Recognizing Jewish refugees from the Middle East and North Africa : report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development

Summary: In May 2013, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development ("the Committee") studied the historical experience of Jewish refugees from the Middle East and North Africa. As part of its study, the Committee received testimony from representatives of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa, and a past president of the Communautésé pharade unifiée du Québec. The Committee also heard from two individuals who recounted their personal experiences of life in Iraq. In the course of its hearings, the Committee learned of the discrimination and hardship faced by Jewish people living in the Middle East and North Africa in the twentieth century. Much of this discrimination, which was practiced by governments in the region against their Jewish populations, surged over the years in tandem with the crisis moments of the Arab-Israeli conflict, in particular the 1948-49 and 1967 wars. As a result, almost all of the Jews in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen eventually left their homes and communities, which had existed in the Middle East and North Africa for centuries.