''The Forgotten Refugees'' is a 2005

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

directed by Michael Grynszpan and produced by The David Project and IsraTV with Ralph Avi Goldwasser as executive producer, that recounts the history of Jewish communities of the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and their demise in the face of persecutions following the creation of the modern State of Israel in 1948.

Summary

The documentary explores the history, culture, and forced exodus of Middle Eastern and North African Jewish communities in the second half of the 20th century. Using extensive testimony of refugees from Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, and Morocco, the film weaves personal stories with dramatic archival footage of rescue missions, historic images of exodus and resettlement, and analyses by contemporary scholars to tell the story of how and why the Jewish population in the Middle East and North Africa declined from one million in 1945 to several thousand today.

Interviewees

Personalities interviewed in the film include: *

Irwin Cotler Irwin Cotler, PC, OC, OQ (born May 8, 1940) is a retired Canadian politician who was Member of Parliament for Mount Royal from 1999 to 2015. He served as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada from 2003 until the Liberal gov ...

, Canadian member of parliament and international human rights lawyer *

Mordechai Ben-Porat Mordechai Ben-Porat ( he, מרדכי בן-פורת ar, مردخاي بن بورات; 12 September 1923 – 3 January 2022) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset in two spells between 1965 until 1984, and as Minister wi ...

, Iraqi Jew and facilitator of the mass emigration of Iraqi Jews between 1949 and 1951 * Gina Waldman, Libyan Jew and current head of

JIMENA Jimena or Ximena is the female version of the given name Jimeno, derived from the Basque ''Semen''. It has come to be viewed as a form of the name Simone, though their origins are distinct. The French rendering of the name is Chimène. It may r ...

(Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa) * Raphael Israeli, Moroccan Jew and Israeli academic * Linda Abdul Aziz Menuhin - an Iraqi Jew who is also the subject of the 2013 documentary ''Shadow in Baghdad''.

Releases

Shown at multiple Jewish film festivals in the US and worldwide and on public television networks, the film was also screened at the second annual UN panel on Jewish refugees from Arab countries. It was also shown at a hearing held by the US

Congressional Human Rights Caucus The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (formerly known as the Congressional Human Rights Caucus) is a bipartisan caucus of the United States House of Representatives. Its stated mission is "to promote, defend and advocate internationally recogniz ...

which heard testimonies on the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries. In 2012, the rights to the film were acquired by

(Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa), an organization working for recognition of the "heritage and history of the 850,000 indigenous Jewish refugees from the Middle East and North Africa."

Recognition

Reception

Reviewing the film for the ''Judaism'' quarterly, Alanna Cooper remarked that it provides an striking contrast between Jews who see themselves as refugees and identify as Arab, and those who have fully assimilated into the Israeli nation.

Awards and nominations

''The Forgotten Refugees'' won the "Best Documentary Film" at the 2007 Marbella Film Festival. In 2006, the film won "Best Featured Documentary" at the Warsaw Jewish Film Festival.

References

External links

* * (as archived September 12, 2012)
Film Review by ''Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America''

Video: ''The Forgotten Refugees'' film on YouTube

Video: Interview with film director Michael Grynszpan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forgotten Refugees, The 2005 films 2005 documentary films Documentary films about the Arab–Israeli conflict Documentary films about historical events Documentary films about Jews and Judaism Documentary films about refugees Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries Films about forced migration 2000s English-language films