The tragic fate of Palestinian Arab refugees has always loomed over the Middle East conflict. The descendants of those who fled the territory of the newborn state of Israel in 1948 have been kept stateless and dependent on United Nations charity rather than being absorbed into other Arab countries so as to perpetuate the war to extinguish the Jewish state. The refugees and those who purport to advocate for their interests have consistently sought to veto any peace plans that might end the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians. They have refused to accept any outcome that did not involve their “return” to what is now Israel, an idea that is tantamount to the destruction of Israel. The Palestinians have gotten away with this irresponsible behavior because they retained the sympathy of a world that saw them as the sole victims of Israel’s War of Independence. But the historical truth is far more complex.
Far from 1948 being a case of a one-sided population flight in which Palestinians left what is now Israel (something that most did voluntarily as they sought to escape the war or because they feared what would happen to them in a Jewish majority state), what actually occurred was a population exchange. At the same time that hundreds of thousands of Arabs left the Palestine Mandate, hundreds of thousands of Jews living in the Arab and Muslim world began to be pushed out of their homes. The story of the Jewish refugees has rarely been told in international forums or the mainstream media but it got a boost today when the first United Nations Conference on Jews expelled from Arab Countries was held at the world body’s New York headquarters. While Palestinian refugees deserve sympathy and perhaps some compensation in any agreement that would finally end the conflict, so, too, do the descendants of the Jews who lost their homes. As Danny Ayalon, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister rightly said today:
We will not arrive at peace without solving the refugee problem – but that includes the Jewish refugees. Justice does not lie on just one side and equal measures must be applied to both.
It is true that the descendants of the Jewish refugees are not still living in camps waiting for new homes. Though the process was not without its problems, rather than abuse those Jews who were dispossessed and using them as political props as the Arabs did, refugees from the Arab world found homes and lives in Israel and the West with the help of their brethren. But that does not diminish their right to compensation or a fair hearing for their grievances.
The truth about the Jewish refugees is something that foreign cheerleaders for the Palestinians as well as the Arab nations who took part in the expulsion have never acknowledged, let alone refuted. As Ron Prosor, Israel’s UN ambassador, pointed out in his speech at the conference, what occurred after Israel’s birth was nothing less than a campaign aimed at eliminating ancient Jewish communities. Arab leaders “launched a war of terror, incitement, and expulsion to decimate and destroy their Jewish communities. Their effort was systematic. It was deliberate. It was planned.”
Indeed, not only did Jews lose billions of dollars in property but were deprived of property that amounts to a land mass that is five times the size of the state of Israel.
This is something that a lot of people, especially those to whom the peace process with the Palestinians has become an end unto itself don’t want to hear about. They believe that the putting forward of Jewish claims from 1948 is merely an obstacle to negotiations. But such arguments are absurd. Peace cannot be built merely by appeasing the Palestinian claim to sole victimhood. Just as the dispute over territory is one between two peoples with claims, so, too is the question of refugee compensation. Peace cannot be bought by pretending that only Palestinians suffered or that only Arabs have rights. Indeed, such a formulation is a guarantee that the struggle will continue indefinitely since the Palestinians are encouraged to think that they are the only ones with just claims.
For far too long the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has been cast as one pitting the security of the former against the rights of the latter. Framed this way, it is no surprise that the more emotional appeals of the Palestinians have often prevailed over the arguments of Israelis. Rather than asserting their historic rights, the Jews have often allowed themselves to be cast in the false role of colonial oppressor. The Palestinian pose as the only victims of the war enables them to evade their historic responsibility for both the creation of a refugee problem in 1948 as well as their refusal to accept Israeli peace offers.
Let’s hope today’s conference is the beginning of a serious debate about the issue as well as a turning point in discussions about Middle East peace. Peace requires respect for the rights of Jewish refugees as well as those of the Palestinians.
Have long wondered why Israel waited so long to make this case on the international stage. nAyalon deserves a standing ovation. He also makes terrific Youtubes – funny how no one uses Ayalon's Youtubes as an excuse to protest.
Many, if not most, of the Arab "Refugees" were and are not refugees in that they were encouraged to leave their homes by their leaders so that the Arabs could murder the Jews with impunity. The Jewish refugees, virtually all of them, left due to persecution, murder, and robbery of their belongings. Very much as the German and other European Jews left Europe before WWII – when they could. There is no equation of two sets of refugees. The corrupt Nazified UN honored only the essentially false refugees – thanks to the anti-Semitism of the West, and oil. The extremely late and only partial recognition of these facts can never make up for the 65 years of injustice, so far.
Finally. Thank you Jon. n nWhere the hell is Dershowitz? n nWhy isn't he banging down the doors of the UN demanding that the one-off, illogical, and ridiculous definition of what constitutes a 'Palestinian Refugee' be thrown out?. n n
A very good question? Where is Alan Dershowitz? He is also well aware of the danger Barack Obama poses to Israel. And yet, he remains mostly silent. Dershowitz once blurted out to Melanie Phillips that abortion and gay marriage nearly dominate his political agenda. Is he willing to sacrifice Israel for these issues? It is time for a bit of candor from the esteemed Harvard law professor.
Precisely. r n The whole “Palestinian People” as the true refugees, stung by the “humiliation of occupation” is a tired, phoney overused ploy to divert your attention away from who the real refugees were. r n What really irks me the most, are wealthy Jews who defend the terrorists. The worst ones being public people who feel a need to project a squeaky clean politically correct facade so much so,that they really believe their own bull.r nEven worse, they are generally not interested in the issues at all and have absolutely no desire to be educated. This leads me to believe they know they are full of it but that is an important part of their made up facade for public consumption which allows them to feel safe and accepted. r n These public people should be confronted and humiliated so they might shut up and stop misleading the public, by the unethical immoral use of their public personna to sway public opinion in favor of standard terrorist talking points AKA, The Big Lie.
Calling Arabs "Palestiniians" is part of the history rewrite concocted by Gamal Nasser, ruler of Egypt, and the Soviet Union, both haters of Jews, who invented the "Palestine Liberation Organization" (P.L.O.) in Cairo in 1964. The name "Palestina" was given to Judea in 135 A.D. when the Roman Emperor Hadrian, after he had defeated the last Jewish rebellion under Bar Kochba, changed the name of Judea in order to eradicate all memory of Judea and Judaism. He also outlawed Judaism and changed the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina (his gens name being "Aelius"). From that time on, the name "Palestine" meant "the land of the Jews," and "Palestinian" was synonymous with "Jew." That is why after World War I, Great Britain was awarded the "Palestine Mandate" to be the "homeland of the Jews." nThe Arabs who are miscalled "Palestinians" are haters of Jews. Their only suffering is that they are such bigots. n n
I am amazed that such a conference is being held anywhere, let alone the UN. Why is this story not in the MSM?
They're keeping their powder dry to cart out one fat middle aged female Arab zealot after another to chant the Obama line that this a Zionist lie. That's why.
Calling Arabs "Palestinians" is part of the history rewrite concocted by Gamal Nasser and the Soviet Union in Cairo in 1964, when they invented the "Palestine Liberation Orgaganization" (P.L.O.). The name "Palestine" comes from the change of the name of Judea by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in 135 A.D., after he had defeated the last Jewish rebellion under Bar Kochba. He wanted to forever eradicate all memory of Judea and the Jews, and he outlawed Judaism, and renamed Jerusalem "Aelia Capitolina," "Aelius being his gens name. From that time on, the name "Palestine" was synonymous with "land of the Jews" and "Palestinian" with "Jew." That is why Great Britain was awarded the "Palestine Mandate" after World War I, to be the "homeland of the Jews." The miscalled "Palestinians" are Arabs who want to destroy Israel.