Andri Aciman, author of the memoir Out of Egypt , wrote an article for the New York Times in response to Pres. Obama's speech from Cairto Egypt, to the Islamic world..  Professor Aciman, a native of Alexandria (Egypt),  wrote of how the president , in the historical references of that speech, had omitted to remind the Egyptians in the audience that until 50 years ago, a "strong and vibrant Jewish community" thrived in their midst.  Mr. Obama did not include any mention of the 800.000 or so Jews born in the Middle East who fled the Arab and Muslim world or who were summarily expelled for being Jewish in the 20th century.

I hope the President read this Op-Ed piece and acknowledged its setting straight  this portion of the historical record of Muslim-Jewish relations in the Middle East.  And I hope the  piece can be found on The New York Times website, where many of you can read it for yourselves.  I read it in the Friday, June 12 edition of the Minneaspolis Star-Tribune.

The newspaper stated that Aciman is professor of comparative literature at the City University of the New York Graduate Center.. 

If he read it, unfortunately its too late to include any mention of  it in his Mid-East speech and it would have angered his hosts too much.   The world fails to realize how many Jews have been exiled through the centuries.   I'm not too thrilled about the 2-state solution.   It leaves no room for expansion.   Why can't the Arab world absorb the Palestinians, considering how much land they have.

It is definitely an issue that has been largely ignored. The David Project put together a video called "The Forgotten Refugees" which I recommend everyone sees. It is available for viewing for synagogues or local events, just contact the org. I don't work for the organization, but have seen the movie and it really tells the story of those refugees very well.