, the Palestinians wished to remain where they were and not join some other Arab nations (I mean, what sense does that make?).
And since you are advocating a deal for Jewish refugees, here is a suggestion. Allow a right of return for all - Jews and Palestinians alike.
There are serious problems in the region but Israel's facing up to its actions over the last 40 years (the occupation) seems necessary if Israel hopes to have some semblance of peace. The partition of Palestine was a disastrous error. Would things have turned out better had Palestine been a bi-national state? I think yes. It would also have been a model for the world of how to truly live in peace. Instead we have the scourge of scourges - ethnic nationalism.