Subject Matter: The film addresses the mass exodus of Jewish populations from countries like Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Morocco, where their communities had existed for thousands of years.
Historical Context: Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, anti-Jewish riots and discriminatory laws led to persecution, property confiscation, and violence against these civilian populations.
Director: Pierre Rehov is a French-Israeli documentary filmmaker known for other films related to the Middle East conflict, such as “The Road to Jenin”, “Suicide Killers” and “Pogrom(s)” among many other.
Goal: Rehov aimed to educate the world about this “forgotten” refugee population, arguing that justice should be sought for both Palestinian refugees and the Jewish refugees from Arab lands.
Recognition: The film points out an institutional barrier to redress, noting a UN representative’s opinion that these Jews did not qualify as refugees because they supposedly left of their “own free will”.
The documentary has been used by educational campaigns, such as the International Rights and Redress Campaign (IRRC), to raise awareness about the history and rights of Jews from Arab countries. It was screened at the UN in Geneva, and won an award at the Paris Human Rights Film Festival in 2004.
