Displaced Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries and Iran Act

Summary: Displaced Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries and Iran Act This bill directs the President to report annually to Congress on actions the Department of State and other relevant federal departments and agencies have taken in the preceding year regarding resolution of the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran.  The report shall include a description of:   actions in bilateral and multilateral fora to address the issue of rights for Jewish refugees from Arab countries; and   measures to help ensure that the interests of Jews displaced from Arab countries and Iran and of all refugees displaced as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict, including Arabs, Jews, Christians, and other groups, are considered in any final settlement of the Middle East refugee question that is part of any comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Displaced Jewish Refugees from Arab 
Countries and Iran Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Armed conflicts in the Middle East have created refugee 
        populations numbering in the millions and comprised of peoples 
        from many ethnic, religious, and national backgrounds.
            (2) Jews have lived mostly as a minority in the Middle 
        East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf region for more than 
        2,500 years.
            (3) The United States has long voiced its concern about the 
        mistreatment of minorities and the violation of human rights in 
        the Middle East and elsewhere.
            (4) The United States continues to play a pivotal role in 
        seeking an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East 
        and to promoting a peace that will benefit all the peoples of 
        the region.
            (5) United States administrations historically have called 
        for a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue.
            (6) The Palestinian refugee issue has received considerable 
        attention from countries of the world while the issue of Jewish 
        refugees from the Arab and Muslim worlds has received very 
        little attention.
            (7) A comprehensive peace in the region will require the 
        resolution of all outstanding issues through bilateral and 
        multilateral negotiations involving all concerned parties.
            (8) Approximately 850,000 Jews were displaced from Arab 
        countries and Iran since the declaration of the State of Israel 
        in 1948.
            (9) The United States has demonstrated interest and concern 
        about the mistreatment, violation of rights, forced expulsion, 
        and expropriation of assets of minority populations in general, 
        and, in particular, former Jewish refugees displaced from Arab 
        countries as evidenced, among other things, by--
                    (A) the Memorandum of Understanding signed by 
                President Jimmy Carter and Israeli Foreign Minister 
                Moshe Dayan on October 4, 1977, which states that ``[a] 
                solution of the problem of Arab refugees and Jewish 
                refugees will be discussed in accordance with rules 
                which should be agreed'';
                    (B) after negotiating the Camp David Accords, the 
                Framework for Peace in the Middle East, the statement 
                by President Jimmy Carter in a press conference on 
                October 27, 1977, that ``Palestinians have rights . . . 
                obviously there are Jewish refugees . . . they have the 
                same rights as others do''; and
                    (C) in an interview after Camp David II in July 
                2000, at which the issue of Jewish refugees displaced 
                from Arab lands was discussed, the statement by 
                President Clinton that ``There will have to be some 
                sort of international fund set up for the refugees. 
                There is, I think, some interest, interestingly enough, 
                on both sides, in also having a fund which compensates 
                the Israelis who were made refugees by the war, which 
                occurred after the birth of the State of Israel. Israel 
                is full of people, Jewish people, who lived in 
                predominantly Arab countries who came to Israel because 
                they were made refugees in their own land.''.
            (10) On April 1, 2008, the House of Representatives passed 
        House Resolution 185, expressing the sense of the House of 
        Representatives that--
                    (A) for any comprehensive Middle East peace 
                agreement to be credible and enduring, the agreement 
                must address and resolve all outstanding issues 
                relating to the legitimate rights of all refugees, 
                including Jews, Christians, and other populations, 
                displaced from countries in the Middle East; and
                    (B) the President should instruct the United States 
                Representative to the United Nations and all United 
                States representatives in bilateral and multilateral 
                fora to--
                            (i) use the voice, vote, and influence of 
                        the United States to ensure that any 
                        resolutions relating to the issue of Middle 
                        East refugees, and which include a reference to 
                        the required resolution of the Palestinian 
                        refugee issue, must also include a similarly 
                        explicit reference to the resolution of the 
                        issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries; 
                        and
                            (ii) make clear that the United States 
                        Government supports the position that, as an 
                        integral part of any comprehensive Arab-Israeli 
                        peace, the issue of refugees from the Middle 
                        East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf must 
                        be resolved in a manner that includes 
                        recognition of the legitimate rights of and 
                        losses incurred by all refugees displaced from 
                        Arab countries, including Jews, Christians, and 
                        other groups.
            (11) The international definition of a refugee clearly 
        applies to Jews who fled the persecution of Arab regimes and 
        Iran, where a refugee is a person who ``owing to a well-founded 
        fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, 
        nationality, membership of a particular social group, or 
        political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, 
        and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail 
        himself of the protection of that country'' (the 1951 
        Convention relating to the Status of Refugees).
            (12) On January 29, 1957, the United Nations High 
        Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), determined that Jews fleeing 
        from Arab countries were refugees who fell within the mandate 
        of the UNHCR.
            (13) Dr. E. Jahn of the Office of the United Nations High 
        Commissioner stated in a UNHCR declaration, on July 6, 1967: 
        ``I refer to our recent discussion concerning Jews from Middle 
        Eastern and North African countries in consequence of recent 
        events. I am now able to inform you that such persons may be 
        considered prima facie within the mandate of this Office.''.
            (14) Israel's agreements with Egypt, Jordan, and the 
        Palestinians have affirmed that a comprehensive solution to the 
        Arab-Israeli conflict will require a just solution to the 
        plight of all refugees.
            (15) Israel has adopted multiple government decisions 
        affirming its long-standing position in support of the rights 
        and claims of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran.
            (16) In February 2010, the Israeli Knesset adopted a law 
        preserving the rights for compensation for Jewish refugees who 
        originated from Arab countries and Iran. According to this law, 
        the Israeli government and its prime minister are instructed to 
        raise the issue of compensation for private and communal 
        property during negotiations.
            (17) The initiative to secure rights and redress for Jews 
        who were forced to flee Arab countries and Iran does not 
        conflict with the right of Palestinian refugees to claim 
        redress.
            (18) All countries should be aware of the plight of Jews 
        and other minority groups displaced from countries in the 
        Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf.
            (19) An international campaign has been proceeding in 
        numerous countries, including the United States, to record the 
        history and legacy of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and 
        Iran.
            (20) Media reports have indicated that the framework that 
        Secretary of State John Kerry has proposed for the negotiations 
        between the Israelis and Palestinians includes a proposal for 
        compensation for Jewish refugees.

SEC. 3. STATEMENTS OF POLICY.

    Congress makes the followings statements of policy:
            (1) A just, comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace cannot be 
        reached without addressing the uprooting of centuries-old 
        Jewish communities in the Middle East, North Africa, and the 
        Persian Gulf.
            (2) As a matter of law and equity, history reveals that 
        there were two large refugee populations--Arabs and Jews--that 
        were precipitated just before, during, and after the Arab-
        Israeli War in 1948.
            (3) It would be fundamentally unfair for the United States 
        to recognize rights for one population--Palestinian refugees--
        without recognizing equal rights for other refugees from that 
        very same Middle East conflict--former Jewish, Christian and 
        other refugees from Arab countries and Iran.
            (4) Any United States Government statements that include a 
        reference to the required resolution of the Palestinian refugee 
        issue, such as at the United Nations or as part of the Middle 
        East Quartet, must also include a similarly explicit reference 
        to the resolution of the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab 
        countries and Iran.

SEC. 4. REPORT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the President shall 
submit to Congress a report on actions the Department of State and 
other relevant Federal departments and agencies have taken relating to 
the resolution of the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and 
Iran with respect to the preceding year.
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--The report required by subsection (a) 
shall include a description of the following:
            (1) Actions in bilateral and multilateral fora to address 
        the issue of rights for Jewish refugees from Arab countries, as 
        expressed by the House of Representatives in paragraph (2) of 
        the first section of House Resolution 185 (as passed the House 
        of Representatives on April 1, 2008) and described in section 
        2(10)(B) of this Act.
            (2) Measures to help ensure that the interests of Jews 
        displaced from Arab countries and Iran are considered in any 
        final settlement of the Middle East refugee question that is 
        part of any comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace. Such measures 
        shall include statements on the issue and reports to the Middle 
        East Quartet.
            (3) Efforts to make certain the interests of all refugees 
        displaced as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict, including 
        Arabs, Jews, Christians, and other groups, are considered in 
        any final settlement of the Middle East refugee question that 
        is part of any comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace.
    (c) Form.--The report required under subsection (a) shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex if 
necessary.
    (d) Termination.--The requirement to submit to Congress the report 
under subsection (a) shall terminate on the date on which the President 
certifies to Congress that an agreement has been agreed to between the 
parties to resolve the issues described in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) 
of subsection (b).