JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North africa

JIMENA is a nonprofit organization committed to educating and advocating on behalf of the 850,000 Jewish refugees from the Middle East and North Africa.

Through a 40-member Speakers Bureau composed of former Jewish refugees, digital preservation projects, advocacy campaigns, and student and young adult engagement activities, JIMENA is raising awareness to the plight of Jewish refugees and other minorities from the Middle East and North Africa. Incorporating the Sephardic and Mizrahi refugee experience into the mainstream Jewish narrative strengthens our advocacy for Israel, enriches and unifies our Jewish communities, and adds balances and accuracy to distorted historical narratives of the Middle East and North Africa.

Since 2001, JIMENA launched numerous campaigns to ensure that our story is documented and included in discourse and negotiations involving Middle Eastern refugees. Instrumental in the passage of US House Resolution 185, members of JIMENA’s Speakers Bureau have shared their personal stories with the UN Human Rights Council, US Congressional Human Rights Caucus, European and Italian Parliaments, Israeli Knesset, British Parliament and over 70 Universities in North America.