To download ministry report titled "The Jewish Refugees from Arab
Countries."
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Jewish_refugees_from_Arab_and_Muslim_countries-Apr_2012.htm

To view film clip, "The Truth about the Refugees":
http://youtu.be/g_3A6_qSBBQ

First MFA conference on Jewish refugees from Arab countries
3 Apr 2012

DFM Ayalon: "At this juncture in time I call for putting an end to the
historic injustice and call upon the Arab League to assume responsibility
and admit it was they who caused the Jews from Arab countries to become
refugees."

On Tuesday (April 3, 2012), the Foreign Ministry hosted a special conference
headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and presented for the first
time a special ministry report titled "The Jewish Refugees from Arab
Countries." The conference was attended by representatives from the
organizations of Jews from Arab countries and by correspondents from the
Israeli and international media; and was broadcast live to all the Israeli
missions abroad.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ayalon opened the conference by recognizing the
historic wrong and the perversion of justice done to the Jewish refugees
from the Arab countries starting in 1948. Ayalon then appealed directly to
the Arab League, on this the tenth anniversary of the Saudi Initiative, and
demanded they acknowledge their historic guilt and assume responsibility for
expelling the Jews from Arab countries, thereby turning them into refugees,
and simultaneously acknowledge their responsibility for creating the
Palestinian refugees by going to war against Israel. Ayalon emphasized,
"Particularly at this juncture in time I call upon the Arab League to assume
responsibility and admit it was they who caused the Jews from Arab countries
to become refugees."

Ayalon stated that the issue of compensation for the Jewish refugees from
Arab nations will be an integral part of any future negotiations or
settlement. Financial restitution will be based on the "Clinton fund"
principles of 2000, according to which the Jewish refugees would be
recompensed, as would the countries that took them in, such as Israel and
Jordan.

Ayalon made it clear that Israel would insist on the Palestinian refugees
being integrated into the Palestinian state when it is established, just as
the Jewish refugees were absorbed into Israel.
"Today some 50% of Israel's residents are the same refugees from Arab
countries and their progeny, who were fully integrated and who contributed
to the establishment and development of the State of Israel. Just as the
State of Israel absorbed the Jewish refugees, so the Arab refugees who left
Mandatory Palestine should receive the same treatment, all the more in light
of the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, the existence of which
renders the continued existence of the Arab refugee camps unjustified."

Ayalon instructed all of Israel's missions abroad to persuade the world's
parliamentarians to adopt a resolution recognizing the Jewish refugees from
Arab states, just as the American Congress did by passing House Resolution
185 in 2008.

"I call upon all the world's enlightened nations to adopt moral, just
resolutions like the United States' resolution 185 and thereby help bring an
end to the conflict. Acknowledging and taking care of refugees is not just a
matter of historic justice but also one that is valid based on UN Resolution
242."

The main points of the report and of the Deputy FM's guidelines for action
gained overwhelming support from the organizations’ representatives, who
also spoke at the conference. The representatives were grateful and excited
that the State of Israel, led by the Foreign Ministry, is finally
recognizing their refugee status and working to get the subject onto the
Israeli and international agenda.

Zvi Gabay (former ambassador, and activist on the subject): "I congratulate
the deputy foreign minister for his goodwill and his willingness to take
action on this issue. For years I served in the Foreign Ministry under
various ministers, and this is the first time that anyone has brought up the
subject."

Meir Kahalon (chairman of the organizations of Jews from Arab countries and
Iran): "The Jews from Arab nations are entitled to help and support, and I
congratulate Danny Ayalon for taking the initiative after all these years
that it didn’t happen."

Levana Zamir (on behalf of Egyptian Jewry): "I support your raising the
subject at the United Nations and I urge you to call upon them not only to
return the property but also to restore custody and ownership over the
Jewish heritage sites and holy places. Your success is our success."

This report, which was specially prepared by the Deputy FM's political staff
in cooperation with the National Security Council, is part of a whole array
of operations being spearheaded by DFM Ayalon to raise international
awareness of the issue. About six months ago, Ayalon submitted Israel's
demands for recognizing the Jewish refugees from Arab states, based on
Resolution 242, to the UN Council and also protested the UN refugee agency
UNRWA's mandate, which perpetuates refugee status for the Palestinians
rather than resolve it. At a press conference in Geneva, Ayalon launched the
informative film clip, "The Truth about the Refugees," which garnered
hundreds of thousands of views.

An international conference on the subject is slated to take place this
coming summer, in collaboration with the Jewish organizations in Israel and
worldwide, and all other parties involved in this subject.