Justice for Jews from Arab Countries

Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC) is a United States-based political advocacy organization focused on the history, rights, and recognition of Jewish communities that left or were displaced from Arab countries and Iran during the twentieth century. The organization was founded in New York in 2002 through the cooperation of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the World Jewish Congress, the American Sephardi Federation, and the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries. It later worked with organizations including the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and the World Sephardic Congress. JJAC’s central objective is to ensure that Jews from Arab countries and Iran are treated as a distinct refugee population in diplomatic, political, and historical discussions concerning the Middle East. Its mission encompasses representing the interests of these communities, documenting their experiences, preserving their cultural heritage, and promoting public education about their displacement. The organization also describes itself as a clearinghouse for information and documentation concerning Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran. Its advocacy operates across several connected areas. First, JJAC promotes official recognition of Jewish refugees as part of the wider refugee history created by the Arab-Israeli conflict and the political changes that followed the establishment of Israel. Second, it supports the collection of personal testimony and historical records concerning the departure of Jewish communities from countries including Syria and other parts of the Arab world. Third, it seeks recognition of property and economic losses associated with confiscation, expropriation, abandonment, or forced departure. Finally, it conducts educational and public-policy work intended to place Jewish displacement within discussions of truth, justice, reconciliation, and possible refugee compensation. A major milestone cited by the organization was the adoption by the United States Congress in April 2008 of a resolution recognizing Jewish refugees from Arab countries. JJAC has described the measure as requiring United States diplomats, when addressing Palestinian refugees in Middle East negotiations, to make an explicit corresponding reference to Jewish refugees from Arab countries. This position has made the organization part of a broader political debate over whether Jewish and Palestinian refugee claims should be addressed together in any future peace process. JJAC and the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries also advocated the creation of an annual commemoration for the Jewish communities that left Arab countries after the founding of Israel. Israel subsequently established November 30 as a national day of commemoration for Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran, a date associated with the post-1948 displacement of a population often estimated at approximately 850,000 people. In 2024, JJAC released the results of a six-year study concerning Jewish property in Syria. The organization reported that the value of property confiscated from Syrian Jews exceeded $10 billion. It said the assessment drew on evidence concerning Jewish economic life, written records, interviews with community leaders and experts, and analysis of earlier estimates. The Syrian study was presented as part of a wider research program that was expected to examine additional Arab countries. JJAC’s work is politically consequential but contested. Critics have argued that emphasizing Jewish refugee claims can function as a political counterweight to Palestinian refugee claims, particularly Palestinian demands relating to a right of return and compensation. JJAC presents its approach as a matter of historical completeness, equal recognition, and justice for a neglected refugee population. The organization’s public identity therefore combines historical preservation, advocacy, diplomacy, and claims-related research rather than commercial products or consumer services.

Justice for Jews from Arab Countries emerged in New York in 2002 as a coordinated advocacy initiative created by several major Jewish communal and international organizations. Its founding participants included the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the World Jewish Congress, the American Sephardi Federation, and the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries. The organization was established to give greater political and historical visibility to Jews who had lived in Arab countries and Iran and who left, fled, or were expelled during the upheavals surrounding the creation of Israel and subsequent regional conflicts. The organization’s work developed around the proposition that Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran constitute a distinct refugee population whose experiences should be acknowledged in Middle Eastern diplomacy and historical education. Its mission includes representing their interests, recognizing their collective legacy, recording personal testimonies, preserving communal history and heritage, gathering documentation, and conducting educational programs. In this role, JJAC operates between a political advocacy group, a historical documentation project, and a policy-oriented public-information organization. A principal focus of its advocacy has been the treatment of Jewish and Palestinian refugee issues in peace negotiations. JJAC has argued that references to Palestinian refugees should be accompanied by explicit recognition of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran. Stanley Urman, identified with the organization’s founding leadership, described the adoption of a United States congressional resolution in April 2008 as one of JJAC’s most important achievements. The resolution represented, in the organization’s account, the first formal recognition by the United States Congress of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and encouraged their inclusion in United States diplomatic language concerning Middle Eastern negotiations. JJAC’s position has also been linked to claims concerning property and assets. The organization has sought to preserve evidence about the economic position of Jewish communities before their departure and about property that was confiscated, nationalized, abandoned, or otherwise lost. This work supports both historical recognition and the broader argument that refugee compensation discussions should account for losses suffered by Jews from Arab countries as well as by Palestinians. Together with the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries, JJAC advocated an official commemoration for the Jewish communities that left Arab countries after 1948. Israel established November 30 as a national day associated with the remembrance of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran. The commemoration helped move the issue from specialist communal advocacy into a more visible public and national context. The organization’s later research has included country-specific estimates of Jewish property losses. In 2024, JJAC released findings from a six-year study of Syria, reporting that the value of property confiscated from Syrian Jews exceeded $10 billion. According to the organization, the study combined written records, evidence of Jewish economic status, interviews with community figures and experts, and comparisons with previous evaluations. It described the Syrian work as the first component of a broader research program intended to examine additional Arab countries. JJAC’s advocacy has attracted criticism because of its implications for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Critics have characterized the organization’s emphasis on Jewish refugee recognition as a tactic that could help the Israeli government counter Palestinian claims concerning return and compensation. JJAC rejects the implication that recognition of one population should negate the claims of another and instead frames its work as an effort to achieve historical balance, equal acknowledgment, and the possibility of justice and reconciliation. Its continuing identity is therefore rooted in political education, historical memory, refugee advocacy, and documentation rather than in commercial branding.

• 2024

  Syria Jewish property study released

  [1]Justice for Jews from Arab Countriesen.wikipedia.org

  JJAC published the results of a six-year study estimating that property confiscated from Syrian Jews exceeded $10 billion.

• 2014

  November 30 established as a commemoration date

  [1]Justice for Jews from Arab Countriesen.wikipedia.org

  Following advocacy by JJAC and the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries, Israel established November 30 as a national day commemorating Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran.

• 2008

  U.S. congressional recognition of Jewish refugees

  [1]Justice for Jews from Arab Countriesen.wikipedia.org

  A United States congressional resolution adopted in April recognized Jewish refugees from Arab countries and supported their inclusion in relevant diplomatic discussions.

• 2002

  Organization founded in New York

  [1]Justice for Jews from Arab Countriesen.wikipedia.org

  Justice for Jews from Arab Countries was established by a coalition including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the World Jewish Congress, the American Sephardi Federation, and the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries.

Political advocacy and historical-recognition organization focused on Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran.

• Political advocacy · 2002

  Refugee advocacy

  JJAC advocates official recognition of Jews from Arab countries and Iran as a distinct refugee population. Its policy position seeks to ensure that Jewish refugee experiences are included whenever Palestinian refugee issues are discussed in diplomatic or political settings.

• Historical documentation · 2002

  Testimony and heritage documentation

  The organization collects and promotes personal testimonies, historical records, and information about Jewish communities from Arab countries and Iran. The purpose is to preserve individual experiences, communal heritage, and evidence concerning displacement.

• Research and policy documentation

  Property-loss research

  JJAC develops documentation and estimates concerning Jewish economic losses and property confiscation in Arab countries. Its 2024 Syria study used archival material, interviews, evidence of economic status, and prior evaluations as part of a broader country-by-country research effort.

• Education and public affairs · 2002

  Public education programs

  JJAC provides historical and policy-oriented educational material intended to explain the displacement of Jews from Arab countries and Iran and to place that history within wider discussions of truth, justice, reconciliation, and refugee claims.

• 2014National commemoration for Jewish refugees from Arab countries

  Israel

  JJAC and the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries promoted an official annual remembrance of the Jewish communities that left or were expelled from Arab countries after the establishment of Israel.

  Outcome. November 30 became an Israeli national day of commemoration for Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran.

  Source
• 2008Recognition of Jewish refugees in United States diplomacy

  United States · Middle East diplomacy

  JJAC advocated congressional recognition of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and the inclusion of explicit references to them in United States diplomatic discussions of Middle Eastern refugee issues.

  Outcome. A congressional resolution adopted in April 2008 recognized Jewish refugees from Arab countries and was described by JJAC as a major organizational achievement.

  Source

• 2024

  Publish Syria Jewish property assessmentOther

  Background

  JJAC conducted a six-year research project on the economic position and property losses of Syria’s Jewish community.

  Action taken

  The organization released an assessment stating that property confiscated from Syrian Jews exceeded $10 billion and described the study as part of a broader regional research initiative.

  Aftermath

  The Syria findings provided a country-specific basis for JJAC’s continuing advocacy concerning historical recognition and property claims.

  Estimated value of property confiscated from Syria's Jews. More than $10 billion (Study released in 2024; research conducted over six years)

  Source

• 2008

  Pursue matched diplomatic recognition of Jewish and Palestinian refugee claimsStrategy

  Background

  JJAC’s advocacy focused on the principle that references to Palestinian refugees in Middle East negotiations should be accompanied by explicit recognition of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran.

  Action taken

  The organization pursued congressional and diplomatic advocacy supporting formal recognition and corresponding treatment of Jewish refugee claims.

  Aftermath

  The approach was reflected in a United States congressional resolution adopted in April 2008. Critics argued that the strategy could be used to counter Palestinian claims concerning return and compensation.

  Source

1. 1Justice for Jews from Arab Countriesen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Justice for Jews from Arab Countries official websitejusticeforjews.com