Speech #820115801

In the spring of last year the Iraq Government gave the Jews 12 months in which to leave. It was later extended by 60 days and more than 100.000 have fled to Palestine. The same sort of emigration has taken place from Egypt. and Arab countries of North Africa. It has now started in Iran and it is expected 60.000 will try to get to Israel within a year. some of them having fled to Iran from Iraq. More than 600.000 refugees have come to Israel in the last 3 years. almost half from the Arab countries and the rest from the ghettos and DP camps of Europe. . This bill as proposed by the administration provided $50.000.000 for assistance to the 800.000 Arab refugees from Palestine. What about the Jewish refu.gees from the Arab countries? If we are to prove ourselves impartial. as the gentleman from North Carolina wants us to beand I suggested some of the language in the report to which he referredit seemed to me a reasonable contribution by us would be $50.000.000 for the Jewish refugees to roughly balance that for the Arab refugees. There was already in the bill $23.500.000 for economic aid to Israel. There was $23.500.000 for economic aid to the six or seven Arab countries. The bill in its present form provides $50.000.000 for the 800.000 Arab refugees. and $50.000.000 for specific refugee relief and resettlement projects in Israel. to help take care of the more than 600.000 who have already come to Israel and those who are coming at a rate as high as 30.000 a month. I believe we should keep the bill as it is. Where are these people going to go if not to Palestine? I commend the young Republic of Israel for sticking to its declared principles of maintaining a haven for refugees no matter how great the burden. Its population was doubled in the first 3 years of its life. It is now about 1.200.000. and it probably will have 50 percent more added by 1954. Most of its founders had themselves been the victims of persecution. and they are so committed to providing asylum for refugees who understandably seek to escape the memories of murder and torture in Europe or persecution elsewhere. that despite the obvious difficulties and problems involved in trying to absorb such rapid increases from the outside. they are faithfully adhering to their open immigration policy. That means taking thousands of refugees who have TB. thousands who are aged. it lets in the halt. the maimed. and the blind. These people are not an economic asset. they are an economic liability to the country. they increase its burdens and cannot contribute much. if anything to its production. but they are being taken in. I commend the republic for it and believe we should help these refugees as we are helping the Arabs. But. in my judgment the major reason why we should provide this authorization in this bill is not humanitarianism. it is concern for keeping peace in this region. The most explosive area in the world right now is the Near East.