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Highlighting articles about the Jews from Arab Lands

Levana Zamir Interview
Levana Zamir shares her Egyptian childhood

Wonderful photographic panorama of Alexandria's diverse communities
Alexandria's diverse communities 1914-1958

Canada recognizes Jewish refugees expelled from the Middle East
Canada takes the lead for Jewish refugees from Arab lands

Egypt's Jewish heritage at risk
Disgraceful neglect and demolition of Jewish synagogues and Bassatine cemetary

Remnant of Cairo Jews
More sad news about the handful of Jews left in Egypt

Stained glass window
Egyptian Jews respond to Amir Ramses movie and a stained glass window of the Alexandria synagogue, Eliahou Ha Nabi is placed in the Center in Israel
Queen Nazli of Egypt
Queen Nazli, wife of Fouad and mother of Farouk

Last Seder in Egypt, 1957
Interesting juxtaposition
Seder in Cairo, 2013
Fascinating pictures of Passover Seder 2013 with Jewish remnant and friends.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN EGYPT: a documentary
You should not miss clicking on the link above. The Jews of Egypt is both a historical and personal documentary to be screened in Cairo movie theaters in March 2013, Producer Amir Ramses includes a telling video in this article, where he asks the question, "In the eyes of Egyptians, how did the Jews of Egypt go from compatriots to enemies?"

I recently wrote a piece for the Huffington Post (see below) that had some very interesting responses. If you check out the link, scroll down to the comments and take a moment to read them too, and perhaps add your own?

Huffington Post blog
Egypt's Forgotten Jews

Spanish Reparations?
Spain offers citizenship to Jews exiled by the Inquisition, with some exceptions

from:
The Gatestone Institute, The National Policy Council

The Unbearable Silence about the Jewish Refugees

by Michael Curtis
December 14, 2012 at 4:00 am

It is high time to end the virtual silence and unwillingness to consider the question of Jewish refugees, and to recognize that they should be part of any final resolution of the Middle East refugee problem.

This point of view is reflected in both bilateral and multilateral agreements. The Camp David Framework for Peace in the Middle East of 1978, Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty of 1979, the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty of 1994, the Madrid Conference of 1991-92, and the Israel-Palestinian Agreements beginning in 1993, including the Declaration of Principles of September 1993 and the Interim Agreement of September 1995, all articulated similar language.

Similarly, the UNHCR announced on two occasions, in February 1957 and in July 1967, that Jews who had fled from Arab countries "may be considered prima facie within the mandate of this office," thus regarding them, according to international law, as bona fide refugees.

In any settlement, the property abandoned by Jews would need to be taken into account. Calculation of this, although not easy, has been assessed as some $300 billion; and Jewish-owned real estate -- about four times the size of Israel -- at about $6 billion.

The international community is long overdue, in dealing with the Palestinian refugees, to see that equity prevails. It should be conscious of the rights of Jewish refugees, who, as a result of Arab and Islamic behavior, have suffered by being deprived of rights and property. The international community should also call for redress for these descendants. Some form of compensation is due the Jewish refugees; and discussion of it should be part of final status talks in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Michael Curtis is author of Should Israel Exist? A Sovereign Nation under Attack by the International Community.

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