(Photo: Arnold Behr/Jerusalem Post Archives)
By Greer Fay Cashman - November 30, 2021
November 30 has been designated as the official date on which the fleeing or expulsion of Jews from Arab and Islamic lands is commemorated in Israel and throughout the Jewish world.
A clue as to the reason for this was provided on Tuesday by Dr. Shimon Ohayon of the World Federation of Sephardi Jews who said that when the vote for the partition of Palestine was cast at the United Nations General Assembly on November 29, 1947, for the Egyptian representative warned that if the resolution passed, Jews in Arab countries would pay a heavy price – and indeed that is exactly what happened. There were pogroms in which many Jews were killed, Jewish homes and places of business were ransacked, destroyed and synagogues were violated and vandalized.
Ohayon, a former MK, in 2014 initiated the bill for recognizing November 30 as the official date for commemorating the exodus of Jews from Arab lands.
Of the Egyptian Jews 40% fled, leaving all their assets behind, said Ohayon, adding that the Arab League incited violence against Jews throughout the Arab world.
Ohayon was speaking at the official state commemoration for Jews who had been forced to leave Arab and Muslim lands. President Isaac Herzog and Social Equality and Pensioners Minister Meirav Cohen (Yesh Atid) also addressed the commemoration ceremony.
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