About
JIMENA
is a nonprofit organization committed to educating and advocating for
the one million Jewish refugees from the Middle East and North Africa
.
.
Company Overview
Through
a 39-member Speakers Bureau composed of former Jewish refugees, digital
preservation projects, advocacy campaigns, and student and young adult
engagement activities, JIMENA is raising awareness to the plight of
Jewish refugees and other minorities from the Middle East and North
Africa. Incorporating the Sephardic and Mizrahi refugee experience into
the mainstream Jewish narrative strengthens
our advocacy for Israel, enriches and unifies our Jewish communities,
and adds balances and accuracy to distorted historical narratives of the
Middle East and North Africa.
Since 2001, JIMENA launched
numerous campaigns to ensure that our story is documented and included
in discourse and negotiations involving Middle Eastern refugees.
Instrumental in the passage of US House Resolution 185, members of
JIMENA’s Speakers Bureau have shared their personal stories with the UN
Human Rights Council, US Congressional Human Rights Caucus, European and
Italian Parliaments, Israeli Knesset, British Parliament and over 70
Universities in North America.
General Information
Indigenous
Jewish communities have maintained a continuous presence in the Middle
East and North Africa for over 2,500 years – fully 1,000 years before
the advent of Islam. As the Arab Conquest emerged from Arabia in 622 and
swept through vast regions of the Middle East and North Africa, Jews
and Christians became second-class dhimmis. As dhimmis or “People of the
Book”, Jews and Christians faced multiple social inequalities and were subjected to discriminatory laws.
During European colonial rule the quality of life for many Jews in the
Middle East and North greatly improved. However by the 1930’s Nazism
spread beyond Europe into parts of the Middle East and North Africa.
Palestinian Arab nationalist leader Haj Amin al-Husseini famously met
with and supported Hitler. On March 1st, 1944 Husseini took to the radio
and incited the Arab World to “Rise as one man and fight for your
sacred rights. Kill the Jews wherever you find them”. As ARAB
NATIONALISM took hold of the region Jews once again found themselves
subjected to severe mistreatment and abuse. With Israel’s establishment
in 1948 Arab countries turned against their own Jewish populations
making life intolerable. Entire Jewish communities were destroyed and
over 850,000 Jews were expelled or forced to flee as stateless,
penniless refugees.
As documented by Justice for Jews from Arab
Countries (JJAC) the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) ruled that Jews fleeing Arab countries were ‘bona fide’ refugees
who “fall within the mandate of (the UNHCR) office”. Despite the
ruling, there has been almost a complete absence of international
recognition to the plight of the nearly one million Jews who, since
1948, have been displaced from Arab countries
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