H. Res. 185 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

April 1, 2008. 

Whereas 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; 

Whereas Jews have lived mostly as a minority in the Middle 

East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf region for more 

than 2,500 years; 

Whereas 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; 

Whereas 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; 

Whereas United States administrations historically have 

called for a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem; 

Whereas 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; 
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Whereas a comprehensive peace in the region will require the 

resolution of all outstanding issues through bilateral and 

multilateral negotiations involving all concerned parties; 

Whereas approximately 850,000 Jews have been displaced 

from Arab countries since the declaration of the State of 

Israel in 1948; 

Whereas 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, 

inter alia, by— 

(1) 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’’; 

(2) 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 

(3) 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 
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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.’’; 

Whereas the international definition of a refugee clearly applies to Jews who fled the persecution of Arab regimes, 

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); 

Whereas on January 29, 1957, the United Nations High 

Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), determined that 

Jews fleeing from Arab countries were refugees that fell 

within the mandate of the UNHCR; 

Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 of 

November 22, 1967, calls for a ‘‘just settlement of the 

refugee problem’’ without distinction between Palestinian 

and Jewish refugees, and this is evidenced by— 

(1) the Soviet Union’s United Nations delegation attempt to restrict the ‘‘just settlement’’ mentioned in Resolution 242 solely to Palestinian refugees (S/8236, discussed by the Security Council at its 1382nd meeting of 

November 22, 1967, notably at paragraph 117, in the 

words of Ambassador Kouznetsov of the Soviet Union), 

but this attempt failed, signifying the international community’s intention of having the resolution address the 

rights of all Middle East refugees; and 

(2) a statement by Justice Arthur Goldberg, the 

United States’ Chief Delegate to the United Nations at 
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that time, who was instrumental in drafting the unanimously adopted Resolution 242, where he has pointed out 

that ‘‘The resolution addresses the objective of ‘achieving 

a just settlement of the refugee problem’. This language 

presumably refers both to Arab and Jewish refugees, for 

about an equal number of each abandoned their homes 

as a result of the several wars.’’; 

Whereas in his opening remarks before the January 28, 

1992, organizational meeting for multilateral negotiations 

on the Middle East in Moscow, United States Secretary 

of State James Baker made no distinction between Palestinian refugees and Jewish refugees in articulating the 

mission of the Refugee Working Group, stating that 

‘‘[t]he refugee group will consider practical ways of improving the lot of people throughout the region who have 

been displaced from their homes’’; 

Whereas the Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to 

the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, which refers in Phase III 

to an ‘‘agreed, just, fair, and realistic solution to the refugee issue,’’ uses language that is equally applicable to 

all persons displaced as a result of the conflict in the 

Middle East; 

Whereas 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’’; 

Whereas the initiative to secure rights and redress for Jews 

who were forced to flee Arab countries does not conflict 

with the right of Palestinian refugees to claim redress; 
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Whereas 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; 

Whereas an international campaign is proceeding in some 40 

countries to record the history and legacy of Jewish refugees from Arab countries; 

Whereas 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; and 

Whereas it would be inappropriate and unjust for the United 

States to recognize rights for Palestinian refugees without recognizing equal rights for Jewish refugees from 

Arab countries: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That— 

(1) 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 

(2) the President should instruct the United States 

Representative to the United Nations and all United 

States representatives in bilateral and multilateral fora 

to— 

(A) 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 
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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 

(B) 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. 

Attest: 

Clerk.