I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4664 

To direct the President to submit to Congress a report on actions the 

Department of State and other relevant Federal departments and agencies have taken regarding steps to ensure that a just, comprehensive 

Arab-Israeli peace accord also finds resolution of the issue of Jewish 

refugees from Arab countries and Iran. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 2, 2016 

Mr. NADLER (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. POE of 

Texas, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. GRAYSON, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. MENG, 

Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, 

Mr. KING of New York, and Mr. DONOVAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the President to submit to Congress a report 

on actions the Department of State and other relevant 

Federal departments and agencies have taken regarding 

steps to ensure that a just, comprehensive Arab-Israeli 

peace accord also finds resolution of the issue of Jewish 

refugees from Arab countries and Iran. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Displaced Jewish Refu3 gees from Arab Countries and Iran Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Armed conflicts in the Middle East have 

7 created refugee populations numbering in the mil8 lions and comprised of peoples from many ethnic, re9 ligious, and national backgrounds. 

10 (2) Jews have lived mostly as a minority in the 

11 Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf re12 gion for more than 2,500 years. 

13 (3) The United States has long voiced its con14 cern about the mistreatment of minorities and the 

15 violation of human rights in the Middle East and 

16 elsewhere. 

17 (4) The United States continues to play a piv18 otal role in seeking an end to the Arab-Israeli con19 flict in the Middle East and to promoting a peace 

20 that will benefit all the peoples of the region. 

21 (5) United States administrations historically 

22 have called for a just solution to the Palestinian ref23 ugee issue. 

24 (6) The Palestinian refugee issue has received 

25 considerable attention from countries of the world 


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1 while the issue of Jewish refugees from the Arab 

2 and Muslim worlds has received very little attention. 

3 (7) A comprehensive peace in the region will re4 quire the resolution of all outstanding issues through 

5 bilateral and multilateral negotiations involving all 

6 concerned parties. 

7 (8) Approximately 850,000 Jews were displaced 

8 from Arab countries and Iran since the declaration 

9 of the State of Israel in 1948. 

10 (9) The United States has demonstrated inter11 est and concern about the mistreatment, violation of 

12 rights, forced expulsion, and expropriation of assets 

13 of minority populations in general, and, in par14 ticular, former Jewish refugees displaced from Arab 

15 countries as evidenced, among other things, by— 

16 (A) the Memorandum of Understanding 

17 signed by President Jimmy Carter and Israeli 

18 Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan on October 4, 

19 1977, which states that ‘‘[a] solution of the 

20 problem of Arab refugees and Jewish refugees 

21 will be discussed in accordance with rules which 

22 should be agreed’’; 

23 (B) after negotiating the Camp David Ac24 cords, the Framework for Peace in the Middle 

25 East, the statement by President Jimmy Carter 


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1 in a press conference on October 27, 1977, that 

2 ‘‘Palestinians have rights . . . obviously there 

3 are Jewish refugees . . . they have the same 

4 rights as others do’’; and 

5 (C) in an interview after Camp David II in 

6 July 2000, at which the issue of Jewish refu7 gees displaced from Arab lands was discussed, 

8 the statement by President Clinton that ‘‘There 

9 will have to be some sort of international fund 

10 set up for the refugees. There is, I think, some 

11 interest, interestingly enough, on both sides, in 

12 also having a fund which compensates the 

13 Israelis who were made refugees by the war, 

14 which occurred after the birth of the State of 

15 Israel. Israel is full of people, Jewish people, 

16 who lived in predominantly Arab countries who 

17 came to Israel because they were made refugees 

18 in their own land.’’. 

19 (10) On April 1, 2008, the House of Represent20 atives passed House Resolution 185, expressing the 

21 sense of the House of Representatives that— 

22 (A) for any comprehensive Middle East 

23 peace agreement to be credible and enduring, 

24 the agreement must address and resolve all out25 standing issues relating to the legitimate rights 


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1 of all refugees, including Jews, Christians, and 

2 other populations, displaced from countries in 

3 the Middle East; and 

4 (B) the President should instruct the 

5 United States Representative to the United Na6 tions and all United States representatives in 

7 bilateral and multilateral fora to— 

8 (i) use the voice, vote, and influence 

9 of the United States to ensure that any 

10 resolutions relating to the issue of Middle 

11 East refugees, and which include a ref12 erence to the required resolution of the 

13 Palestinian refugee issue, must also in14 clude a similarly explicit reference to the 

15 resolution of the issue of Jewish refugees 

16 from Arab countries; and 

17 (ii) make clear that the United States 

18 Government supports the position that, as 

19 an integral part of any comprehensive 

20 Arab-Israeli peace, the issue of refugees 

21 from the Middle East, North Africa, and 

22 the Persian Gulf must be resolved in a 

23 manner that includes recognition of the le24 gitimate rights of and losses incurred by 

25 all refugees displaced from Arab countries, 


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1 including Jews, Christians, and other 

2 groups. 

3 (11) The international definition of a refugee 

4 clearly applies to Jews who fled the persecution of 

5 Arab regimes and Iran, where a refugee is a person 

6 who ‘‘owing to a well-founded fear of being per7 secuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, 

8 membership of a particular social group, or political 

9 opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and 

10 is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to 

11 avail himself of the protection of that country’’ (the 

12 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees). 

13 (12) On January 29, 1957, the United Nations 

14 High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), deter15 mined that Jews fleeing from Arab countries were 

16 refugees who fell within the mandate of the 

17 UNHCR. 

18 (13) Dr. E. Jahn of the Office of the United 

19 Nations High Commissioner stated in a UNHCR 

20 declaration, on July 6, 1967: ‘‘I refer to our recent 

21 discussion concerning Jews from Middle Eastern 

22 and North African countries in consequence of re23 cent events. I am now able to inform you that such 

24 persons may be considered prima facie within the 

25 mandate of this Office.’’. 


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1 (14) Israel’s agreements with Egypt, Jordan, 

2 and the Palestinians have affirmed that a com3 prehensive solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict will 

4 require a just solution to the plight of all refugees. 

5 (15) Israel has adopted multiple government 

6 decisions affirming its long-standing position in sup7 port of the rights and claims of Jewish refugees 

8 from Arab countries and Iran. 

9 (16) In February 2010, the Israeli Knesset 

10 adopted a law preserving the rights for compensa11 tion for Jewish refugees who originated from Arab 

12 countries and Iran. According to this law, the Israeli 

13 government and its prime minister are instructed to 

14 raise the issue of compensation for private and com15 munal property during negotiations. 

16 (17) The initiative to secure rights and redress 

17 for Jews who were forced to flee Arab countries and 

18 Iran does not conflict with the right of Palestinian 

19 refugees to claim redress. 

20 (18) All countries should be aware of the plight 

21 of Jews and other minority groups displaced from 

22 countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and the 

23 Persian Gulf. 

24 (19) An international campaign has been pro25 ceeding in numerous countries, including the United 


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1 States, to record the history and legacy of Jewish 

2 refugees from Arab countries and Iran. 

3 (20) Media reports have indicated that the 

4 framework that Secretary of State John Kerry has 

5 proposed for the negotiations between the Israelis 

6 and Palestinians includes a proposal for compensa7 tion for Jewish refugees. 

8 SEC. 3. STATEMENTS OF POLICY. 

9 Congress makes the followings statements of policy: 

10 (1) A just, comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace 

11 cannot be reached without addressing the uprooting 

12 of centuries-old Jewish communities in the Middle 

13 East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf. 

14 (2) As a matter of law and equity, history re15 veals that there were two large refugee popu16 lations—Arabs and Jews—that were precipitated 

17 just before, during, and after the Arab-Israeli War 

18 in 1948. 

19 (3) It would be fundamentally unfair for the 

20 United States to recognize rights for one popu21 lation—Palestinian refugees—without recognizing 

22 equal rights for other refugees from that very same 

23 Middle East conflict—former Jewish, Christian and 

24 other refugees from Arab countries and Iran. 


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1 (4) Any United States Government statements 

2 that include a reference to the required resolution of 

3 the Palestinian refugee issue, such as at the United 

4 Nations or as part of the Middle East Quartet, must 

5 also include a similarly explicit reference to the reso6 lution of the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab 

7 countries and Iran. 

8 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

11 the President shall submit to Congress a report on actions 

12 the Department of State and other relevant Federal de13 partments and agencies have taken relating to the resolu14 tion of the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries 

15 and Iran with respect to the preceding year. 

16 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re17 quired by subsection (a) shall include a description of the 

18 following: 

19 (1) Actions in bilateral and multilateral fora to 

20 address the issue of rights for Jewish refugees from 

21 Arab countries, as expressed by the House of Rep22 resentatives in paragraph (2) of the first section of 

23 House Resolution 185 (as passed the House of Rep24 resentatives on April 1, 2008) and described in sec25 tion 2(10)(B) of this Act. 


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1 (2) Measures to help ensure that the interests 

2 of Jews displaced from Arab countries and Iran are 

3 considered in any final settlement of the Middle 

4 East refugee question that is part of any com5 prehensive Arab-Israeli peace. Such measures shall 

6 include statements on the issue and reports to the 

7 Middle East Quartet. 

8 (3) Efforts to make certain the interests of all 

9 refugees displaced as a result of the Arab-Israeli 

10 conflict, including Arabs, Jews, Christians, and 

11 other groups, are considered in any final settlement 

12 of the Middle East refugee question that is part of 

13 any comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace. 

14 (c) FORM.—The report required under subsection (a) 

15 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain 

16 a classified annex if necessary. 

17 (d) TERMINATION.—The requirement to submit to 

18 Congress the report under subsection (a) shall terminate 

19 on the date on which the President certifies to Congress 

20 that an agreement has been agreed to between the parties 

21 to resolve the issues described in paragraphs (1), (2), and 

22 (3) of subsection (b). 

Æ 


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