'Forgotten Refugees' airs in Norfolk, Virginia

The Forgotten Refugees is being broadcast tonight on WHRO, a public service channel in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. An article in the local press features an interview with the novelist Farideh Goldin, herself a refugee. (With thanks: Albert)

"It's my story. It's my parents' story."

That is how a Norfolk woman, Farideh Goldin, describes "The Forgotten Refugees," a PBS documentary that airs at 10 tonight on WHRO .The 45-minute film deals with Jews who came as refugees from Muslim lands in the years after the state of Israel was founded in 1948.

The producers say the story of the Mizrahi Jews is a forgotten story. The Jews were forced to leave their birthplaces in the Middle East and North Africa due to intimidation from their governments and their neighbors," according to a news release . "In many cases, the refugees were not allowed to sell their property, businesses or goods before departing. Many Muslim governments profited from their departure, obtaining in many cases large swathes of land and big businesses.

Goldin, whose family left Iran in 1979 after the Islamic revolution led by the Ayatollah Khomeini ended the reign of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , said her parents lost much upon leaving Iran for Israel.

" Their losses were both material and emotional. They lost their place in the Iranian society and culture," she said.

Read article in full

See article The other refugees