Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Neque mi arcu integer lobortis. Donec lectus ut erat donec maecenas quis cras lacus. Ornare tempor consectetur dictum a in at tristique venenatis sed.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Neque mi arcu integer lobortis. Donec lectus ut erat donec maecenas quis cras lacus. Ornare tempor consectetur dictum a in at tristique venenatis sed.
In 2016, the State of California passed legislation, AB 2016, requiring the State Board of Education to adopt an Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum for high school students. Unfortunately, their first draft of the model curriculum completely ignores the experiences of Jewish American, promotes a boycott of Israel, and ignores antisemitism. Furthermore, in conflict with its stated guidelines, the Model Curriculum erases the histories, voices, and experiences of American minority communities from the Middle East and North Africa – including those of Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews. To the Instructional Quality Commission of the California Board of Education: We, the undersigned Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish organizations and synagogues in communities throughout California commend Governor Brown for signing AB 2016, requiring the State Board of Education to adopt an Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. Like California’s Department of Education, we too believe that a strong state requires excellent educational opportunities that include culturally meaningful, inclusive content that promotes civic responsibility, self-empowerment, cultural competency, and critical thinking. As a sub-ethnic group indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa, these values are core to our community and we are pleased to see them so well-articulated in the Ethnic Studies Curriculum Guidelines. We offer our feedback to the Advisory Committee in good-faith that the model curriculum can be improved to positively impact students, educators and schools throughout our state of California. We would like to open our review by providing context on who we are as a community. To begin, Mizrahi Jews are an indigenous group from the Middle East, whose ancestors lived continuously in the region for over 2,500 years. Sephardic Jewish communities from Spain integrated into North African and Middle Eastern Jewish communities as a result of the Spanish Inquisition and today there is much overlap between Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews. In the mid to late 20th century, state-sanctioned antisemitism, frequently taken under the banner of anti-Zionism, led to the ethnic cleansing and displacement of close to one million Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews from countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa. 650,000 of these Jews fled to Israel as stateless refugees and the remainder scattered to countries around the world, including the USA. Today, Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews comprise over half of Israel’s Jewish population. Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews are a racially diverse ethnic sub-group that is both proudly Jewish and proudly Middle Eastern. This intersection provides us with a unique vantage point and we share our concerns about the proposed Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, bringing our full identities and experiences to the conversation. We would like to frame our comments by quoting directly from the statutory guidelines in the curriculum. The very first requirement states that, “The model curriculum shall be written as a guide to allow school districts to adapt their courses to reflect the pupil demographics in their communities.” We estimate that the state of California is home to some 236,000 Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent. Our families arrived in California as Arabic, Farsi, Judeo-Spanish, Turkish, and Hebrew speaking refugees and immigrants from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Turkey, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Iraq and Iran. Notably, the Iranian Jewish community in Los Angeles comprises an estimated 60,000 individuals, making them one of the largest Middle Eastern diasporic communities in the United States. Despite our community’s numbers, we have been completely erased from the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, most notably from the Arab American Studies Course outline. There is no possible way that the Arab American Studies Course curriculum, as it is currently written, can adequately reflect Mizrahi demographics, needs and interests in the state of California. The Arab American Studies Course Outline within the curriculum is deeply problematic. It is highly politicized and not built on foundational scholarship necessary for the quality education our students deserve. It lacks cultural competency, nuance and sensitivity to student demographics. While the Middle East and North Africa is one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse regions in the world, within the model curriculum the term “Arab” is never defined leaving educators and readers to easily conflate “Arabs,” “Muslims,” and “Middle Easterners.” Minority groups and experiences from the Middle East and North Africa are totally erased from the curriculum portraying Arabs as a homogenous, Muslim group. The Arab American Studies Course violates a number of the Ethnic Studies Curriculum Guidelines. It is not written in a language that is inclusive and supportive of multiple users as it excludes and erases the experiences, perspectives, and voices of diverse Middle Eastern communities – including Mizrahi Jews indigenous to the region. If the curriculum is to be consistent with an intersectional frame that is supportive of multiple users, then it must identify the histories, perspectives, voices and oppression of diverse Middle Eastern communities – including those that diverge from dominant Middle Eastern narratives. The Arab Studies Course erasure of Jewish and minority Middle Eastern perspectives perpetuates a legacy of oppression and cultural genocide of non-Muslim Middle Eastern groups who fled persecution to find sanctuary in the Unites States. It will fail in promoting self and collective empowerment of Coptic students, Bahai Students, Mizrahi Jewish students, Assyrian students, Iranian students, Kurdish students, Yazidi students and non-Muslim Middle Eastern students who together constitute a sizeable Middle Eastern demographic in California yet are entirely erased in the curriculum. The course presents only one Middle Eastern experience – that of Arab Muslims. By only exploring the experience of the dominant ethnic – religious group from the Middle East, the course will fail to promote rigorous analysis of history, systems of oppression, and the status quo in an effort to generate discussions on futurity, and imagine new possibilities. The inclusion of diverse Middle Eastern experiences and perspectives is essential for a full and rich understanding of Middle Eastern American identity, and it necessary in avoiding an essentialist understanding of “Arabness.” It is also essential in understanding current events in the Middle East such as the Syrian Civil War, and the ongoing oppression and cleansing of Coptic Christians, Assyrians and Yezidis from the region. Furthermore, as an integral part of the larger Jewish community, we are writing to express our deepest concerns that the Model Curriculum excludes any reference to antisemitism and its current manifestations. As 2018 FBI statistics have noted, hate crimes against Jews have risen by 37% accounting for over half of religious-based hate crimes in the United States. It is at this time that the American Jewish community, particularly students and young adults, are in need of consideration, allyship, and support. At a time of increased vulnerability for American Jews, it is essential that the State of California do its best to protect the unique needs and sensitivities towards American Jewish students. This includes exercising extreme caution in public discourse and teaching of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. The over-emphasis of the Israeli Palestinian conflict and the definition of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) in the Model Curriculum are both framed entirely from the vantage of proponents of BDS and fail to adhere to curriculum guidelines that require content to be taught in a manner that is “balanced“, “inclusive“, and reflective of “different perspectives“. While Jews are an indigenous ethnic group to modern day Israel, our voices are omitted in all curricular references to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. This is deeply troublesome. The one-sided framing of the Israeli Palestinian conflict in the Model Curriculum creates a scenario where it’s not unlikely that Jewish students may be stereotyped, accused of dual-loyalty, harassed and forced to face social litmus tests. The Israeli-Arab conflict is an incredibly complex and fraught subject. We are concerned that teachers will not be prepared or able to teach and facilitate conversations on an incredibly complex conflict, and that the curricular guidelines encourage simplistic, one-sided approaches that fail to reflect the full panoply of experiences, perspectives, and interests essential to any critical discussion of the region. As a large Middle Eastern community in the State of California we recommend that the Arab American Studies Course be overhauled and re-written with the involvement and oversight of a representative committee of diverse Middle Eastern communities residing in California. We very much want to see Middle Eastern American Studies integrated into the Model Curriculum and would be delighted to work together with a diverse team of Middle Eastern curriculum writers, scholars, educators and organizations to ensure that we are providing our students with the highest quality educational material on Middle Eastern American identity. We simultaneously believe it is critical to remove the unbalanced definition of BDS from the glossary of terms and to include a working definition for antisemitism. Thank you for your consideration, 30 Years After, Los Angeles Baba Sale Congregation, Los Angeles Bar Yohai Sephardic Minyan, Sunnyvale Congregation Magen David, Beverly Hills Iranian American Jewish Federation, Los Angeles JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa, San Francisco Kahal Joseph Congregation, Los Angeles The Karaite Jews of America, Daly City Magain David Sephardim Congregation, San Francisco Sephardic Education Center, Los Angeles Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel, Los Angeles
JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa strongly supports the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) recommendations the California State Board of Education’s Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) approved at its November 19th meeting. Now the IQC will be handing the State Board of Education an Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum draft that is balanced and inclusive, as legislators intended when passing AB 2016, the groundbreaking legislation that spurred the creation of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. The IQC agreed with 10,000 individuals who joined JIMENA’s call to create a comprehensive Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum by including our lesson plan, “Antisemitism and Jewish Middle Eastern-Americans.” That lesson adds Jewish Americans from the Middle East, a large and vital part of California’s diverse ethnic composition, to our State’s new Ethnic Studies framework. The inclusion of our lesson helps ensure that the curriculum does not replicate discriminatory hierarchies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). At least 60 percent of California’s diverse MENA population were in danger of being excluded from this curriculum, which is why JIMENA and other Middle Eastern groups advocated for the ESMC to accurately represent the rich and vibrant diversity of our state’s Middle Eastern ethnic minorities. “We are so deeply grateful that the lived experiences of so many minorities, including American Jews from the Middle East, are one very important step closer to being taught in California’s classrooms,” JIMENA Executive Director Sarah Levin said. JIMENA’s lesson plan and the lesson drafted by the Institute for Curriculum Services help fill a gap in content the State provides teachers — content on contemporary antisemitism — during the time of an unsettling and unprecedented rise in antisemitic acts in California and America. Jews, who comprise just 2 percent of the population, are the target of 60% of religious-based hate crimes according to 2019 FBI statistics. We thank California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, IQC Executive Director Shanine Coats, and the members of the IQC for their strong leadership, hard work creating impactful curriculum, and standing tall against bigotry and hate. We are also grateful to our community and allies for advocating on our behalf.
Dear California State Superintendent of Public Education Tony Thurmond, In light of recent events, JIMENA would like to share four core principles that we ask you to consider in the development of the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. We believe these principles will be vitally important in producing an Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum that is representative, equitable and free of bias. 1. California’s diverse Middle Eastern populations should be fairly and equitably represented. As you know, JIMENA has simply asked the California Department of Education to follow the State Board’s standards and guidelines, which require the curriculum to be balanced and portray peoples proportionately if they are represented. Therefore, if Arab Americans are included in the curriculum, the ESMC should also include Mizrahi Jews and other Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) groups as part of the “broadly defined umbrella of Asian Studies”. Non-Arab Middle Easterners – which account for more than 60% of California’s MENA population – have built a broad coalition called Advocates for Inclusive Middle Eastern Education (AIMEE) to ensure that our stories are told. The State of California must uphold its promise of transparency and public input in reviewing the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. We are deeply troubled by the CDE’s recommendation that the public will not be allowed their rightful opportunity to review and comment on any new Arab American Studies lesson plan or content to be added to the curriculum, per standard procedure as defined in AB2016. We believe it is critical that the curriculum focuses on the lived experiences of communities here in the United States of America. As the only Jewish organization which provided the California Department of Education with a comprehensive lesson plan for inclusion in the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, JIMENA’s focus is sharing the lived experiences of Middle Eastern and North African Jews IN North America, many of whom have been racialized and have experienced one of the worst forms of bigotry – antisemitism. Our lesson plan, “Antisemitism and Middle Eastern-American Jews” centers Mizrahi Jewish experiences in a lesson plan on antisemitism in the United States. The State of California must draw clear redlines against antisemitism and discrimination. The Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum must not include the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement, and other highly politicized conversations about Middle Eastern conflicts that create unsafe classrooms for Jewish and Middle Eastern minority students throughout California. Thank you, Gina Bublil-Waldman, President Sarah Levin, Executive Director cc. Governor Gavin Newsom State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond Chief Deputy Superintendent Stephanie Gregson
On Thursday, August 13th the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) of the California Department of Education (CDE) met to review the second draft of its revised Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC). JIMENA is deeply troubled by last minute recommendations by CDE to include an Arab American lesson plan, which will not be available for public review. While JIMENA supports the inclusion of Middle Eastern-American experiences, it is our hope that the revised Ethnic Studies Curriculum will make clear that under the “broadly defined umbrella of Asian Studies” are Mizrahi Jews and other Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) groups which represent 60% of California’s Middle Eastern community but have been excluded from both drafts of the ESMC. During the IQC meeting, JIMENA’s Executive Director Sarah Levin noted that, “We need an Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum that is balanced and equitable for all Middle Eastern and North African school children – including Mizrahi Jews and the 500,000 Middle Eastern Californians who were excluded from both drafts of the curriculum.” These concerns are shared by the ten members of the multi-ethnic Middle Eastern-American Coalition, “Advocates for Inclusive Middle Eastern Education (AIMEE)” who continue to request inclusion of their stories in California’s Ethnic Studies Curriculum. AIMEE collation member, Peter Warda who serves as President of the Assyrian American Association of Southern California noted, “At present, our countries of origin are quickly becoming homogenous due to policies that either lead to the expulsion of minority groups or force them to conform to majority expectations. Our experiences as persecuted, indigenous minorities attest to this. We fear that our exclusion from a curriculum would contribute to the ongoing cultural genocide and erasure of minority voices from the Middle East and North Africa.” These sentiments were shared by over 20 Mizrahi Jews who called into the IQC meeting Sapir Taib, JIMENA’s Program Director noted to members of the IQC that, “My grandparents fled antisemitic religious persecution in Libya and Tunisia and as a Mizrahi Jew, I was disappointed to see my indigenous Middle Eastern community completely omitted from the revised Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. As a Jewish person of color, and as an immigrant, it was troublesome to me that the primary reference to Jews in the curriculum was in the context of our communities being the beneficiaries of white privilege.” Echoing the sentiments of Stand With Us and Israeli American Council, many of the Mizrahi Jews who called in requested that JIMENA’s lesson plan, “Antisemitism and Middle Eastern-American Jews” be added to the curriculum. JIMENA is seeking not only inclusion of materials reflecting Southwest Asian and North African demographics in California, but transparency in the process of the curriculum’s development. We implore the California Department of Education to ensure that new materials added to the curriculum, goes through the 45-day public comment periods, in accordance with AB 2016.
Re: Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum – Middle East and North Africa We, the undersigned organizations are writing to request revisions be made to the draft Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC). Together our groups comprise a minority-majority coalition representing an estimated combined total population of over 500,000, or at least 60%, of the Middle Eastern diasporic population in California (4,5). Our communities are racially, ethnically, culturally, and religiously diverse yet we all identify as groups indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) (1) – most of whom fled oppression and persecution to ultimately settle in our beautiful State of California. Despite our high numbers, our communities and stories were omitted from the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. The curriculum, as it was written, does not reflect Middle Eastern pupil demographics in the State of California nor “allow school districts to adapt their courses to reflect the pupil demographics in their communities” as AB 2016 (CA Education Code Section 51226.7(b)) requires. The Middle East and North Africa, which was once one of the most ethnically and racially diverse areas of the world, is quickly becoming homogenous as a result of the types of oppressions that an Ethnic Studies pedagogy is committed to teaching. Our Middle Eastern and North African diasporic community’s experiences as persecuted, indigenous, minorities – and later as refugees and immigrants attests to this. Much of the MENA region continues to be plagued by civil war and social strife. With high levels of female unemployment (~40%), nearly half of MENA’s population lives on less than US$5.50 per day. (2) As refugees and immigrants, many of us continue to face discrimination in this country, at school, and in our communities with our centers frequent targets of hate crimes. We fear that our exclusion from a curriculum, which we support, would contribute to the ongoing cultural genocide and erasure of minority voices from the Middle East and North Africa. Our inclusion in the curriculum would affirm the important and compelling minority voices from the MENA region. While the ESMC has a lesson on students mapping the MENA region (3), it only explores in depth one, non-representative, regional ethno-religious group leaving educators and students to falsely conflate all Middle Easterners as “Muslims” and “Arabs.” In fact, of the estimated 720,000 individuals of MENA origin in California, 54% are not Arabs and an estimated 31% are not Muslim. (4,5) The ESMC’s current narrow and misleading focus deprives students of a critical framework for learning about the full panoply of MENA Americans’ experiences. At a time when there is great need to provide our students with the highest-quality education related to race, ethnicity, and nation our hope is to see the ESMC include us. We suggest changing the “Arab American Studies” course outline to “Middle Eastern American Studies” so the vast majority of Middle Eastern and North African children can see themselves reflected in the California curriculum and their classmates can learn their family and communal stories too. We’d like to reference the California State Board of Education’s 2013 “Social Content Standards” (6) as they were so beautifully written and if taken into consideration would provide a wonderful reframing for a Middle Eastern American Studies Course that is inclusive of diverse MENA communities. These standards are focused on diversity and proportions of portrayals — that “help end stereotyping [by] portray[ing] accurately and equitably the cultural and racial diversity of American society [including] women and minorities in other societies.” Similarly, the State Board of Education’s approved Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Guidelines require “balance” and that it “validate students’ lived experiences,” and be “inclusive.” (7) The relevant Social Content Standards include (6): 1. Ethnic and Cultural Groups. To “instill in each child a sense of pride in his or her heritage, develop a feeling of self-worth [and] eradicate the roots of prejudice:” 2. Proportion of portrayals. “must portray accurately, to the extent possible, the roles and contributions of a fair proportion of diverse ethnic groups.” 3. Religion. To “enable all students to become aware and accepting of religious diversity while being allowed to remain secure in any religious beliefs they may already have …without displaying bias toward or prejudice against any of those beliefs” Employing these required standards will produce an ethnic studies course that teaches students about the communities most likely enrolled in their schools. For instance: Palestinian-Americans, who comprise an estimated 3% (4) of California’s MENA population (7), are featured in the Arab American Studies course outline and mentioned in the Introduction as well as the Glossary. Yet, the two largest MENA groups in California – Iranians, who comprise 26% (4) of California’s MENA population; and Israelis and Jews of MENA descent, who comprise 28% (4,5) — are not mentioned at all. Also not mentioned are MENA Christians (Assyrian Christians, Coptic Christians, and non-Muslim Middle Eastern Christian) who also comprise a sizable portion of California’s MENA population. We ask that the California Department of Education consider the inclusion of lesson plans, or educational content, written by scholars from the following religious and ethnic communities; Zoroastrians, Coptic-Christians, Assyrian-Christians, Mizrahi Jews, Baha’is, Yezidis, Iranians, and Kurds. We commend the California Department of Education and the ESMC writers and advisory committee members for their hard work and desire to provide our students with a high-quality Ethnic Studies curriculum. We stand ready to support you in developing this curriculum to provide accurate, balanced, high-quality content addressing our histories and cultures, as well as racism, justice, and equality, to empower all of our State’s students. Thank you, 30 Years After Assyrian Association of Southern California Assyrian Foundation of America Coptic Solidarity JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa Kurdish Community of Southern California Los Angeles Baha’i Center Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans Zoroastrian Association of California Footnotes: 1. Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen. 2. https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/mena/overview 3. ESMC Chapter 2, pages 237 and 275. 4. 2018 US Census Data, People Reporting Ancestry. https://bit.ly/2YeEDAh 5. Berman Jewish Databank, US Jewish Population, 2018 (with MENA Jews accounting for an estimated 25% of California’s Jewish population) https://bit.ly/3hGTqvl 6. Content Standards https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/lc.asp 7. ESMC Guidelines. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/ethnicguidelines.asp
My name is Sarah Levin and I serve as the Executive Director of JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa, an organization representing the interests of Jews from North Africa and the Middle East – also known as Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. We have a very large constituency base in the Los Angeles Unified School District – including many Iranians. I’m here to appeal to you, not only in my official role, but as a concerned mother who is a product of, and a firm believer in public-schools and in ethnic studies. My sons come from a Jewish background that includes Iraqi, Turkish and Israeli heritage. We are two of the more than 500,000 Californians of Middle Eastern heritage who were completely omitted from the Arab American Studies Course of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. With a coalition of Mizrahi Jews, Assyrian Christians, Coptic Christians, Kurds and Iranians of various faiths – we are asking you to please focus on supporting the revision process mandated by the State Board of Education, and do not even consider a vote endorsing the first draft of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. Like you, I am looking forward to our schools and students receiving the highest quality, most rigorous curriculum – which is surely not the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum which State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, Governor Gavin Newsom, AB 331 author Jose Medina, and many other officials strongly criticized. Thank you.
To Mr. Jeremy Sabloff and the Cultural Property Advisory Committee at the U.S. Department of State: We submit these comments to you on behalf of JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa. JIMENA is one of the few organizations in North America representing the interests of Mizrahi and Sephardic Jewish refugees from North Africa and the Middle East. For context, Mizrahi Jews are an indigenous Middle Eastern population, whose ancestors lived continuously in the region for over 2,500 years. In the mid 20th century until today, state-sanctioned antisemitism led to the ethnic cleansing and displacement of close to one million Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews from countries throughout the region – including Yemen. 650,000 of these Jews fled to Israel as stateless refugees and the remainder scattered to countries around the world, including the USA. Today, Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews comprise over half of Israel’s Jewish population. This past December, a coalition of 18 leading Jewish organizations including: Anti-Defamation League, Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, B’nai Brith International, World Jewish Congress, and Simon Wiesenthal Center publicly called on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to encourage the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to explicitly recognize the rights of Jewish and minority heritage when negotiating cultural property agreements with countries in North Africa and the Middle East. In our letter to Secretary Pompeo, we specifically requested that Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) originating in North Africa and the Middle East include provisions that list and name specific Jewish and Christian items to be excluded from the restricted list of items to be brought in the United States. We also requested that the State Department’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Heritage adheres to the limitations set by Congress under the Cultural Property Implementation Act by denying broad, excessive import restrictions to nations that have neither valued nor cherished the ancient heritage of Jewish, Christian, and other minority peoples. The letter to Secretary Pompeo is below and our requests, within the context of MOUs originating in the Middle East and North Africa, remain consistent. On July 31st, 2018, during a public hearing for the Request of the Government of the People’s Republic of Algeria for U.S. import restrictions on virtually the entire cultural heritage of Algeria, representatives of exiled Middle Eastern Jews urged the Cultural Property Advisory Committee to withhold these import restrictions – but it seems these requests were ignored. Algeria failed to meet the criteria set for restrictions under the Cultural Property Implementation Act and we were surprised that the United States gave the Algerian government authority and control over the property of its oppressed and exiled Jewish and Christian citizens. We hope our requests today will be considered and we are prepared to take more significant steps to protect our cultural heritage and bring awareness to how through the MOU process, the human rights of religious minorities from the Middle East and North Africa is being violated. An MOU with Yemen is based on a flawed premise – that Jewish cultural property constitutes the national heritage of the Yemeni government. In fact, under the color of law, Jewish cultural property in Yemen was expropriated from private homes, schools, and synagogues. For decades, Jews in Yemen faced terrible state-sanctioned antisemitic persecution including forced conversions to Islam, violent pogroms, and restrictions to freedom of movement. Within the last ten years, the Jewish community of Yemen has faced deadly antisemitic persecution leading to the exodus of Yemen’s remaining Jewish families. The International Council of Museum’s Red List for Yemen specifically included Torah scrolls as part of the cultural heritage Yemen seeks to take ownership of, which is deeply problematic. Unlike other endangered archeological items that CPAC is trying to protect, Torah scrolls are not a national cultural relic of any government – but are an integral, living element of Jewish heritage, and belong in the custody of Jewish communities. If this committee truly cared about protecting cultural property it would advocate a position of returning Yemeni Torah scrolls to Yemenite Jewish communities who are certainly the best caretakers of their living cultural property. We ask you, how can a country that severely violated the human rights of its Jewish people, and is currently embroiled in famine and war, be entrusted to serve as responsible owners and custodians of Jewish cultural property? We find it abhorrent that a country whose antisemitic policies, and inability to protect its Jewish people, would now like to claim legal ownership over confiscated Jewish communal property. By signing an MOU with Yemen that does not include provisions that list Torah scrolls, and other Jewish items, to be excluded from import restriction lists, this committee is complicit in Yemen’s antisemitic crimes. MOUs demand that the governments themselves show they are taking measures to preserve and protect the heritage in their own countries and Yemen should be asked to present an inventory of remaining Jewish moveable and non-movable patrimony and an account of what they are actively doing with respect to the care of synagogues, cemeteries and other sites and items of Jewish and Christian heritage. Sadly, we know the Yemeni government is complicit in the bombing and shelling of cultural sites, including museums, and has done nothing to preserve the remnants or memory of Jewish history from Yemen. These MOUs claim to be about looting, but their broad scope and limited evidence of success suggests their impact is providing a legal vehicle to legitimize foreign confiscations and wrongful ownership claims. Proponents of import restrictions point to looting of museums, but such material is already subject to detention and seizure under the National Stolen Property Act. Furthermore, U.S. imports from Yemen indicate that the U.S. is not a destination for looted or stolen material. Legitimate efforts to curb looting in Yemen and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa are essential, but must be targeted to preserve archaeological resources, and not to disguise the brazen property confiscations of antisemitic governments. We close by voicing our frustration that the Cultural Property Advisory Committee accelerated the timeline for action on Yemen’s MOU request, thus minimizing the opportunity for the Jewish community and others to oppose it. The call for public comment was made during the Jewish High Holidays, exhibiting insensitivity towards Jewish people and institutions who care deeply about this issue. We hope that your committee will take the concerns and requests of the Jewish community seriously. Thank you, Sarah Levin, Executive Director, JIMENA Gina Bublil-Waldman, President, JIMENA C.C. Honorable Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs Assistant Secretary, Marie Royce House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Eliot Engel Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Chairman, Jim Risch Commission for the Preservation of American Heritage Abroad Chairman, Paul Packer Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, Elan Carr
The Cultural Property Advisory Committee at the U.S. Department of State has been signing Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) agreements with foreign governments that blockade the entry of cultural property to the USA and deny Jews and Christians from Arab countries the rights to their historic heritage. Through the MOU process, our government is transferring ownership of confiscated Jewish property to various Arab governments that expelled or forced their Jewish populations to flee antisemitic persecution under duress. Despite the protestations of Jewish communal organizations, including; ADL: The Anti-Defamation League, Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, B’nai Brith International, Simon Wiesenthal Center, World Jewish Congress of North America, and many others, MOU agreements have been signed with Algeria, Libya, Egypt and Syria. The signing of the MOUs is done under the auspices of The Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA). This law provides for the US to enter into agreements with foreign nations to temporarily restrict the import of “significant” cultural items as part of a multi-nation effort to deter looting of ancient archeological sites. Over time the State Department has broadened the scope of the law to provide for “near permanent” bans on the import of ALL cultural items to the present time. The MOUs recognize those nation’s claims and seizures of all cultural property, including the personal property of individuals and the communal property of religious and ethnic groups. The MOUs are based on a flawed premise – that Jewish cultural property constitutes the national heritage of Arab governments. In fact, under the color of law, Jewish cultural property in Arab countries was expropriated from private homes, schools, and synagogues. It is the heritage and patrimony of the Jewish people. Arab governments have done little to preserve the remnants or memory of Jewish history in the countries and verified reports describe Jewish synagogues, pilgrimage sites, homes, and cemeteries being looted and destroyed. Jewish holy sites throughout the Middle East and North Africa have been appropriated and many demolished. TAKE ACTION: Yemen and Morocco MOU Request Hearings, October 29th – 30th, 2019 ACTION REQUIRED NOW! The Cultural Advisory Committee of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is the governing body responsible for signing MOU agreements. The committee will meet on October 29th – 30th, 2019 to review MOU requests from Yemen and Morocco. The public may participate by submitting comments virtually, by submitting written comments and/or by participating in person. To participate in the virtual open session: The public may participate in the virtual open session of the meeting on October 29, 2019, from 1:30 to 2:30 pm EDT, using Zoom. Anyone may participate. Please RSVP by October 15th to participate in the virtual session by contacting the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at culprop@state.gov. To submit written comments: Use regulations.gov, enter docket DOS-2019-0031, and follow the prompts to submit written comments. To participate in person: If you wish to participate in the open session at the meeting, you must request to be scheduled by October 23, 2019, via email (culprop@state.gov) in order to be guaranteed a slot. Please submit your name and organizational affiliation in this request. After you pre-register, you will be provided with instructions on how to participate. For more information on how to participate, click here. General Talking points for public comment, op-eds & communication with elected officials The State Department has accelerated the timeline for action to minimize the opportunity for the Jewish community and others to oppose this action. The call for public comment was made during the Jewish High Holidays. MOUs with Arab governments are based on a flawed premise – that Jewish cultural property constitutes the national heritage of Arab countries. In fact, Jewish cultural property in Arab countries was expropriated from private homes, schools, and synagogues. MOUs claim to be about looting, but their broad scope and limited evidence of success suggests their real impact is providing a legal vehicle to legitimize foreign confiscations and wrongful ownership claims of confiscated Jewish property. Legitimate efforts to curb looting are essential, but they must be targeted to preserve archaeological resources, and not to disguise the brazen cultural property confiscations of Jewish and Christian communities throughout the region. We ask that the State Department’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Heritage adheres to the limitations set by Congress under the Cultural Property Implementation Act by denying broad, excessive import restrictions to nations that have neither valued nor cherished the ancient heritage of Jewish, Christian, and other minority peoples. MOUs from the Middle East should include provisions that list and name specific Jewish and Christian items to be excluded from the restricted list of items. The proposed MOUs would legitimize Arab government’s confiscation of Jewish Communal Property. A Red List from Yemen outlines the cultural property the government seeks to take ownership of and it includes Torah scrolls. MOUs demand that the governments themselves show they are taking measures to preserve and protect the heritage in their own countries and the Yemeni government is complicit in the bombing and shelling of cultural sites, including museums. Yemen should be asked to present an inventory of remaining Jewish moveable and non-movable patrimony and an account of what they are actively doing with respect to the care of synagogues, cemeteries and other sites and items of Jewish and Christian heritage. U.S. imports from Yemen indicate that the U.S. is not a destination for looted or stolen material. Proponents of import restrictions point to looting of museums, but such material is already subject to detention and seizure under the National Stolen Property Act. Article 17 of the U.N Declaration of Human Rights states that no individual or community should be arbitrarily deprived of their property. Therefore, the United States should not enter into any agreement, and should withdraw from any existing agreements, with a foreign state that either condones, supports or promotes any Article 17 violation by that state. If you are former Jewish refugee from an Arab country, or the descendant of one you are encouraged to speak from a compelling, emotional place and share your family story and perspective. What did you or your family leave behind? What does it mean to you that a government who failed to protect your rights is now laying claim to your property? For more information Jewish Communal Letter to Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo Regarding Cultural Property Agreements Letter to Secretary of Treasury, Steven Mnuchin Regarding Yemen Emergency Import Restrictions Yemen’s Red List of cultural property they seek to take ownership of – including Torah scrolls Cultural Property Observer, Short Comment Period for Proposed MOU’s with Morocco and Yemen Yemeni Jews arrested for allegedly helping to smuggle Torah to Israel: report Pattern of Abuse: Iraqi Jewish Archive & MOUs
Dear Secretary Pompeo, On behalf of the undersigned Jewish organizations we are writing to encourage the State Department and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to explicitly recognize the rights of Jewish and minority heritage when negotiating future cultural property agreements with countries in North Africa and the Middle East. During the 20th century, 850,000 indigenous Jews from the region were ethnically-cleansed or forced to flee lands their ancestors lived in for over two-thousand years. Virtually all of their personal and communal property was confiscated. The dispossession and denationalization of nearly one million Jewish refugees was done under the color of law and today there are very few Jews remaining in most of these countries. The State Department has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between the United States and other governments that deny Christians and Jews from Arab countries the right to their historic heritage. The Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA) was enacted to deter the looting of archeological sites by enacting temporary import restrictions on significant cultural items as part of a multilateral effort. Unfortunately, over time these restrictions have expanded beyond both the law’s intent and its legal authority. We recognize the importance of these MOU agreements in deterring the pillaging of archaeological and ethnological materials. However, an additional goal of these agreements, as noted in the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, is to, “increase international access to cultural property.” This has a particular relevance with regard to Jewish heritage, which encompasses both moveable (e.g., Torah scrolls, ritual objects, libraries, communal registers) assets and immovable (e.g., synagogues, cemeteries, religious shrines) assets. Regrettably, it is not safe – and in many cases forbidden by national law – for Jewish refugees from Arab countries to return to the countries that exiled them. On July 31st, 2018, during a public hearing at the Department of State on the Request of the Government of the People’s Republic of Algeria for U.S. import restrictions on virtually the entire cultural heritage of Algeria, representatives of exiled Middle Eastern Jews urged the Cultural Property Advisory Committee to the President to withhold these import restrictions. Algeria has failed to meet the criteria set for restrictions under the Cultural Property Implementation Act. It would be unconscionable for the United States to give the Algerian government authority and control over the property of its oppressed and exiled Jewish and Christian citizens. As MOU agreements demand that the governments themselves show they are taking measures to preserve and protect the heritage in their own countries, North African and Middle Eastern countries, including Algeria, requesting MOUs should be asked to present an inventory of remaining Jewish moveable and non-movable patrimony and an account of what they are actively doing with respect to the care of synagogues, cemeteries and other sites and items of Jewish and Christian heritage. The recent statement by the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs, Joan Polashick, that the State Department is working on an additional five MOUs with Middle Eastern and North African nations makes it essential that a policy is in place that protects Jewish and Christian heritage by explicitly excluding them from any import restrictions and rejecting any state claims to individual and communal property. We ask that the State Department’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Heritage adheres to the limitations set by Congress under the Cultural Property Implementation Act by denying broad, excessive import restrictions to nations that have neither valued nor cherished the ancient heritage of Jewish, Christian, and other minority peoples. We further request that all future MOUs from the region include provisions that list and name specific Jewish and Christian items to be excluded from the restricted list of items. Such items include: Torah scrolls, Torah cases, Jewish prayer books, Jewish manuscripts, religious ceremonial articles, and all Jewish ritual and prayer materials that include Hebrew inscriptions or references to original Jewish owners – whether they be individuals or Jewish institutions. It is more important than ever for the United States to stand in solidarity and defense of Christian, Jewish and other religious minorities in the Middle East and North Africa, to ensure that these living communities are not deprived of their rich cultural heritage. Thank you for your attention. We look forward to remaining in communication with the State Department on this crucial issue. Thank you, Gina Waldman Sarah LevinPresident, JIMENA Executive Director, JIMENA Organizations: A.A. Society The American Sephardi Federation ADL: The Anti-Defamation League B’nai B’rith International Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations Harif: UK Association of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa Historical Society of Jews from Egypt Iranian American Jewish Federation (IAJF) JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa JJAC: Justice for Jews from Arab Countries The Lawfare Project Morial: French Association of Algerian Jews Sephardic Educational Center Sephardic Legacy Project Simon Wiesenthal Center World Jewish Congress North America Yemenite Jewish Federation of America
Dear Secretary Mnuchin: We strongly urge you to rebuff those supporting, promoting and legitimizing Arab governments’ seizure of the property and patrimony of the Jewish people. All across the Middle East and North Africa Jews, who had resided in the region for millennia, either fled or were expelled by the Arab rulers of these nations. Their property, both individual and community, was seized. In recent years, U.S Department of State actions have unfortunately enabled the seizure of Jewish property by these governments. In 2018 an agreement was signed with Libya, whose Jewish population fled with only suitcases of possessions, that failed to recognize Libyan Jewry’s claims to their patrimony. Also in 2018, Algeria, a state that denied its Jewish population citizenship upon independence and converted synagogues to mosques, proposed an agreement. These agreements have moved forward under the camouflage of deterring looting despite the lack of hard evidence that these agreements are effectively addressing a real problem. In simple terms, this is a case of an agenda in search of a problem. Today, the target is Yemen and you are being urged to enact Emergency Restrictions on the import of cultural property from that nation. These proposed restrictions would effectively recognize the Yemen regime’s ownership claims to all that region’s cultural property, including Jewish patrimony. Proponents are advocating this approach despite the uncontested evidence that the real threat to these cultural artifacts is the documented daily destruction and ruin from the bombing campaigns of that government and its allies. Rather than condemning that government’s unprecedented historic disregard for cultural heritage, some advocates and Congress members have launched a campaign urging you to endorse the Yemeni regime’s claims to Jewish property by enacting Emergency Restrictions. This campaign has misrepresented import statistics to justify the request for Emergency Restrictions, while releasing of a “Red List” that directly targets Jewish ceremonial items. Make no mistake, the Yemeni regime views the property of Yemen’s ancient Jewish community, which fled to Israel on Operation Magic Carpet, as Yemeni government property. That Yemeni government arrested a Rabbi for bringing a Torah to safety in Israel, claiming that Torahs are government property. The United States must not endorse or legitimize this wrong. We urge you not to facilitate this seizure of Jewish patrimony and not impose Emergency Restrictions. Gina Waldman, President, JIMENA Sarah Levin, Executive Director, JIMENA
The Cultural Property Advisory Committee of the State Department will meet on July 31, 2018,to review an Memorandum of Understand (MOU) request from Algeria which would validate Algerian claims to confiscated Jewish property and heritage. Under the Cultural Property Implementation Act, our government has been signing similar MOUs – agreements between the US and foreign governments that blockade the entry of property to the USA. The MOUs claim to be about looting, but their broad scope and limited evidence of success suggests their real impact is providing a legal vehicle to legitimize foreign confiscations and wrongful ownership claims. Legitimate efforts to curb looting are essential, but they must be targeted to preserve archaeological resources, and not to disguise the brazen property confiscations of tyrants. US cultural agreements with Arab governments are based on a flawed premise – that Jewish cultural property constitutes the national heritage of Arab countries. In fact, Jewish cultural property in Arab countries was expropriated from private homes, schools, and synagogues. No such agreement should be made with a state where Jews were subjected to state-sanctioned Anti-Semitism, Nuremberg like laws and in some cases ethic-cleansing. Below are links to comments and testimonials urging the state department to reject the Algerian MOU request. Further background can be read here. Gina Bublil-Waldman, JIMENA President Carole Basri, Fordham University Law School Adjunct Professor & Jewish Refugee Advocate Sarah Levin, JIMENA Executive Director The Association of Art Museum Directors The Committee for Cultural Policy and Global Heritage Alliance Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association
Iraqi Jewish Archive (IJA) Background On May 6, 2003, just days after the Coalition forces took over Baghdad, 16 American soldiers, entered the flooded building of Saddam Hussein’s Intelligence agency the Mukhabarat. In the basement, under four feet of water, they found tens of thousands of books, artifacts and documents belonging to the Jewish community of Iraq – materials that had been seized from synagogues, schools and other and Jewish institutions. With limited treatment options in Baghdad, and with the agreement of the-then Iraqi Ministry of Culture and the US Department of State, the materials were shipped to the United States for restoration and preservation. Since then, these materials have been freeze-dried, preserved and are digitized under the custodianship of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The removal of these Jewish archives from Iraq was executed under the Immunities from Seizure Act, a law which allowed the conservation measures to take place while protecting the archives from possible seizure by claimants to both Iraqi assets and Jewish heritage. Despite the protestations of the American Jewish community and bipartisan legislative efforts to return the Archive to Iraqi Jews, under this Agreement, the US State Department is to ship the entire collection back to Iraq in September, 2018. As recently as October, 2017 Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer urged the State Department not to send the Iraqi Jewish Archive back to Iraq. IJA is Part of Larger Pattern of Abuse. MOUs Unfortunately, the Iraqi Jewish Archive case is only one of several instances where our American Government has signed agreements recognizing Arab governments’ seizures of Jewish property. Our government has been signing Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) – agreements between the US and foreign governments that blockade the entry of art and cultural property to the USA and deny Jews from Arab countries the rights to their historic heritage. The signing of MOUs with Middle Eastern countries validates those countries’ confiscation of Jewish property and heritage and simultaneously denies the rights of Jews and other religious minorities to their cultural patrimony. The signing of the MOUs is done under the auspices of The Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA). This law provides for the US to enter into agreements with foreign nations to temporarily restrict the import of “significant” cultural items as part of a multi-nation effort to deter looting of ancient archeological sites. Over time the State Department has broadened the scope of the law to provide for “near permanent” bans on the import of ALL cultural items to the present time. The MOUs recognize those nation’s claims and seizures of all cultural property, including the personal property of individuals and the communal property of religious and ethnic groups. The MOUs are based on a flawed premise – that Jewish cultural property constitutes the national heritage of Arab governments. In fact, Jewish cultural property in Arab countries was expropriated from private homes, schools, and synagogues. It is the heritage and patrimony of 850,000 indigenous Jewish refugees who were ethnically cleansed and fled their homes and property under duress. Jewish patrimony was never the property or national heritage of Arab governments – in fact most Arab governments have done little to preserve the remnants or memory of Jewish history in the countries. Today Jewish communities from Arab countries and their descendants live outside of the Arab world and most are restricted from entering their countries of origin. Examples of these MOUs include: Algeria: – Following the lead of Yemen, the Algerian government, in the summer of 2018 Algeria requested an MOU from the State Department. The open session of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee was held on July 31, 2018, at 10:30 a.m. View testimonials and comments urging the US Department of State to reject Algerian MOU request here. Egypt: The U.S. MOU with Egypt, signed in November, 2016, covers virtually all objects of cultural heritage dating from the Predynastic period (5,200 B.C.) through 1517 A.D, including Hebrew “scrolls, books, manuscripts, and documents, including religious, ceremonial, literary, and administrative texts.” Libya: On February 23, 2018, the US Department of State signed an MOU with Libya to restrict importation of objects of ‘Libyan cultural heritage’ including items owned by the ethnically-cleansed Libyan Jewish community. Syria: The 2016 designated list of import restrictions from Syria includes “[t]orahs and portions thereof” and “Jewish paintings [which] may include iconography such as menorahs,” and “religious, ceremonial, literary, and administrative material,” including but not limited to maps, archival materials, photographs, and other rare or important documentary or historical evidence.” Yemen: On January 31, the International Committee of Museums announced the release of a Red List for Yemen, which targets Hebrew manuscripts and Torahs, while reaffirming the Yemeni government claims to Jewish property. Frequently, issuing a State Department funded Red List is the first step in a campaign to smooth the way for an MOU. The aforementioned nations either ethnically cleansed, expelled or terrorized their ancient Jewish communities into flight and seized their property. Under UN Resolution 242, Jews fleeing Arab countries were bona fide refugees yet today, these nations claim private and communal Jewish property as their own heritage through cultural patrimony laws. Unfortunately, US government agreements effectively endorse these seizures of Jewish property. No further agreement should be made with a state where Jews were subjected to state-sanctioned Anti-Semitism, Nuremberg like laws and ethnic-cleansing. No persecuting nation can lay claim to the legacy of a proud and ancient Jewish community. Moreover, the annual State Department Human Rights Report annually reports violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and that Report must include violations of the Declaration’s Article 17. Article 17 states that no individual or community should be arbitrarily deprived of their property. Therefore, the United States should not enter into any agreement, and should withdraw from any existing agreement, with a with a foreign state that either condones, supports or promotes any Article 17 violation by that state. These MOUs claim to be about looting, but their broad scope and limited evidence of success suggests their real impact is providing a legal vehicle to legitimize foreign confiscations and wrongful ownership claims. Legitimate efforts to curb looting are essential, but they must be targeted to preserve archaeological resources, and not to disguise the brazen property confiscations of tyrants. Talking points and action items to advocate for the issue by clicking here. Further Reading Cultural Property News, Cultural Property: Rights of Jews and Christian MinoritiesCultural Property News, A General Guide EgyptAssociation Internationale Nebi Daniel, The Community RegistersU.S. Department of State, Secretary Kerry Signs Cultural Property Protection Agreement with EgyptCultural Property News, Now That Jews Are Gone, Egypt Says It Will Restore SitesCambridge Digital Library, Cairo Genizah LibyaU.S. Department of State, United States and Libya Sign Cultural Property Protection Agreement, 2018Cultural Property News, US Blocks Imports of Art and Artifacts from Libya, 2017Cultural Property News, American Jewish groups outraged by State Department Agreement with LibyaJTA: Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 2018, US Agrees to Libyan requests that activists stay prevents Jewish artifacts from leaving country IraqWebsite, Save the Iraqi Jewish Archive Campaign Times of Israel, Do not give holy Jewish artifacts to country that expelled Its Jews SyriaAssociated Press, Jewish artifacts disappear from Damascus in fog of Syria warPaul Getty Occasional Paper in Public Policy, Cultural Cleansing and Mass Atrocities: Protecting Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflict ZonesCultural Property News Special Report, Bearing False Witness: The Media ISIS and AntiquitiesU.S Department of State Cultural Heritage Center, Syria Yemen Cultural Property News, Yemen Red List Includes Jewish Religious Artifacts AlgeriaU.S. Department of State, Cultural Advisory Committee Meeting Notice. CALL FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. MUST REGISTER BY JULY 15! For further information, please contact:Sarah Levin, Executive Directorsarahlevin@jimena.org