Rights of Jewish Refugees

Indeed one can have no simpler and more convincing expression of the rights of the Jewish refugees than that voiced by Israelis, members of the oriental communities, hailing from the Arab lands. How convincing are the following lines written by Eliahu Elyashar to Jean-Paul Sartre in speaking of the Jewish refugees he says:

"They immigrated to Israel from their countries of residence mainly on account of the difficulties and limitations imposed upon them by the new Arab states after receiving their independence, as well as on account of their being Jews.

"Clearly, therefore, these new Israeli citizens lived in the Middle-East for thousands of years without interuption, long before the emergence of Islam. They are the new arrivals from Iraq, Egypt, the Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and North Africa, who found refuge in Israel.

"These Israeli citizens belong to this region both from the point of view of language as well as from the geographical, ethnical and geo-political points of view. They were forced to leave their countries of residence on account of the conditions of life imposed upon them by the Arab authorities". ("To live with Palestinians".)

Now that we must prepare for a great show-down over the settlement of the Jewish—Arab dispute, these simple and clear words must be said aloud. It is the voice of those directly concerned — — the Jews of the Arab lands; it is the most convincing voice of all. They must arise in all places where the dispute is conducted——at international conferences, in the UN Assembly, through all communications media, in university campuses–and speak in the name of those whose stress and injustice has not been given a name — — in the name of the Jewish refugees from the Arab lands.