News from the World Jewish Congress

For Immediate Release

WJC Commends Congressional Recognition of Dual Middle East Refugee Problem

Statement by Dr. Avi Beker on Congressional Resolution

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 30, 2003 -- Dr. Avi Beker, Secretary General of
the World Jewish Congress, commended Members of the House of Representatives
for their leadership to "set the historic record straight" regarding the
issue of Middle East refugees, and for the introduction of H. Con. Res. 311.
"We are proud to have played a role in helping to focus attention on this
issue which touches on the very heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict," he
said. Dr. Beker's full statement and the text of the resolution follow:

The World Jewish Congress commends the U.S. Congress and particularly
Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Frank Pallone and Jerrold Nadler for
their leadership in helping set the historic record straight regarding the
Middle East refugee problem. The resolution being put forth today touches
on the very heart of the Arab Israeli conflict and will help to reverse many
years of ignorance and misinformation and rejects the constant attempts to
rewrite history.

In the last several years, the World Jewish Congress has campaigned on both
aspects of the refugee problem, emphasizing three major points:

1. The Forgotten Exodus of 900,000 Jews from Arab countries. Centuries of
Jewish life in Arab countries came to an abrupt end when the Jews were
forced to flee ­ in some cases brutally expelled ­ amid coordinated violence
and antisemitic incitement that amounted to ethnic cleansing. The majority
of Jews found refuge in the new Jewish state.

2. A population exchange took place in the Middle East in the period in
which the State of Israel was created. Israel absorbed 650,000 Jews from
Arab countries, while approximately 600,000 Arabs left the Jewish state,
following the model of other modern population exchanges.

3. The cynical perpetuation of the Arab refugee crisis. Unlike the Jewish
refugees who were absorbed and resettled by Israel and third countries, the
Arabs, with the help of the international community, created the immense
machinery of UNRWA to perpetuate the Arab refugee condition. Over the past
decades the cynical and cruel exploitation of the Arab refugees for
political ends has been used to increase the violence through terror.

The WJC international campaign included 15 conferences and meetings focusing
on the historic, political and legal aspects of this issue. It was at these
conferences where we heard first hand accounts ­ personal testimonies ­ of
the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Arab lands. These testimonies are being
recorded and documented.

What is so significant about this resolution is that for the first time it
includes both a recognition of the rights of Jewish refugees as well as a
condemnation of the gross abuse of UNRWA, which is ostensibly devoted to
social welfare work. This linkage is central to the understanding as well
as to a resolution of the Arab Israeli conflict.

I want to thank Representatives Ileana Ros Lehtinen, who invited me to
address the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia at an open
hearing on this issue; and to Frank Pallone who has been at the forefront of
the campaign for recognizing the rights of Jewish refugees from Arab lands,
and Jerrold Nadler for his leadership as well as the other members of
Congress taking the steps necessary to assure that this balance is returned
to the Mideast narrative.

* * *
More information can be found in WJC policy forum 26: UNRWA, Terror and the
Refugee Conundrum: Perpetuating the Misery and WJC policy study 26: The
Jews of Iraq: A Forgotten Case of Ethnic Cleansing, available at
www.wjc.org.il.If you have any questions, you can contact Doug Bloomfield
WJC/DC: wjc@his.com or Estee Yaari WJC/Israel: (972) 2-563-5261 at
eyaari@wjc.co.il

H.CON.RES.311
108th CONGRESS
1st Session

Expressing the sense of Congress that the international community should
recognize the plight of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and that the
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near
East should establish a program for resettling Palestinian refugees.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 28, 2003

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. PALLONE, and Mr. NADLER) submitted the
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress that the international community should
recognize the plight of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and that the
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near
East should establish a program for resettling Palestinian refugees.

Whereas disagreement about the status and future of refugees in the Middle
East remains one of the major political and diplomatic obstacles to a
lasting peace settlement to the Middle East conflict;

Whereas although 2 separate and distinct refugee populations exist in the
Middle East, Arabs and Jews, the plight of Jewish refugees from Arab lands
has received little attention or international recognition;

Whereas Jews have lived in areas that are now Arab countries for more than
2,500 years;

Whereas during the time period surrounding the creation of the State of
Israel, nearly 900,000 of these Jews fled Arab countries because they faced
a campaign of ethnic cleansing and were forced to leave behind land, private
homes, personal affects, businesses, community assets, and thousands of
years of their Jewish heritage and history;

Whereas Israel absorbed approximately 650,000 Jewish refugees from Arab
countries during its first 10 years of statehood, granting them full Israeli
citizenship and integrating them into Israeli society and culture, yet this
integration does not diminish the plight of the refugees who left behind
their heritage and their respective homelands;

Whereas although the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) is
the international body charged with protecting refugees and solving refugee
problems throughout the world, a special agency, the United Nations Relief
and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), was
established in 1950 for the exclusive benefit of the Palestinian refugees;

Whereas UNRWA makes no effort to permanently resettle Palestinian refugees,
even those residing under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority,
which has perpetuated the Palestinian refugee problem and the suffering of
the Palestinian refugees;

Whereas there is evidence that UNRWA facilities have been used for terrorist
recruitment and training, as well as bases for terrorist operations, with
little attempt by UNRWA to prevent attacks or alert relevant law enforcement
authorities about terrorist activities;

Whereas Congress has repeatedly raised concerns about connections between
UNRWA facilities and violence and terrorist activities;

Whereas on July 16, 2003 the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1950, the
Millennium Challenge Account, Peace Corps Expansion, and Foreign Relations
Authorization Act of 2003, containing section 731(9), which `strongly urges
UNRWA to meet the requirements, in letter and spirit, of section 301(c) of
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, including by comprehensively ensuring
that no UNRWA assistance is rendered to anyone who has been involved with
terrorism at any time and that all UNRWA beneficiaries be informed at the
earliest possible time, and at regular intervals thereafter, that anyone
involved with terrorism thereafter will be ineligible for UNRWA benefits';
and

Whereas that Act also contains section 731(11), which `notes the General
Accounting Office (GAO) audit required by section 580 of the FY 2003 Foreign
Operations Appropriations Act (Public Law 108-7), and strongly encourages
the GAO to conduct, as part of this audit, an investigation and inspection
of all recent United States assistance to UNRWA to ensure that taxpayer
funds are being spent effectively and are not directly or indirectly
supporting terrorism, anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish teachings, or the
glorification or incitement of violence': Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is
the sense of Congress that<

(1) the international community should formally recognize the plight of
Jewish refugees from Arab countries and the circumstances surrounding their
departure as a part of any settlement of the Middle East conflict or as part
of any agreement regarding the issue of refugees;

(2) the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the
Near East (UNRWA) should establish a program for resettling all of the
Palestinian refugees under the authority of UNRWA in the host countries or
territories in which they are living, other Arab countries, or third party
countries willing to assist, and a timetable for implementing the program
within 6 months of the date of the adoption of this resolution;

(3) UNRWA should immediately replace textbooks and educational materials
used in the UNRWA education system that promote anti-Semitism, deny the
existence and the right to exist of the state of Israel, and exacerbate
stereotypes and tensions between Palestinians and Israelis, and take steps
to ensure that UNRWA facilities are not being used to store weapons or to
promote violence or terrorism; and

(4) Arab countries should contribute to a lasting solution to the refugee
problem by accepting a meaningful number of refugees and taking a larger
role in financing UNRWA and the cost of resettlement.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The World Jewish Congress is an international federation of Jewish
communities and organizations representing 80 nations on six continents, and
it serves as the multinational representative of world Jewry. Founded in
1935 to fight the poison of hatred and intolerance of Naziism, the WJC has
been combatting the persecution of Jews around the world for more than six
decades, and today it is leading the fight for material and moral
restitution to the Jewish people of the greatest theft and most heinous
crime in recorded history.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

W O R L D J E W I S H C O N G R E S S
Douglas M. Bloomfield, Washington Representative
301/460-3285 * F: 301/460-4187 * wjc@his.com
http://www.wjc.org.il/