- Revive the broken and forgotten memory of Jews originating from Arab-Muslim countries.
- Restore the historical truth of the fact that Jewish communities have lived for over one thousand years in Islamic lands.
- Collect individual and family testimonies recalling the conditions under which Jews living in Islamic lands have been led to leave their country of origin.
JJAC chapters have been set up throughout the world, in Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America and, of course, Israel.
In France, CRIF has been appointed as the umbrella organization for actions to be undertaken in the coming months. Jean-Pierre Allali, a member of the Executive Board, will be the national coordinator.
Delegates from associations representing national origins as well as from national and international organizations met in Paris on 19 December to launch the efforts and events planned for 2006.
Alongside leaders from Wizo, Coopération Féminine, Fédération Séphardie, and the French Jewish Scouts (EEIF), there were representatives of associations of Jews from Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt.
It was decided that the focus for a quarter of 2006 would be on Jews originating from Arab countries and that each organization would be free, based on its own particular focus, to act in a field of its choosing: culture, heritage, remembrance, history or politics.
It was agreed that, over and above the specific actions undertaken by each group based on its particular roots, coordinated action by the various groups would be a goal. In addition to the events organized in 2006, JJAC’s activity is destined to continue over the long haul.
Several participants considered that there was an absolute and immediate urgency to undertake actions for preserving the cultural heritage left in the various countries: cemeteries, religious buildings, items pertaining to worship, Torah scrolls, community civil status records… Some considered that one way of guaranteeing the preservation of places of worship would be for them to be included among the world heritage buildings through UNESCO.
Jean-Pierre Allali announced that two more preparatory meetings will be held shortly, first in Brussels and then in Jerusalem, before launching a program called “3 months for Jews originating from Arab countries” in 2006.
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