BBC and Justice for Jews: Have Your Say

If you have not yet gone to the BBC Site to leave your comments about the Jewish Refugee question, as mentioned in the latest press release from Stanley Urman, I urge you to do so. I just left my comments, and wanted to re-print them here to urge all of you to do the same.

118 Aimee Kligman
June 22, 2008 at 9:49 pm

The Sephardic Jews from Egypt and other North African countries which became refugees are under no illusions, as I am one of them myself. We don’t expect remuneration from the Arab countries who “ejected” their Jews, mostly as retaliation against the formation of Israel in 1948 and thereafter.

However, as a group, it does become sickening and tedious when the subject of the Palestinian refugees comes up, time and again, - as a gross injustice in the world -, and though it may be, the question of the Jewish refugees must be brought to the table any time there is talk of the Palestinian problem.

And yes, now is the time to talk about it. Because many of us whose parents have already died don’t want the history of this second exodus to die with them. I am particularly vociferous about this subject, just as I am regarding the inhumane conditions for the Palestinians on my blog, Women’s Lens.

The Jewish refugees from African countries were ignored, perhaps, because their plight was not as great as those Jews who had survived one of the worst human catastrophes, the Holocaust. How could one even begin to compare? But it doesn’t diminish the tragedy nevertheless.

We were given the boot, with just the clothes on our backs. Some went to Israel, others made their way to Europe, where they felt more kinship with people who spoke French, Italian, English..whatever. A lot ended up in the Americas, both North and South and stayed there in an effort to rebuild their lives, quietly and steadfastly. So quietly in fact, most people today don’t even know that there was a “refugee” situation out of Northern Africa.

We did not go ballistic and start blowing ourselves up in vegetable markets or pizzerias. We rebuilt. We learned. We integrated ourselves in the new countries we chose. And some of us rose above the fray to become people who left their mark in medicine, law, politics, government,- you name it.

It’s time to pay tribute to these forgotten Jews. Whether the BBC is the right platform is debatable, but it’s a start. We just need an honest broker.

Aimée Kligman