Fleeing Jews seek compensation

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- In an historic tit-for-tat in the Middle East, Jews who have been driven from Arab nations since the 1950s are now able to sue those countries for the loss of their money, goods and property, just as Arabs have been seeking compensation due to personal losses suffered by their refugees.

The flight of over 600,000 Jews began a half century ago. A life-long Jewish resident of Baghdad, Iraq, and the director of the Center for the Heritage of Babylonian Jewry, Mordechai Ben-Porat has been secretly leading scores of Jews out of Baghdad since the early 1950s. Ben-Porat's singular acts of heroism caught the fancy of the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, and by 1995, more than 100,000 Jews were brought home from Iraq in one of the greatest intelligence missions in modern times. Another 160 have escaped Iraq since 1995. Between 24 and 36 Iraqi Jews are still trapped in Baghdad and other cities, according to Israeli intelligence.

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The Jews who have escaped their host nations are called the "Mizrahis," meaning "from the East." The group has found a voice in the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries.

Many casual observers don't realize that it is not only the Palestinians who have been driven into the wilderness by the ever-changing face of national boundaries and human migration -- be it forced or voluntary. In fact, there are some historians who would argue that all of human history -- from Moses to Attila to Genghis Khan and the British Empire -- finds its genesis in the migration of peoples.

Swallowing diamonds

The story begins in the early 1950s. Baghdad residents Rachel Avni and her husband Abraham are gathering up their belongings. Anger over the creation of the state of Israel has reached a boiling point in Muslim Iraq. It is not safe for them to remain there any longer. They gather up their valuables -- gold coins, cherished family photos and some jewelry. Abraham, a diamond cutter, swallows some small cut diamonds, which he will later remove from his stools.

Rachel also gathers up the few necessities she will need for her son, Noah, and daughter, Rebecca. The Avnis had been economically successful, but that doesn't matter now. There are anti-Jewish riots in Iraq, and Abraham's store has already been looted and firebombed.

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The journey is long, arduous and dangerous. The Avni family crosses the plains of Iraq by car, horseback, donkey and on foot. They bribe Iraqi border agents and pass into Jordan. Eventually, they make it into Israel, where they live with relatives in a cramped apartment. Unable to make ends meet with odd jobs, Abraham once again takes the family to flight, this time by boat to Cyprus.

This is where WorldNetDaily catches up with the Avnis -- even if Iraqi's police-state apparatus does not. High in the mountains above the searing desert-like shores of Cyprus, the Avnis are once again thriving. Abraham's diamond business is flourishing in Nicosia. They have six grandchildren now, and there is now more than enough time to look back and reflect on those hectic days two generations ago.

"We lost our house, our clothes, my diamond business -- everything," Abraham, an orthodox Jew, told WorldNetDaily. Nevertheless, there are more important things in life, he said.

"But honestly, my Rachel and our children made it out of Iraq safely. God knows how to preserve His people -- His remnant. Remember, over two thirds of the Jews who survived the European Holocaust were under the age of 12. It was these children who would help to see the nation of Israel reborn."

Rachel, a devoted wife and grandmother, seconds her husband's take on their flight from Iraq. "We lost almost everything of material value. The Iraqis took our assets, our diamonds. For three generations, our families had worked to build up that business. And in one day, it was all gone -- vanished."

Now, thanks to an initiative pursued by former President Clinton, the Avnis may have an opportunity to sue the Arab nations for what was taken from them in 1952. Almost 600,000 Jews were forced out of Arab lands between the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and 1972. At the Camp David summit held last summer, even hard-line Palestinian diplomats agreed that these Jews had come out on the short end of the deal.

"We have had everything taken from us," one Palestinian diplomat said. "Why should we deny justice to the Jews who lost their homes and businesses. This is not the way of Allah."

Clinton pushed for this compensation agreement in the Israeli media, with whom he has maintained a cordial relationship. Even this week, Clinton went on Israeli television to stump for Ehud Barak, who was nevertheless trounced in Tuesday's election.

At Camp David, the Palestinians laid claim to billions of dollars worth of compensation money for the land, savings and businesses they lost since the creation of Israel. Now, the 600,000 Jews forced out of Arab lands have countered with a claim for billions of their own.

This compensation quid pro quo was seen as a vital linchpin in selling a comprehensive peace plan with Syria, Lebanon and the PLO to the Israeli public. Tired of handing over land and receiving nothing but increased terrorism, the skeptical voters in Israel wanted something they could hold in their hands to prove the "good will" of the Arabs -- money.

Once again, Ben-Porat, a former Mossad agent, is at the forefront of the compensation claims pushed for by people like Abraham and Rachel Avni. Ben-Porat's mathematical skills have drawn up a figure of $15 billion in compensation due 580,000 Jews who fled Arab governments like Iraq and Libya. Men like Gadhafi used their government's police state to confiscate Jewish wealth before sending the faithful packing for Israel.

According to Noam Beh Yehuda, a Mossad intelligence agent based in Cyprus, the 580,000 refugees break down as follows: From Lebanon, 6,000; Syria, 4,500; Iraq, 127,000; Yemen, 51,000; Libya, 35,600; Egypt, 29,000; Algeria, 14,500; and Morocco, 260,000.

"The end of French colonial rule in North Africa only exacerbated this problem," Beh Yehuda told WorldNetDaily.

"We really don't care about the money," Rachel Avni said. "But if the Arabs are bringing lawsuits against us Jews -- and I believe, yes, they do have that right -- then we also have the right to have our claims presented to them as well. We need to find closure on this issue -- all of us, both Jew and Muslim."

Who will pay in the end? The Palestinians want the "international community" to fork over the $15 billion. Israel will also say that it spent $10 billion to assimilate the Jews fleeing Arab lands into its borders.

"Someone's going to pay," adds Abraham Avni. "Or else the Israeli negotiators will say, 'Alright, we will just cancel out what we owe the Palestinians,' and then Arafat and his friends will be left with nothing."

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