Product Details

• Directors: Michael Grynszpan
• Writers: J.J. Salman
• Producers: Ralph Avi Goldwasser
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: IsraTV
• DVD Release Date: November 1, 2005
• Run Time: 49 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000FP2PDU
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #107,557 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Professor S. Ilan Troen
Stoll Family Chair in Israel Studies, Brandeis University
Editor, Israel Studies
This dramatic story is vividly recalled in rare documentary footage and in personal accounts of those who endured this trauma.

Product Description
The Forgotten Refugees: A documentary about the mass exodus of Jews from Arab countries and Iran in the 20th century.

The Forgotten Refugees explores the history and destruction of Middle Eastern and North African Jewish communities, some of which had existed for over 2,500 years. Employing extensive testimony of survivors from Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Iraq and Iran, the film recounts the stories – of joy and of suffering – that nearly a million individuals have carried with them for so long.

Segments on the contributions of Middle Eastern Jews to politics, business and music, testify to the enormously rich cultures which fleeing Jews left behind. The film weaves personal stories with dramatic archival footage of rescue missions, historic images of exodus and resettlement, and analysis by contemporary scholars, to tell the story of how and why the Arab world’s Jewish population declined from one million in 1945 to several thousand today.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The plight of the Mizrachi Jews, June 29, 2006

By	J. Rodriguez "Sangrejudia" (Corpus Christi, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Forgotten Refugees is a very good documentary on the plight of the Mizrachi Jews living in Arab countries and also Iran. Here are the testimonies of the many who fled. In their own words they vividly describe what happened, the horrors they went through. There is also very good footage and photos of the Mizrachi Jews living in Arab lands, and refugee camps. Imagine this, the Jewish people had just gone through the holocaust, the mass murder of 6 million Jews, now another 900,000 had to flee their homes during the 1940 and 1950s. They left everything behind, their homes, vineyards, business, and friends. Up to the 1940s 40 per cent of the population in Baghdad, Iraq was Jewish, they had been living there for 2,600 years, long before the rise of Islam and Christianity, and now they were force to leave. It was that, or get killed. Colonial rule in Arab countries fomented the rise of Arab nationalism during the 1920s, 30, and 40s which in turn lead to discriminatory laws, and hatred towards the Jewish populations, Jews again became the scapegoats. Mobs gathered to kill Jews, synagogues were burt to the ground, Jewish property was confiscated, and their citizenship taken away.

Grand Mufti Hai Amin al-Husseni of Palestine met with Hitler and they developed a plan to set up concentration camps in Arab countries. With the help of Hitler Husseni went on national Nazi radio and broadcast in Arab countries crying "rise as one man and fight for your sacread right, kill Jews where ever you see them". Their only outlet was to flee. Hundreds of thousands lived in refugee camps until Israel was able to take them in. During their testimonies they also point out that there were many wonderful Arab neighbors that treated them justly and help them escape. This documentary sheds light on the forgotten refugees.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important story that needs to be told, February 19, 2007

By	H. Eisenberg - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Forgotten Refugees tells an important story about the now virtually vanished Jews of Arab countries. Most people don't seem to realize that there are both Arab and Jewish refugees in the Middle East and the plight of the Jewish refugees has been forgotten. This video tells the story in a way that makes you understand what a vibrant Jewish community had existed, the persecution to which this community was subjected, and how this community is now gone, due to hatred of the Arab communities for their Jewish neighbors and for no other reason. The only things that I can criticize about the video is that it was supposed to discuss the Jews of Arab lands and of Iran and there was little or nothing about Iran. Also, the video does not illustrate the conditions in Morocco for the Jews where conditions were better for the Jews than in other Arab lands.
I highly recommend this video to anyone who is interested in obtaining a clear and objective view of the long-standing troubles between Arab and Jew in the Middle East.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important insight into the Middle East, January 9, 2007

By	MBSLondon (London) - See all my reviews

This movie offers a different perspective on the Middle East. By showing how the Jews were treated by their Arab neighbours, it makes a strong case for Zionism and Israel, which is now home to almost 80% of Mizrahi Jews who previously lived in Arab countries and Iran. It also shows the diversity and beauty of Sephardi culture, which has been destroyed by an extreme form of pan-Arab nationalism and antisemitism.