[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6242 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6242
To direct the President to submit to Congress a report on actions the
executive branch has taken relating to the resolution of the issue of
Jewish refugees from Arab countries.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 31, 2012
Mr. Nadler (for himself, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Berman, Mr. Poe of
Texas, Mr. Crowley, and Mr. Turner of New York) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the President to submit to Congress a report on actions the
executive branch has taken relating to the resolution of the issue of
Jewish refugees from Arab countries.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Armed conflicts in the Middle East have created refugee
populations numbering in the millions and comprised of peoples
from many ethnic, religious, and national backgrounds.
(2) Jews have lived mostly as a minority in the Middle
East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf region for more than
2,500 years.
(3) The United States has long voiced its concern about the
mistreatment of minorities and the violation of human rights in
the Middle East and elsewhere.
(4) The United States continues to play a pivotal role in
seeking an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East
and to promoting a peace that will benefit all the peoples of
the region.
(5) United States administrations historically have called
for a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem.
(6) The Palestinian refugee issue has received considerable
attention from countries of the world while the issue of Jewish
refugees from the Arab and Muslim worlds has received very
little attention.
(7) A comprehensive peace in the region will require the
resolution of all outstanding issues through bilateral and
multilateral negotiations involving all concerned parties.
(8) Approximately 850,000 Jews were displaced from Arab
countries since the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948.
(9) The United States has demonstrated interest and concern
about the mistreatment, violation of rights, forced expulsion,
and expropriation of assets of minority populations in general,
and, in particular, former Jewish refugees displaced from Arab
countries as evidenced, inter alia, by--
(A) the Memorandum of Understanding signed by
President Jimmy Carter and Israeli Foreign Minister
Moshe Dayan on October 4, 1977, which states that ``[a]
solution of the problem of Arab refugees and Jewish
refugees will be discussed in accordance with rules
which should be agreed'';
(B) after negotiating the Camp David Accords, the
Framework for Peace in the Middle East, the statement
by President Jimmy Carter in a press conference on
October 27, 1977, that ``Palestinians have rights . . .
obviously there are Jewish refugees . . . they have the
same rights as others do''; and
(C) in an interview after Camp David II in July
2000, at which the issue of Jewish refugees displaced
from Arab lands was discussed, the statement by
President Clinton that ``There will have to be some
sort of international fund set up for the refugees.
There is, I think, some interest, interestingly enough,
on both sides, in also having a fund which compensates
the Israelis who were made refugees by the war, which
occurred after the birth of the State of Israel. Israel
is full of people, Jewish people, who lived in
predominantly Arab countries who came to Israel because
they were made refugees in their own land.''.
(10) On April 1, 2008, the House of Representatives passed
House Resolution 185, expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives that--
(A) for any comprehensive Middle East peace
agreement to be credible and enduring, the agreement
must address and resolve all outstanding issues
relating to the legitimate rights of all refugees,
including Jews, Christians, and other populations,
displaced from countries in the Middle East; and
(B) the President should instruct the United States
Representative to the United Nations and all United
States representatives in bilateral and multilateral
fora to--
(i) use the voice, vote, and influence of
the United States to ensure that any
resolutions relating to the issue of Middle
East refugees, and which include a reference to
the required resolution of the Palestinian
refugee issue, must also include a similarly
explicit reference to the resolution of the
issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries;
and
(ii) make clear that the United States
Government supports the position that, as an
integral part of any comprehensive Arab-Israeli
peace, the issue of refugees from the Middle
East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf must
be resolved in a manner that includes
recognition of the legitimate rights of and
losses incurred by all refugees displaced from
Arab countries, including Jews, Christians, and
other groups.
(11) The international definition of a refugee clearly
applies to Jews who fled the persecution of Arab regimes, where
a refugee is a person who ``owing to a well-founded fear of
being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality,
membership of a particular social group, or political opinion,
is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or,
owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the
protection of that country'' (the 1951 Convention relating to
the Status of Refugees).
(12) On January 29, 1957, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), determined that Jews fleeing
from Arab countries were refugees who fell within the mandate
of the UNHCR.
(13) Subsequently, in a second UNHCR declaration, Dr. E.
Jahn of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
stated, on July 6, 1967: ``I refer to our recent discussion
concerning Jews from Middle Eastern and North African countries
in consequence of recent events. I am now able to inform you
that such persons may be considered prima facie within the
mandate of this Office.''.
(14) United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 of
November 22, 1967, calls for a ``just settlement of the refugee
problem'' without distinction between Palestinian and Jewish
refugees, and this is evidenced by the following:
(A) On November 16, 1967, the United Kingdom
submitted a draft of Resolution 242 (S/8247) to the
United Nations Security Council. This United Kingdom
draft called for a just settlement of ``the refugee
problem''. The Soviet Union submitted its own draft of
Resolution 242 (S/8253) to the United Nations Security
Council four days later which restricted the just
settlement to only ``Palestinian refugees''.
(B) On November 22, 1967, the United Nations
Security Council unanimously approved the draft of
Resolution 242 advanced by the United Kingdom. It thus
rejected the limitation proposed by the Soviet Union
and accepted the broader notion of a ``just settlement
of the refugee problem'' arising out of the Middle East
conflict to include Palestinian and Jewish refugees.
(C) Justice Arthur Goldberg, the United States
Chief Delegate to the United Nations at that time, who
was instrumental in drafting the unanimously adopted
Resolution 242, pointed out that ``The Resolution
addresses the objective of `achieving a just settlement
of the refugee problem'. This language presumably
refers both to Arab and Jewish refugees, for about an
equal number of each abandoned their homes as a result
of the several wars.''.
(15) In his opening remarks before the January 28, 1992,
organizational meeting for multilateral negotiations on the
Middle East in Moscow, United States Secretary of State James
Baker made no distinction between Palestinian refugees and
Jewish refugees in articulating the mission of the Refugee
Working Group, stating that ``[t]he refugee group will consider
practical ways of improving the lot of people throughout the
region who have been displaced from their homes''.
(16) The Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, which refers in Phase III to an
``agreed, just, fair, and realistic solution to the refugee
issue'', uses language that is equally applicable to all
persons displaced as a result of the conflict in the Middle
East.
(17) Israel's agreements with Egypt, Jordan, and the
Palestinians have affirmed that a comprehensive solution to the
Arab-Israeli conflict will require a just solution to the
plight of all refugees.
(18) Israel's long-standing position in support of the
rights and claims of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and
Iran is well-established:
(A) On September 28, 1969, Israel adopted
Government Decision number 34, in which it set up a
special, temporary department in the Ministry of
Justice to gather facts and evidence regarding property
expropriated and persecution perpetrated on Jews in
Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
(B) On March 3, 2002, Israel adopted Government
Decision number 1544, in which it reaffirmed Government
Decision number 34 and expanded it to include Jews who
left all Arab countries and Iran.
(C) On December 28, 2003, Israel adopted Government
Decision number 1250, in which it reaffirmed Government
Decisions number 34 and 1544 and directed the
Department for the Rights of Jews from Arab Countries
in the Ministry of Justice to continue collecting
information on property expropriated and persecution
perpetrated on Jews in Arab countries, create a
centralized database of this information, and publish
this information to encourage parties to come forward.
(19) Recently, in February 2010, the Israeli Knesset
adopted a law preserving the rights for compensation for Jewish
refugees who originated from Arab countries and Iran. According
to this law, the Israeli government and its prime minister are
instructed to raise the issue of compensation for private and
communal property during negotiations.
(20) The initiative to secure rights and redress for Jews
who were forced to flee Arab countries does not conflict with
the right of Palestinian refugees to claim redress.
(21) All countries should be aware of the plight of Jews
and other minority groups displaced from countries in the
Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf.
(22) An international campaign has been proceeding in some
20 countries to record the history and legacy of Jewish
refugees from Arab countries.
(23) A just, comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace cannot be
reached without addressing the uprooting of centuries-old
Jewish communities in the Middle East, North Africa, and the
Persian Gulf.
(24) It would be inappropriate and unjust for the United
States to recognize rights for Palestinian refugees without
recognizing equal rights for Jewish refugees from Arab
countries.
SEC. 2. REPORT.
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act,
and every two years thereafter, the President shall submit to Congress
a report on the following:
(1) Actions the executive branch has taken to fulfill the
sense of the House of Representatives, as contained in
paragraph (2) of the first section of House Resolution 185 (as
passed the House of Representatives on April 1, 2008) and
described in section 1(10)(B) of this Act.
(2) Actions the executive branch has taken to use the
voice, vote, and influence of the United States to ensure that
any statements that include a reference to the required
resolution of the Palestinian refugee issue by the Quartet on
the Middle East, which includes the United Nations, the United
States, the European Union, and Russia, must also include a
similarly explicit reference to the resolution of the issue of
Jewish refugees from Arab countries.
(3) Assistance the United States has provided to Israel to
help it accomplish its goal that the interests of Jews
displaced from Arab countries are considered in any final
settlement of the Middle East refugee question that is part of
any comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace.
(4) Recommended actions that would ensure that the
interests of all refugees displaced from Arab countries,
including Jews, Christians, and other groups, are considered in
any final settlement of the Middle East refugee question that
is part of any comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace.
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