A bi-partisan resolution that addresses the plight of Jewish refugees from Arab lands has been referred to committees in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

The progress of the bills through the law-making process is an important indicator that the Democratic-controlled Congress “has embraced [the resolutions]” in the same way the Republican-led Congress did, said Stanley Urman, executive director of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC).

The resolutions, which are nearly identical, are co-sponsored by four senators and four congressmen representing both political parties. Their operative clauses urge U.S. President George W. Bush to instruct American diplomats participating in international fora to raise the question of Jewish, Christian and other refugees from Arab and Muslim countries whenever Palestinian refugees are brought up.

The “Sense of the Senate” resolution also calls on the U.S. government to support “the position that, as an integral part of any comprehensive peace, the issue of refugees and the mass violations of human rights of minorities in Arab and Muslim countries throughout the Middle East, North Africa and the Persian Gulf must be resolved in a manner that includes consideration of the legitimate rights of all refugees… and recognition of the losses incurred by Jews, Christians and other minority groups as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

Urman said JJAC had pushed for the resolutions as a way of addressing the historical wrong done to more than 850,000 Jews.

“We want to ensure there is recognition that two [refugee] populations emerged in the Middle East. The world recognizes that Palestinians were refugees. We want them to recognize there were Jewish victims as well,” he said.

The resolutions are not meant to dismiss the claims of Palestinians, he continued. “The resolutions are an attempt to restore balance. They are not against the Palestinians.”

Urman said the JJAC’s efforts to publicize the historical record will not end at the U.S. Congress. “We want to make sure all members of the Quartet know about it.”

Last year representatives of the European parliament and the European Commission were briefed on the issue, as were Russian officials. (Russia, the United States, the United Nations and the European Union make up the diplomatic “quartet” that backs the “road map” peace plan.)

“We want to make sure when it comes to table they’re not hearing about it for the first time,” he said.

Urman noted that final status talks under the “road map” calls for a just and fair resolution of the refugee issue.

In addition, UN Resolution 242, the Egypt-Israel peace treaty and other international documents are not limited to Palestinian refugees. They can be read as referring to Jewish and other refugees from Arab lands, he said.

One of the House sponsors, Representative Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat from New York, said “the suffering and terrible injustices visited upon Jewish refugees in the Middle East needs to be acknowledged. It is simply not right to recognize the rights of Palestinians refugees without recognizing the rights of Jewish refugees, who in fact, outnumbered their Palestinian counterparts.”

(UN records cited by JJAC state that 726,000 Palestinians were made refugees during the conflict with Israel, less than the number of Jewish refugees.)

“This measure underscores the need to address the refugee issue in a comprehensive and balanced manner,” said Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,” a Florida Republican who is a bill co-sponsor. “The displacement of Jewish, Christian and other minorities living in predominately Arab countries receive scant attention, and yet remain a stumbling block in the road to a sustainable long-term peace in the Middle East. It is essential that the plight of these communities be integrated into discussions of any comprehensive settlement regarding the issue of refugees.”

“There can be no true and lasting peace in the Middle East unless the legitimate claims of all refugees displaced by the years of conflict are recognized by the international community,” said Senator Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican and one of the resolution’s Senate co-sponsors.

Other Senators endorsing the bill include Republican Trent Lott (the former majority leader) and Democrats Frank Lautenberg and Richard Durbin (the majority whip).

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