The US congress is to consider a Bill that would bring attention to the 850,000 Jews who were evicted from Arab lands during and after Israel’s War of Independence.

The Bill, sponsored by a bipartisan group, including New York Republican Bob Turner, would recognise both Jewish and Christian refugee populations. It asks the President that, when he speaks of the situation of Palestinian refugees, to likewise acknowledge the plight of Jews forced out of their homes in countries like Iraq and Libya.

New York Democrat Jerrod Nadler said of the bill: “The suffering and terrible injustices visited upon Jewish refugees in the Middle East needs to be acknowledged.” He added that it was “simply wrong” to acknowledge the rights of Palestinian refugees displaced in 1948 but not Jewish refugees.