Israeli campaign aims to undermine Palestinian Right of Return

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has launched a campaign to persuade Arab Jews to tell the story of their migration from Arab countries. “I am a Jewish refugee” aims to equate their situation with that of Palestinian refugees.

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According to newspaper reports, the campaign calls on those Israelis born in Arab countries to upload video testimonials telling the story of their “deportation” from those countries. The initiative springs from Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, who is a son of an Algerian-born immigrant. “The campaign aims to promote recognition and compensation for the ‘refugees’ and their families and raise the issue on the international agenda,” he told Yedioth Ahronoth.

“Some 856,000 Arab Jews were ‘expelled’ or left their homes penniless and arrived in Israel as refugees,” alleged Ayalon. “Unfortunately, the story of their ‘expulsion’ has never won recognition by the international community or any of the Israeli governments.”

The testimonials will be uploaded onto a Facebook page in Arabic, Hebrew and English.