I had the privilege last week to meet with representatives of WOJACs leadership and learn first hand about their valuable work. WOJACs Third International Conference last week focused on three key problems facing Jews who still live in. and those who have fled. Arab countries: first. to promote the rights of Jews in Arab countries. especially the right to emigrate if they so desire. as well as the right to have their civil and human rights respected. second. to promote compensation for those Jews who left Arab countries and were dispossessed of their property. and to ensure the protection of Jewish cultural and religious assets in Arab nations. and third. to win recognition of the de facto exchange of populations that occurred in the Middle East with the resettlement of Jews and Palestinian Arabs. and to promote the absorption by Arab states of Palestinian refugee populations. As the United States seeks to promote a just and lasting peace settlement in the Middle East which protects the national interests of Israel and the United States. it is useful to keep in mind the human dimensions of the Middle East conflict. WOJAC performs a great service by recalling the sacrifices of those hundreds of thousands of Jews who have lost their private and communal property in Arab states. and by focusing attention on the plight of Jews in certain Arab countries. such as Syria. which continue to deny Jews their civil and human rights. including the right to emigrate. In doing so. WOJAC does not indiscriminately lump all Arab states together. but explicitly draws a distinction between countries where Jews live in distress. and the one or two Arab states like Morocco. whose attitude toward their Jewish citizens is relatively liberal.
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emigrate refugee