Bipartisan bill in Congress would create ‘Jewish Refugee Day’

The United States would recognize November 30 as “Jewish Refugee Day” under a bipartisan resolution sponsored by two Jewish members of Congress.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Florida Democrat, and Texas Republican Craig Goldman submitted the resolution on Friday, saying that the day would be known by both its English name and the Hebrew translation, Yom HaPlitim.

“I was proud to introduce a bipartisan resolution with Rep. Craig Goldman to honor Yom Haplitim and Jewish communities forced out of North African and Middle Eastern countries where they lived for millennia after Israel became a country,” Wasserman Schultz says in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “Their resilience is inspiring and a testament to the improbable survival of Jewish people throughout history.”

Wasserman Schultz, who was the first Jewish woman elected to represent Florida in Congress, initially introduced a similar resolution in 2024, but it expired before the start of the new Congress. She was the sole sponsor of that resolution.

The holiday, which was first adopted by Israel in 2014, commemorates the departure and expulsion of roughly 900,000 Jews from Arab countries following the founding of the state of Israel.

The date November 30 was selected by Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, because it follows the date on November 29, 1947, when the United Nations approved the partition plan for the Palestine Mandate and the creation of Israel, which spurred hostility toward Jews in Arab nations.

The resolution states that Congress “continues to support the security of the State of Israel and the Jewish people around the world.” It also calls for “educational efforts throughout the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa to teach the history of the forced displacement and exile of the Jewish people.”

“Recognizing Jewish Refugee Day helps to ensure that Congress continues to bring awareness to the history of antisemitism and stand with the Jewish community around the world,” says Wasserman Schultz.

The resolution was referred to the House Committees on the Judiciary, Education and Workforce and Foreign Affairs for consideration.