They are not refugees. A refugee is somebody who flees his country and becomes stateless, homeless, because no country is willing to take him in. The Mizrahim, on the whole, fled their countries under duress in the post-’48 atmosphere in the Arab world, so they fled as refugees – but they were helped in and even pulled in immediately by Israel and made citizens of their new country, their own country. The Mizrahim were refugees only for a brief, transitional period, and that period ended 60 years ago, more or less.How do you like that definition of a refugee? Toot your horn if you do... meanwhile, for Larry's sake, I will copy a few dictionary definitions of "refugee":
- One who flees in search of refuge, as in times of war, political oppression, or religious persecution.
- A person who has fled from some danger or problem, esp political persecution
- A person who, by reason of real or imagined danger, has left their home country or country of their nationality and is unwilling or unable to return.
- An exile who flees for safety
I also hope that the same discerning reader will agree now that Larry Derfner is a... oh, I already said that.
(*) A Hebrew slang for the Jews of Middle Eastern extraction.
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