Tuesday, June 09, 2009

THE OTHER REFUGEES

Media Backspin's Spotlight On The Jewish Refugees plight of Jewish refugees from Arab countries makes interesting reading.

The item makes the point that with peace talks "being placed on the front burner, Jewish refugees may finally come to the fore, bringing to the table issues of compensation, de-facto population exchange and a narrative of their own suffering and resettlement to counter international sympathy for Palestinian refugees."

It also raises a commentary by Andre Aciman in the NY Times by Andre about Obama's recent Cairo speech:

With all his references to the history of Islam and to its (questionable) "prou0d" tradition of tolerance” of other faiths, Mr. Obama never said anything about those Jews whose ancestors had been living in Arab lands long before the advent of Islam but were its first victims once rampant nationalism swept over the Arab world.

Nor did he bother to mention that with this flight and expulsion, Jewish assets were — let’s call it by its proper name — looted. Mr. Obama never mentioned the belongings I still own in Egypt and will never recover. My mother’s house, my father’s factory, our life in Egypt, our friends, our books, our cars, my bicycle . . . .

But for him to speak in Cairo of a shared effort “to find common ground ... and to respect the dignity of all human beings” without mentioning people in my position would be like his speaking to the residents of Berlin about the future of Germany and forgetting to mention a small detail called World War II.

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