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The Palestinian
refugees The Palestinian
refugees are approximately 800,000 Christians and Muslims (amounting to 75% of
the Arab population of what became In 1967,
approximately 200,000 Palestinians fled their homes in the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip when Neither the 1948
refugees nor the 1967 displaced persons have been allowed by Like all refugees,
the Palestinians left their homes out of fear for their safety due to
the military conflict. Many fled due to
direct military assaults on their towns and villages; others were forcibly
expelled by Zionist forces. Massacres of
Palestinian civilians created an atmosphere of fear that understandably caused
many Palestinians to seek safety elsewhere.
The most famous massacre occurred in Deir Yassin (not far from what is
now Israelis
understandably have a difficult time accepting that their independence came at
the expense of the indigenous Palestinians, who were dispossessed of their
homeland and property. Consequently,
Israel perpetuates a number of mythologies with respect to the causes of the
Palestinian refugee crisis, including: Arab armies ordered the Palestinian refugees
to flee; Arab radio broadcasts ordered the Palestinians to leave; Palestinians
do not originally come from Palestine, and that the refugee crisis was the
result of a war started by Arabs (even though the New York Times documents
thousands of Palestinian refugees prior to any Arab invasion). These mythologies have been debunked not only
by newspaper reports, UN documents and Palestinian sources, but also by Israeli
historians such as Ilan Pappé and Benny Morris.
Most importantly,
even if such theories were true, none negates the Palestinian right of
return: under international law,
refugees have the right to return regardless of the circumstances by which they
became refugees. Today, the original
Palestinian refugees and their descendents are estimated to number more
than 6.5 million and constitute the world’s oldest and largest refugee
population, making up more than one-fourth of the entire refugee population in
the world. They include: 4 million 1948
refugees who are registered with the United Nations; 1.5 million 1948
refugees who are not registered by the United Nations either because they did
not register or did not need assistance at the time they became refugees; 773,000 1967
displaced persons; and 263,000 internally
displaced refugees (see question 5 below for more on the internally displaced). Palestinian
refugees live around the world, though most live within 100 miles of More than 1.3
million Palestinian refugees live in 59 UN-administered refugee camps in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Palestinian
refugees in In 1948,
approximately 32,000 Palestinians left their homes but remained within the
borders of what became The property of the
Palestinian refugees Following the 1948
war, more than 400 Palestinian villages and towns were destroyed or resettled
by Jews in an attempt to erase any evidence of a non-Jewish history and
attachment to Palestine. Many destroyed
Palestinian villages were rebuilt as Jewish towns and given Hebrew names. Compensation for their property losses No. Conservative estimates of the current value
of Palestinian property stolen or destroyed by Israel run well into billions of
dollars, though estimates can vary based on whether non-material losses and
compensation for host countries are included. Do the Palestinian
refugees have the right to return to their homes? Yes. Under international law, civilians fleeing a
war are entitled to return to their homes.
This right is embodied in: UN Resolution 194 -
(passed on 11 December 1948 and reaffirmed every year since 1948): “…the [Palestinian]
refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their
neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and
that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to
return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of
international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or
authorities responsible.” Universal
Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the
right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his
country.” (Article 13(2)). International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: “…State Parties
undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination on all its forms
and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, color,
or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the
enjoyment of…[t]he right to leave any country, including one’s own, and to
return to one’s country.” (Article
5(d)(ii)). International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights: “No one shall be
arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.” (Article 12(4)). International
Practice - In Bosnia, East Timor, Kosovo, and Rwanda refugees have had their
right of return honored. In Kosovo, the
right of return was considered a “non-negotiable” issue. See PLO Negotiations Affairs Department,
Double Standards: How the International
Community has Taught Israel that it is Above the Law, (PLO Report: Double
Standards: How the International
Community has Taught Israel that it is Above the Law). The Palestinian
refugees ability to return to their homes in Israel Israel refuses to
abide by international law with respect to the rights of the indigenous
non-Jewish population. Israel defines itself
as a “Jewish state” and Palestinian refugees are Christians and Muslims. Jews from all over the world, and even
converts to Judaism, are allowed to immigrate to Israel under the “Law of
Return,” but in a clear demonstration of religious/ethnic discrimination, the
indigenous Palestinian Muslim and Christian populations are banned from
returning to their homes. The right of return
threaten Israel’s “Jewish character” The end of
religious/ethnic discrimination with respect to the right of return threatens
nothing other than discrimination itself.
Allowing Christians and Muslims to return to their homes does not negate
Jewish historical attachment to Israel nor does it deny the rights of Jews to
immigrate to Israel. The right of return
seeks only to address historic injustices and affirm the rights of the
indigenous non-Jewish population. Why can’t the host
countries simply absorb the Palestinian refugees? The Palestinian
refugees are not from the host countries:
they are from what is now Israel and have the right to return to
Israel. While many countries have
granted Palestinian refugees full citizenship, acquiring rights in another
country does not negate a refugee’s right to return home. What has the
international community done about the Palestinian refugees? The international
community has largely supported the Palestinian right of return and the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which is the primary relief
organization responsible for the welfare of the refugees. Nevertheless, the international community has
failed to take any concrete measures to force Israel to abide by international
law and allow the refugees to return. Can’t the
Palestinian refugee crisis be resolved through financial compensation to
alleviate the poverty? The term “refugee”
does not refer to economic status – it is a legal status: financially successful refugees who have
obtained citizenship in other countries are still refugees and still have the
right to return. In addition to their
right of return, all Palestinian refugees have a right to compensation for
their losses. How can the 55-year
plight of the Palestinian refugees be resolved? There can be no
comprehensive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict without honoring the
rights of Palestinian refugees.
Palestinian refugees must be given the option to exercise their right of
return, though refugees may prefer other options such as: (i) resettlement in
third countries, (ii) resettlement in a newly independent Palestine (even
though they originate from that part of Palestine which became Israel) or (iii)
normalization of their legal status in the host country where they currently
reside. What is important is that the
refugees decide for themselves which option they prefer – a decision must not
be imposed upon them. The issue of
refugees addressed in negotiations with Israel At Camp David,
Israel refused to discuss the issue of refugees, arguing that it bore no
responsibility for the creation of the refugee problem or its solution. In December 2000, US President Clinton,
through the “Clinton Parameters,” adopted the concept of choice but by
excluding the most fundamental option of allowing refugees to choose to return
to Israel, the Clinton Parameters effectively negated the legal rights of
Palestinian refugees. At the Taba
negotiations, Israel continued to press for an abandonment of the right of
return. Palestinians should not be the
first people in history forced to abandon their right of return. For additional
information on Palestinian refugees, please visit: BADIL - A
Bethlehem-based resource center for Palestinian refugee rights. www.badil.org Shaml - A refugee rights
organization whose mandate is to create regional and global public awareness
about the conditions of Palestinian refugees and strengthen links between
Palestinian communities in the Diaspora and the homeland. www.shaml.org The Palestinian
Return Centre - An independent
academic/media consultancy specializing in research, analysis, and monitoring
of issues pertaining to the dispersed Palestinians and their right to return.
The site offers a monthly newsletter as well as
photo, audio, and video galleries.
www.prc.org.uk UNISPAL - A searchable
database that contains full-text documents of the United Nations relevant to
the question of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict, including
refugees. www.domino.un.org/unispal.nsf UNRWA - The United
Nations Relief and Works Agency is the main provider of basic services -
education, health, relief and social services - to over 4 million registered
Palestine refugees in the Middle East.
www.unrwa.org Al-Awda, The Palestine
Right to Return Coalition - A grassroots organization whose objective is to
fulfill the right of Palestinians to return to their homeland and their right
to full restitution of all their confiscated and destroyed property in
accordance with international law. www.al-awda.org Palestine
Remembered - A website created to highlight the towns and villages destroyed by
Israel in 1948. www.palestineremembered.com Deir Yassin Remembered - A website
created to highlight the Deir Yassin massacre.
www.deiryassin.org
Please visit: www.nad-plo.org/ for further
information
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