Day to remember Jewish refugees endorsed

A proposal for an official date in the Israeli national calendar to commemorate the Jewish refugees from Arab countries was today endorsed by the Israeli Committee on Legislation.

The law, authored by Yisrael Beytenu MK Dr. Shimon Ohayon, will state that February 17 is to become a day of national commemoration for the over 850,000 Jews who were forced out or who fled their homes in Arab countries during the middle of the last century. That date in 1948 saw the Arab League approve a law for its member states placing severe sanctions against their Jewish populations.

The World Jewish Congress will now push for the day to also be marked in Jewish communities around the world as well.

Ohayon sent an official letter today to Secretary General of the Arab League Dr. Nabil El Araby calling on his organisation to “accept historic accountability for the humiliation, the suffering, and the losses incurred by innocent Jewish victims of the Arab world’s declared war against the State of Israel.”

“As a matter of law and equity, the Arab League must assume full responsibility for ensuring rights and redress for Jewish refugees, the direct result of their collusionary actions,” MK Ohayon wrote in a letter also sent to the Arab League’s Human Rights Department.

“There are historic processes taking place in the Arab world currently with more and more people pushing for their rights, this is an opportune time for the Arab League and its member states to admit to the historic injustice meted out to their Jewish populations. This is an important element of any future peace and reconciliation between Jews and Arab in the Middle East.”

The law and the letter are part of a concerted campaign to have the rights of the Jews who were forced out of Arab countries in the twentieth century recognised in Israel, the Arab world and the international community.

The day of commemoration for the Jewish refugees was accepted and endorsed by the representative organisations of Jews from Arab countries in Israel and international organisations like Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC) and the World Jewish Congress.