The Palestine Refugees: 60 Years
of Injustice
The Palestine refugee problem is the oldest and
largest refugee problem, which has been on the agenda of the United Nations
since its inception. For six decades the
Palestine
refugees have endured great injustices and hardships after having been uprooted
from their homes and forced to live in diasporas, deprived of minimum human and
national rights. Their plight is on the agenda of the peace process, as one of
the issues of the final status negotiations, and is considered to be one of the
most difficult and complex issues. Clearly, a just solution to the question of Palestine and a lasting peace in the Middle East cannot be
achieved without a just solution to the issue of the Palestine refugees.
The question of Palestine refugees
involves a number of complex interrelated elements of great importance,
including historical, political, moral, emotional and socio-economic elements,
which cannot be ignored and must be addressed. Recognition of the injustice
perpetrated against the Palestinian people and acceptance of historical and
moral responsibility are necessary preconditions for redressing that injustice,
achieving a just and lasting solution and for genuinely rectifying the emotional
and socio-economic aspects of the problem.
During the first Arab-Israeli war, and following the establishment of the
State of Israel in 1948, approximately 750,000 Palestinians, almost half of the
Palestinian population, were forced to leave their homes. Among the main reasons
for this huge exodus of Palestinians from their homes, land, properties and
livelihood were the outbreak of war, the forced eviction of Palestinians and the
violent campaign of terror and fear waged by Zionist terrorist groups,
particularly following the massacre at Deir Yassin, where 254 Palestinian men,
women and children were killed by the Jewish Irgun and Stern terrorist groups.
After the outbreak of the second Arab-Israeli war in 1967, another 325,000
Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip were forced to flee their homes,
many for the second time. A systematic policy of deportation and forced
migration continued for several years after the war, with an annual average of
21,000 Palestinians leaving the occupied Palestinian territory, prevented from
returning. Today the number of Palestinian refugees totals approximately 7.4
million persons, of which 4.6 million are registered with the United Nations
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The
largest concentration of Palestine refugees is in
Jordan, representing more than 40% of those refugees
registered with UNRWA, and the refugees in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including Jerusalem, represent 38% of UNRWA’s
registration. Lebanon and Syria each host about 10% of the registered refugees
and the remainder live in neighboring countries, including Egypt and Iraq while
others have migrated to Europe, the United States, Canada and South America,
particularly in Chile. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has
been also assisting Palestine refugees who are
not in the UNRWA mandated countries, specifically in Europe and South America.
Israel has systematically blocked
the return of the Palestinian refugees in blatant violation of early United
Nations resolutions and despite the commitments it made before the United
Nations when it was admitted as a State Member of that world body. In fact,
Israel's intentions were clearly manifested from the very beginning, when Israel
enacted a number of laws blocking any possible return of the Palestinian
refugees, including, the "Abandoned Areas Ordinance" (1948), "Emergency
Regulations concerning the Cultivation of Waste Lands" (1949), "The Absentees'
Property Law" (1950) and "Land Acquisition Law" (1953). Under such laws, Israel "legalized" the expropriation
of Arab land and property, some of which even belonged to several Palestinians
who had remained in their homes.
At the same time, Israel had enacted the "Law of Return", allowing
any Jewish person, regardless of place of birth, origin or nationality, to
immigrate to Israel
and acquire automatic Israeli citizenship. Since then, Jewish immigrants have
continued to come to Israel
and have been living on the land and property of the Palestinian refugees, and in
many instances, living in the very same structures and homes of the Palestine refugees.
According to the United Nations Conciliation Commission for
Palestine, over 80% of
Israel's (Historical Palestine’s) total area
represents abandoned Arab lands. Most of the Jewish communities established
between 1948 and 1953 were established on former Arab property. Further, over
380 villages and large parts of 94 other towns and cities, including most of
their shops and businesses, were taken under Jewish control.
Over the decades, the United Nations has been instrumental in dealing with
the Palestine refugee problem, primarily through
the establishment of UNRWA, which has been crucial in preventing the
exasperation of this human catastrophe, and through the affirmation of the
rights of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland. There have been
numerous U.N. resolutions regarding the
Palestine
refugees, two of which are fundamental resolutions considered to be the basis
for any just and lasting solution of the plight of the 1948 refugees and the
1967 displaced Palestinians. The first is General Assembly resolution 194 (III),
which was adopted on 11 December 1948 and has been endorsed annually since then.
Resolution 194 (III), inter alia, "resolves that the 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."
The second is Security Council resolution 237 (1967), adopted on 14 June
1967, which calls upon the Government of Israel "to facilitate the return of
those inhabitants who have fled the areas since the outbreak of hostilities.’
Since then the General Assembly has adopted numerous resolutions reaffirming the
basic and inalienable right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their
homes, affirming the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to
the territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, as well as resolutions
condemning Israel's expulsions and deportations of Palestinians, such as
resolution 799 (1992). Another important Security Council resolution is
resolution 242 (1967), since it has been the basis of all Arab-Israeli peace
talks and agreements. Resolution 242, adopted on 22 November 1967, emphasizes
"the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war" and affirms the
necessity for "achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem."
Obviously, if Israel had chosen to respect international law and comply with
U.N. resolutions - as all Member States are obligated to do under the Charter -
the problem of the Palestine refugees would have long ago been resolved, the
international community would not continue to face the many humanitarian and
political challenges arising from this ongoing crisis, and an entire people
would not be forced to continue to live in their own homeland as refugees or
suffer in exile. Regrettably, however, Israel continues to deny the collective and
individual rights of the Palestine
refugees and to even deny any responsibility for their plight. This
position was recently repeated by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in March
2007, when he publicly stated the following regarding the refugees: “I’ll
never accept a solution that is based on their return to
Israel, any number… I will not agree to accept
any kind of Israeli responsibility for the creation of this problem…”
In light of this continued Israeli rejection and non-compliance with
international law, we must explicitly reaffirm the following:
Every year the international community, through the United Nations General
Assembly, reaffirms its call for the implementation of resolutions 194(III) and
237 (1967). These resolutions should form the legal and political basis for any
solution of the problem of the 1948 refugees and the 1967 displaced persons. The
Declaration of Principles, signed in September 1993 by the Government of Israel
and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), deferred the question of the
Palestine refugees to the final status negotiations and at the same
time established the Continuing Committee (PLO, Israel, Jordan and Egypt) to negotiate modalities for
the return of those Palestinians displaced in 1967. However, Israel has effectively blocked any progress on
the issue of displaced Palestinians, and Israel's
official position regarding the issue of the 1948 Palestine refugees remains intransigent, in
defiance of all internationally accepted norms and laws with regard to such an
issue.
The question of the Palestinian refugees should be addressed as a national and
political issue, involving collective and individual rights, as well as a
humanitarian issue. It is imperative that
Israel accept its responsibility for
the creation of the refugee problem and for the harm it has inflicted upon the
Palestinian refugees. This is the course that must be taken if a historical and
true conciliation is to be achieved between the two peoples.
