Ahead of the opening of the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva, 11 detailed reports documenting the fate of Jewish communities in the Middle East and North Africa were released Sunday. The reports, prepared by the international organization Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC), expose for the first time the scale of devastation: the dramatic decline and, in many cases, the complete disappearance of Jewish communities thousands of years old, accompanied by massive property losses.
The reports record the losses of Jewish refugees from Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen and Aden. They were compiled over five years by JJAC, drawing on personal testimonies, statistical data, and archival material from 22 archives in Israel, Canada, France, Switzerland, Britain and the US.
Each of the 11 reports traces the story of ancient Jewish communities that lived in the Middle East and North Africa for millennia, some 1,000 years before the rise of Islam. They endured centuries under Muslim rule as dhimmis, a subordinate legal status for non-Muslims, lived through Ottoman and colonial rule, and later suffered persecution under Arab nationalism and Islamism, before fleeing, immigrating, or being expelled.
The research, to be presented at the UN for the first time, will be unveiled during a dedicated panel on the opening day of the Human Rights Council session, under the title: “Seeking Truth, Justice & Reconciliation – Jewish Refugees from the Middle East.” The panel will be held on September 8 in Geneva.
The presentation is a joint initiative of JJAC and B’nai B’rith International and will feature a panel of experts. The findings show a dramatic demographic collapse: in Tunisia, 105,000 Jews lived in 1948, compared to about 1,500 today. In Algeria, 140,000 Jews lived in 1948; by 2025, none remain. In Iraq, once home to 135,000 Jews in 1948, only five remain today.
According to the research, more than 99% of Jews from North Africa and the Middle East have either left or been expelled. The region is now effectively “Judenrein”, cleansed of Jews, after thousands of years of continuous Jewish presence. Alongside this demographic devastation, the reports document property losses estimated at $263 billion. The largest losses were in Iran ($61 billion), Egypt ($59 billion), and Iraq ($34 billion), with figures adjusted to 2024 values. Per capita losses in 1948 ranged from $4,864 to $15,295, depending on the country.
“As the Middle East faces an increasingly complex and fragile reality, and as the global call for justice and peace grows louder,” the report states, “it is time to recognize the history of all the peoples of the region, including the Jewish communities that lived in the Middle East and North Africa for thousands of years. Only then can a genuine bridge to reconciliation and peace be built.
“The story of the Jewish communities in the Middle East and North Africa is one of a persecuted minority uprooted from its homelands, which suffered immense losses in personal property – homes, businesses, possessions – as well as in communal Jewish assets such as synagogues, schools, cemeteries, and cultural, social and spiritual treasures.”
“The scale of losses endured by Jewish communities across the region is enormous and has received almost no recognition in the international discourse on refugees in the Middle East,” said Rabbi Elie Abadie, co-president of JJAC.
“In this era of historical reconciliation, inspired by the Abraham Accords, it is time to face history with honesty and courage. Only through truth, justice, and mutual recognition can the peoples of the region move toward a future of dignity and sustainable peace,” added JJAC co-president Sylvain Abitbol.
