This is part I of what I hope will be a 5 part series this week concerning Jews who emigrated from Arab and Muslim countries after Israel declared its independence in 1948.
Part I - Introduction, A Summary of Allegations Made and Information Omitted, Statistics, Notes on Israeli Laws Passed Immediately after Israeli Independence Regarding Palestinians and Their Possessions, Land Ownership in Israel Today
Part II - Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen/Aden, Libya
Part III -Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco
Part IV - Lebanon, Syria
Part V - Egypt, Iraq, Closing Notes
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If you are interested in my feelings about Israel and Palestine please read Just Me and I/P.
Two of the most contentious and difficult subjects in Palestinian-Israeli and Arab-Israeli peace negotiations have been, and will be, the resolution of what will happen to Palestinian refugees (Right of Return / Repatriation) and the resolution of what will happen regarding Palestinian and Bedouin possessions which were seized by Israel during and after the 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli War and then again during and after the 1967 Six-Day War (Restitution / Compensation).
In an attempt to diminish or counteract the legitimacy of Palestinian claims for the right of return and repatriation of Palestinian refugees and for restitution of and compensation for Palestinian and Bedouin possessions seized by Israel, assertions are once again being made by Israel and Israeli supporters that 900,000 or more Jews were forced to flee Arab and Muslim countries following Israeli independence in 1948 and that their possessions were forcibly seized by the Arab and Muslim countries from which they fled.
The primary aspect of the assertion is that since none of these Jewish refugees were ever repatriated by their former countries of residence and furthermore that since the majority of these Jewish refugees were accepted by and assimilated into Israel - with the remainder being accepted by and assimilated into countries in Europe, North America, South America and Australia - a precedent was established that it is the responsibility of the nations which accept refugees to assimilate them.
Then, based on this precedent, the Israeli assertion is that it was/is the responsibility of the nations which accepted Palestinian refugees to assimilate them, and as a result this then releases Israel from any responsibility for Palestinian refugees or need to agree to a Palestinian right of return or the repatriation of Palestinian refugees.
The secondary aspect of the assertion is that these Jewish refugees whose possessions were forcibly seized by the Arab and Muslim countries from which they were forced to flee are entitled to compensation and that since the value of this seized Jewish property, according to Israeli calculations, is more than twice that of the value of Palestinian possessions seized by Israel, it is actually Israel who should receive compensation, not the Palestinians.
The premise, in its simplest form, is that any Palestinian claims regarding right of return, repatriation, restitution and compensation are negated by events which Israel and Israeli supporters allege happened to Jews who were living in Arab and Muslim countries after Israel declared its independence in 1948.
The premise in and of itself is irrational, but its being based on allegations which do not stand up to examination raises this premise to the level of absurdity.
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The assertion being made includes allegations that:
- Essentially all of the 900,000+ Jews who left Arab and Muslim countries after Israel declared its independence in 1948 were forced to flee.
- Most if not all of the 900,000+ Jews who left Arab and Muslim countries after Israel declared its independence in 1948 were uprooted and forced to flee overnight, while at the same time stating it happened over a period of several decades.
- Essentially all of the possessions of all of the 900,000+ Jews who left Arab and Muslim countries after Israel declared its independence in 1948 were seized by the countries which they left.
- Arab and Muslim countries which, after Israel declared its independence in 1948, permitted Jews to emigrate or encouraged Jewish emigration by allowing Israeli, Jewish and Zionist organizations to operate openly were, in reality, engaging in anti-Jewish measures because it was only ‘an opportunity for them to get rid of the Jews’.
- The 900,000+ Jews who left Arab and Muslim countries after Israel declared its independence in 1948 are entitled to refugee status because they were living peacefully in their countries of origin at the time, and had been doing so for centuries or millennia, while the Palestinians who fled or were displaced from their homes in British Mandate Palestine/Israel/Palestine are actually not entitled to refugee status because they were actively involved in a conflict which had been initiated by the Arab nations surrounding Israel.
While at the same time the assertion contains little or no mention of the following.
- The emigration of Jews from Arab and Muslim countries began before Israel declared its independence in 1948, and that more than 45,000 Jews had emigrated from Arab and Muslim countries to British Mandate Palestine before Israeli declared its independence in 1948.
- International Jewish and Zionist organizations, and Israeli organizations, were active, sometimes secretly and sometimes openly, in Arab and Muslim countries before and after Israel declared its independence in 1948 and these organizations encouraged Jews to leave their countries of origin and emigrate to Israel, aided them in doing so, and organized the transportation of Jews from Arab and Muslim countries to Israel.
- The Arab and Muslim countries which 900,000+ Jews left after Israel declared its independence in 1948 experienced economic difficulties, social hardships, and political upheavals which caused economic, social and political instability, and that these were major factors in many of the decisions made by Jews to leave.
- Many of the 900,000+ Jews who left Arab and Muslim countries after Israel declared its independence in 1948 did so while the countries they left were under British, French or Spanish administration.
- Many of the 900,000+ Jews who left Arab and Muslim countries after Israel declared its independence in 1948 did so while the countries they left had pro-Western governments and in one case a country which had close relations with Israel.
- A large number of Muslims and Christians also left these same Arab and Muslim countries during the same period of time because of the economic difficulties, social hardships, political upheavals, and instability which these countries were experiencing at the time they left.
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|
Jewish Population in 1948 |
Current Jewish Population |
Morocco |
286,000 |
~3,600 |
Algeria |
130,000 |
~100 |
Tunisia |
105,000 |
~1,500 |
Libya |
34,000 |
0 |
Egypt |
75,000 |
~200 |
Lebanon |
5,200 |
~40 |
Syria |
8,000 |
~40 |
Iraq |
135,000 |
~100 |
Iran |
100,000 |
~10,000 |
Afghanistan |
5,000 |
1 |
Pakistan |
2,000 |
~200 |
Yemen / Aden |
53,700 |
~300 |
|
938,900 |
~16,081 |
The numbers are seemingly incriminating.
In Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen, all Arab and/or Muslim countries often perceived as being hostile to Israel and Jews, the population of Jews has essential vanished, decreasing from about 939,000 in 1948 when Israel declared its independence to about 16,000 today.
This can only mean one thing; these Arab and Muslim countries are so anti-Israeli, anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish that they persecuted their Jewish citizens out of their home countries.
But the facts don’t fit the assertion.
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In the 18 months following Israel’s declaration of independence the government of Israel passed and implemented a series of laws regarding Palestinians and their possessions.
Most of them were passed and implemented during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The first was passed very soon after Israel declared its independence.
These laws:
- declared that Palestinians’ land, crops, animals, homes, businesses, machinery and other possessions could be declared abandoned and then confiscated. It didn’t matter if the owners were in the next village to escape the fighting in their village or were in another country. This law was passed on June 24, 1948 - six weeks after Israel declared its independence.
- froze Palestinians’ bank accounts.
- declared that Palestinians could be ordered off of their land and farms or out of their homes and businesses which could then be declared abandoned and then confiscated.
- prevented and in many cases banned Palestinians from returning to their land, farms, homes and businesses.
- declared that land which belonged to Palestinians and Palestinians’ farms which weren’t being cultivated could be confiscated.
- declared that land which belonged to Palestinians and Palestinians’ farms, homes and businesses could be requisitioned whenever the Israeli military or government wanted them. After being requisitioned for six years they would become the property of the government of Israel.
- declared that the government and military of Israel could do whatever they wanted to do with the land, farms, homes, businesses and other possessions which had been confiscated from Palestinians.
- imposed military administration on the remaining, about 156,000, Palestinians in Israel. The measures imposed included severe restriction on travel, curfews, administrative detentions, and expulsions.
The Israeli government then began revising and expanding these laws in 1950.
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The government of Israel owns 93.5% of the land in Israel. The remaining 6.5% is privately owned, more or less evenly split between Palestinians and Jews.
Most Israelis don’t own the land they live on; they lease it, usually for 49 or 98 years, from the government of Israel.
Under Israeli law foreign nationals cannot lease land owned by the Israeli government unless they are Jews who qualify to return to Israel under the Israeli Law of Return.
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