Israel's Mission to the United Nations is currently leading a diplomatic campaign to recognize Jewish refugees expelled from Arab countries after the establishment of the State of Israel. As part of this effort, the Mission will hold a unique event with Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa (JIMENA) at the UN headquarters in New York that will host UN officials and ambassadors from around the world with the aim of raising the issue for the international community's agenda.
The event will take place the day after the General Assembly marks the anniversary of November 29th, 1947, the date the United Nations voted for UN Resolution 181, which sought to partition Mandatory Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. (The day is being commemorated on December 3rd due to the Thanksgiving holiday.) Each year, the Palestinian delegation tries to focus the UN's attention on the Palestinian refugee issue and calls for support for the right of return. Against this, Israel is working to focus on the Jewish dimension of the refugee issue.
Among the keynote speakers at the Israeli Mission's event will be Sarah Idan, who was elected Miss Iraq in 2017. After being photographed with Miss Israel, Idan was forced to flee Iraq and emigrated to the United States. She has become an avid spokeswoman for Israel who spares no criticism of her homeland. In her recent speeches, she condemned Hamas' terrorist activities and systematic human rights violations in Iraq. In light of her statements, Iraqi citizenship was deprived of her. In her recent speeches, she condemned Hamas' terrorist activities and systematic human rights violations in Iraq. In light of her statements, she was stripped of her Iraqi citizenship.
Along with Idan, Elan Carr, the Trump administration's Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating anti-Semitism, will also address the event. Carr, the son of a Jewish refugee from Iraq, is expected to address the incident to highlight the importance of this event and share the story of his mother, who was forced to flee Iraq.
Ahead of the event, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said that "the story of nearly a million Jews who were brutally expelled from their homes has so far received no UN attention, and has even been deliberately downplayed to focus solely on the Palestinian narrative. The State of Israel must voice support for Jewish refugees and correct this historical injustice."
Sarah Levin, Executive Director of JIMENA: "As we enter the fifth year of Jewish Refugee Commemoration Day, there is a growing urgency to center and elevate the voices of Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews, whose collective experiences and perspectives provide an important lens to approach contemporary issues of antisemitism, minority rights in the Middle East, and efforts to delegitimize Israel."