I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker. I rise today in strong support of House Resolution 185 regarding the creation of refugee populations in the Middle East. north Africa. and the Persian Gulf region resulting from human rights violations. Discussions of Middle Eastern refugees invariably focus exclusively and shortsightedly on the plight of those of Palestinian descent. Few are aware of the injustices faced by hundreds of thousands of Jews. Christians and others who fled from Arab lands and Iran either as a direct result of the ArabIsraeli conflict or from persecution associated with that conflict. Perhaps the most telling example. Madam Speaker. is the case of the Jewish refugees from Arab lands. Many Jews saw their communities. which had existed vibrantly for centuries even before the advent of Islam. systematically dismantled. Their populations throughout the Arab world and Iran was reduced from over 1 million to just several thousand. They lost their resources. their homes. and their heritage sites fleeing in the face of persecution. pogroms and brutal dictatorships. Jewish refugees who fled Arab countries and Iran left behind what today amounts to billions of dollars in assets. Not only have they received not one thin dime of compensation to this day. but their plight has not even received recognition by the United Nations nor similar international institutions. While countless U.N. resolutions have been adopted focusing on the Palestinian refugee issue. no conferences have been held on the Jewish refugees. No U.N. agencies nor international human rights organizations address their fate. Failure to recognize their plight.
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refugee refugees