Israel launches campaign against return of Palestinian refugees

The Israeli Foreign Ministry chose the title “I am a Jewish refugee” for its new campaign launched against the right of return for Palestinians. The campaign is addressed to the Jews living inside and outside of Israel, and aims at urging the citizens deported from Arab countries to demand compensation for the properties they have left since 1948.              

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon is leading the campaign which is organized through Israel's efforts to make the compensation the only alternative to the right of return.

The campaign will include publishing documents by Jews born in Arab states, speaking of their properties and telling their stories and the conditions of their deportation. Ayalon will be trying through this campaign to bring greater recognition to the problem, by broadcasting a video depicting some 865,000 Arab Jews who were expelled or had left their homes, only to be re-granted those rights upon re-settling in Israel as refugees. However, Palestinian refugees in Arab States live in camps deprived of rights and in minimum humanitarian conditions.