WOJAC
Dear
Mr Dangoor
It
is with pleasure that we are informing you that the General
Assembly of WOJAC, in its meeting of 3.10.2000, elected
the Honorable Moshe Shachal, former Cabinet Minister and
Member of Knesset, as Chairman of the Presidium of the Organisation.
Advocate Moshe Shachal immigrated to Israel from Iraq, served
as Member of Knesset for 29 years, as Deputy Speaker of
the House for ten years and was in office as Cabinet Minister
for 12 years with four governments - as Minister of Energy
and Infrastructure, Minister of Communication and of Minister
of Internal Security; he also fulfilled the role of Permanent
Observer at the Council of Europe and as Permanent Representative
at the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Currently he is head of
one of the leading law firms in Israel.
We
hope to convene an international conference in the course
of the year 2001, with the participation of the representatives
of WOJAC worldwide, in order to outline the policy and ways
of action of the Organization in Israel and throughout the
world concerning the claims of the Jews originating from
Arab countries for their property that was confiscated and
expropriated when they left their countries of origin due
to persecution and threat to their life and safety. The
Organisation will claim compensation on behalf of the Jews
originating from Arab countries worldwide for suffering,
oppression and the loss of communal and private property
abandoned in their countries of origin.
The
Organisation will appeal to public opinion in the United
States and the rest of the democratic world and demand that
the rights of Jews from Arab countries be ensured and realised.
Tel
Aviv, Israel
Shimon
Avizemer
Secretary-General
Copy:
The Honorable Moshe Shachal, Chairman of the Presidium
Mr Oved Benozair, Chairman of the World Executive
13
November 2000
Dear
Mr Shachal
First,
let me congratulate you on your election as Chairman of
the Presidium of WOJAC, especially after WOJAC first decided
to fold up and put the organisation into liquidation. Now
that WOJAC has now come back from the cold I, as a member
of the Presidium, feel a bit confused. Please let me know
what the aim is in reviving WOJAC, who is financing this
revival, is it going to be a tool of the Israeli government
to cancel the claims of the Palestinians? If so can that
set-off include the property of Jews from Arab countries
who never went to Israel? If not, who is going to look after
the claims from Jews of Arab countries who never went to
Israel?
I
have been in touch with Judge Avraham Sofaer regarding such
claims but now the whole matter is again in the melting
pot. Where do we go from here? Are our claims going to be
in millions or in billions? Whom are we going to claim against?
Kindly
let me know in order to satisfy my curiosity.
Naim
Dangoor
Reply:
A
NEW LEASE OF LIFE FOR WOJAC
Thank
you for your letter of 13 November 2000.
I
was asked by my good friends to be the Chairman of the Presidium
of WOJAC after the last Camp David peace talks where the
question of the refugees, from both sides, was included
in the agenda, and President Clinton declared that all refugees,
Arabs and Jews should be compensated.
We
asked the Government of Israel, and the Jewish Agency, to
support WOJAC and to finance its activities for the next
year.
TEL
AVIV
M.
Shachal – Adv
M Shachal & Co Law Offices
If
you would like to make any comments or contribute to The
Scribe please contact
us.
