Hon. Leo Housakos: Honourable senators, yesterday represented a milestone: It was the seventy-fifth anniversary of Canada and most of the world community voting “yes” for United Nations Resolution 181. That historic vote marked the beginning of the rebirth of the modern State of Israel, recognizing the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their historic homeland where Jews have always dwelt.

That joyous day was not accepted by everyone, and indeed even today there are those who continue to engage in terror in an endeavour to destroy Israel. Just last week, a Canadian teen was killed in a terror bombing at a bus stop in Jerusalem.

Israel was small and poor on the day of its independence. Today, it is a proud, democratic nation, an ally of Canada and the Western world, a real economic success and a friend of developing nations.

Israeli research and development have led to a better life for untold billions around the world, producing major advances in green agriculture, medicine and technology.

If yesterday’s anniversary was a happy day, today is a sadder one. Today is Jewish Refugee Day, marking the departure and expulsion of a million Jews from their homes in the Middle East, Iran and North Africa. We should not forget that Jewish communities had existed in the region for millennia, contributing enormously to the growth and success of Iran and of Arab nations.

In response to the United Nations’ overwhelming vote for Israel’s independence, the Arab states launched a war that they quickly lost, despite overwhelming numerical superiority, and then began a campaign of hate aimed at the Jewish populations within their borders.

We should not forget that there were substantial Jewish populations in countries such as Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Morocco and Syria, and today these communities — for all practical purposes — no longer exist. Where there were hundreds of thousands, today there are almost none.

Between 1947 and the mid-1970s, Iran and Arab states fomented violence and discrimination against their Jewish citizens. Many were murdered, and a million became refugees. Israel took in many, but I note that Canada welcomed many of these refugees as well. They have contributed enormously to Canada.

The expulsion of Jews from Iran and Arab lands is an enduring refugee crisis that has yet to be resolved. Tens of billions of dollars in assets were stolen from Jewish refugees, and no compensation has ever been offered. On Jewish Refugee Day, I am proud to have been part of a government that, in 2014, became the second country — after the United States — to “ . . . officially recognize the experience of Jewish refugees who were displaced from states in the Middle East and North Africa . . . .”

To that end, I call on the current government to do more to educate Canadians about this tragic but too little-known story. I call on Canada to pressure the Arab states and Iran to compensate the victims and their descendants for their stolen wealth.

Last evening in Ottawa, the Sephardic communities of Montreal and Ottawa, along with the Embassy of Israel and the Jewish Federation, commemorated this anniversary.

This evening, B’nai Brith, Canada’s oldest Jewish advocacy organization, will host a virtual commemoration of the story of Jews from Iran and Arab lands. I understand that some of the victims will tell their stories.

Colleagues, as they grow older, their personal histories remain as poignant as ever.