In Morocco. which is hailed today as a bastion of JewishArab coexistence in the Arab world. a thriving community of more than a quarter million Jews lived their lives in peace by 1948. by 2003. only 5.500 remained. Some left willingly. most did not. While the plight of Palestinian refugees is well known throughout the world and has been a major element in every ArabIsraeli peace plan and negotiation. the plight of these Jewish refugees is rarely mentioned these days. Nevertheless. numerous international agreements pertaining to the ArabIsraeli conflict have been codified with the rights of the Jewish refugees in mind. U.N. Security Council resolution 242. passed on November 22. 1967. after the Six Day War. calls for a just settlement to the refugee problem without limiting that problem to Palestinians. In fact. the Soviet Union tried to limit that resolution to Palestinians and it was rejected. Presidents Carter and Clinton stated explicitly that the issue of Jewish refugees must be a part of any comprehensive ArabIsraeli peace agreement. And lest there be any doubt about this status. the U.N. High Commission on Refugees in 1957 ruled that Jewish people that fled Arab countries were. indeed. "refugees." This principle is reaffirmed in the Camp David Accords and in the EgyptianIsraeli Peace Treaty. The treaty states. "The parties agree to establish a Claims Committee for the mutual settlement of all financial claims." And it also states. "Jewish refugees have the same rights as others do."
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refugee Refugees refugees