Security Council Meeting Dec 31st.
GIADALLA A. ETTALHI ( Libya) recalled that a truce had been reached between the Palestinians and Israelis last June under Egyptian sponsorship. As part of that truce, Israel had pledged to open the border crossings while the Palestinians had observed the truce “religiously” despite at least 190 Israeli violations that had killed 25 citizens. The crossings had never been completely opened, and on 4 November, the Israeli Army had entered the eastern part of Gaza, unprovoked, and killed six Palestinians. The Palestinians had never fired a single bullet except in response to an Israeli violation of the truce. Since 5 November, the Israelis had imposed a full blockade on Gaza, including blocking UNRWA.
Those actions constituted a crime of genocide, a crime against humanity and a war crime according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, he said, pointing out that 80 per cent of Palestinian families were suffering from hunger and a collapse in water and sewerage services. Gazans could only get clean water once a week, according to the United Nations, while 150 basic medicines were unavailable. More than 400 Palestinians had died due to lack of treatment, a fact known to all, including the Council, which, however, had never lifted a finger. “What do you expect from people living under those conditions?”
Since 27 December, there had been air raids and bombardments which had led to the massacre that had claimed some 400 dead and 2,000 injured, most of them civilians, including large numbers of children. Buildings, schools, mosques, official buildings and the fragile infrastructure had been destroyed.
On the night of 27 December the Council had met in a closed session and issued a press statement calling for an end to the military action and the opening of the crossings, he recalled. The Israelis had not responded, despite pleas by the Secretary-General, the European Union, the Quartet and many Member States. Israel had said it would expand the attacks and that its ground forces were massing at the border. Israelis had proved once again that they were not interested in peace, but in seizing land, terrorizing Palestinians and expelling them from their homes by any possible means, including killing and starvation. No disrespect for international law and international humanitarian law could exceed what the Israelis had done in the Gaza Strip.
He then introduced a draft resolution that included a clear condemnation of the Israeli military attacks, a call upon Israel immediately to cease its attacks and abide scrupulously by its obligations as the occupying Power, and a call for immediate protection for the Palestinian civilian population. The draft also called for the reopening of the border crossings to allow unrestricted, unhindered access of humanitarian aid and basic supplies, while stressing the need for the restoration of calm in full. Libya appealed to the Council to adopt a quick and binding measure so that no other Srbrenica or Rwanda would be added to history.
Showing posts with label The Catastrophe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Catastrophe. Show all posts
Thursday, 1 January 2009
Thursday, 4 December 2008
FREEDOM
we don't need to be affiliated with anything to produce and we don't need massive resources or national agencies to make a difference, the things that we care for ain't gonna change by waiting for someone to hold a torch and no matter how great a person can be, he/she can't and won't score alone.
There is something I don't know if you know, but I noticed it recently; there are people around the globe who would help and understand and support our cause, but they know nothing..
The sound.
I want to make sound.
On one hand, we have this close up to our status and its awfully burdening, but on the other hand, no one knows what is going in your mind, they know nothing!!!
what cause am I talking about? I am talking about the Palestinian people. I dont want to be pro anything, pro Fateh or Hamas, Two State, One State, No State, Any State, I dont want to be part of any organization. I want to speak my mind saying that this is not right and it should not pass by and its so wrong to be silent. I don't want to use big words, I want to hear myself speaking. I have been silent for so long.
There are people who know nothing about it and are AMONG US, I dont need to go far.
I know what it feels like for us, in Jordan, the Middle East when we bring it up and how we can't foresee it solved soon but you should. I know many issues jumble the picture in the mind, really, I do know all this.
but you can't give it up, and you have to admit that you did and you do, how can you just allow people being killed miles from you? it might happen to you one day, maybe its our silence that giving it way ,, we need to say and keep saying NO loud and clear!
Those who work for UN in New York and Geneva are doing a Job at the end of the day, those who work for any government are doing a job too. its stupid, but Jobs are Jobs and roles are roles but they do not put people first. YOU KNOW THAT, YOU SEE IT EVERYDAY...
you at your job, do your job because you could be loving it, and it covers your expenses, but at the end of the day, there are people who won't even have the privilege of a safe life or a resource to depend on, living in constant fear and demolition threats of everything you ever worked for to be shattered in split second. would you allow that to happen to you now?
I didn't know what to write about Gaza, I thought to myself, I would be just another reaction to the status where no one remembers it except when it gets to a peak that the media must cover, so its just people reporting it and doing their job.
I don't care about your title, I don't care about your affliations, I really don't care about how many people listen to you and what your stance is.
but you must agree that what is going there is wrong, and my question for you now is
why are you silent ???? can you think of deliverable for a small change?
I won't let you down
I will not give you up
Gotta have some faith in the sound
It's the one good thing that I've got
I won't let you down
So please don't give me up
There is something I don't know if you know, but I noticed it recently; there are people around the globe who would help and understand and support our cause, but they know nothing..
The sound.
I want to make sound.
On one hand, we have this close up to our status and its awfully burdening, but on the other hand, no one knows what is going in your mind, they know nothing!!!
what cause am I talking about? I am talking about the Palestinian people. I dont want to be pro anything, pro Fateh or Hamas, Two State, One State, No State, Any State, I dont want to be part of any organization. I want to speak my mind saying that this is not right and it should not pass by and its so wrong to be silent. I don't want to use big words, I want to hear myself speaking. I have been silent for so long.
There are people who know nothing about it and are AMONG US, I dont need to go far.
I know what it feels like for us, in Jordan, the Middle East when we bring it up and how we can't foresee it solved soon but you should. I know many issues jumble the picture in the mind, really, I do know all this.
but you can't give it up, and you have to admit that you did and you do, how can you just allow people being killed miles from you? it might happen to you one day, maybe its our silence that giving it way ,, we need to say and keep saying NO loud and clear!
Those who work for UN in New York and Geneva are doing a Job at the end of the day, those who work for any government are doing a job too. its stupid, but Jobs are Jobs and roles are roles but they do not put people first. YOU KNOW THAT, YOU SEE IT EVERYDAY...
you at your job, do your job because you could be loving it, and it covers your expenses, but at the end of the day, there are people who won't even have the privilege of a safe life or a resource to depend on, living in constant fear and demolition threats of everything you ever worked for to be shattered in split second. would you allow that to happen to you now?
I didn't know what to write about Gaza, I thought to myself, I would be just another reaction to the status where no one remembers it except when it gets to a peak that the media must cover, so its just people reporting it and doing their job.
I don't care about your title, I don't care about your affliations, I really don't care about how many people listen to you and what your stance is.
but you must agree that what is going there is wrong, and my question for you now is
why are you silent ???? can you think of deliverable for a small change?
I won't let you down
I will not give you up
Gotta have some faith in the sound
It's the one good thing that I've got
I won't let you down
So please don't give me up
Friday, 22 August 2008
Palestinian Political Prisoners
There are 9000 Palestinians in the Israeli jails, we should not forget them, inform your surrounding of their current status.
Updated August 2008
No issue highlights Israel’s 41-year denial of Palestinian freedom under military occupation better than that of political prisoners. Israel uses the imprisonment of Palestinians as part of its policy to quash resistance to its occupation of Palestinian land and to intimidate the Palestinian civilian population.
Out of the 3.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, there are few who have not been personally affected by Israel’s imprisonment policy – either through their own imprisonment or that of a family member, friend or colleague. Since 1967, Israel has detained and imprisoned almost 700,000[3] Palestinians – almost one fifth of the Palestinian population living in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).
Currently, almost 11,000 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons or detention camps, out of which around 9,000 are identified as political prisoners, including 326 minors and 94 women[4]. Israel, in violation of several international conventions, continuously denies these prisoners their basic internationally recognized rights. Arbitrary arrests, imprisonment with no charges or trials, the absence of fair trials, torture, poor hygienic conditions, prohibition of family visits, and denial of medical treatment are all examples of the tragedy that hundreds of thousands of Palestinian prisoners have suffered during the last 41 years.
The widespread imprisonment of Palestinians, along with the inhumane treatment they receive while imprisoned, has placed the release of all Palestinian prisoners high on the national agenda. Israel’s release of high-profile prisoners during the most recent prisoners swap between Israel and Lebanon shows that Israel is capable of releasing prisoners who it claims are politically sensitive.
Today, the Palestinian people and its leadership aspire to the day when all the Palestinian and Arab political prisoners will be freed from Israeli jails.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. How many Palestinian political prisoners are there in Israeli prisons?
There are approximately 9,000 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons or detention camps, including 94 women and 326 children. All of these have been charged with “security offenses” by Israeli authorities. Israel also detains 47 Palestinian parliamentarians. Of the total, approximately 1,150 are being held without charge[5].
- What does Israel consider a “security offense”?
The majority of Palestinian political prisoners are charged with offenses under Israeli military orders. These orders employ a broad definition of “security”, such that they ban, among other things, political expression.
For instance, Military Order 101 states that it is “forbidden to conduct a protest march or meeting (grouping of ten or more where the subject concerns or is related to politics) without permission from the Military Commander.” The order also prohibits the distribution of political articles and pictures with “political connotations.”[6]
Similarly, Military Order 938 even considers “supporting a hostile organization by holding a flag or listening to a nationalist song” a “hostile action.” Military Orders 101 and 938 are only two amongst numerous orders that restrict Palestinian political life in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Because of the breadth of Israel’s definition of “security,” Palestinians can be arrested and imprisoned for practically any form of public activity, regardless of whether or not they present any legitimate security threat to Israel.
- Do Palestinian prisoners enjoy minimum standards of due process?
No. International, Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations have thoroughly documented the Israeli military court system’s failures in providing Palestinians with minimum guarantees of due process. Some of the failures of the system include the following:
· Palestinian political prisoners are put on trial in Israeli military tribunals. These military tribunals are made up of judges, prosecutors and translators who are all appointed by the Israeli military commander – the same individual who is empowered to make changes to Israeli military orders. Also, some of the judges appointed by the military commander do not have legal training. As a result, these tribunals fail to meet the standard required by Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, to which Israel is a party, that calls for a “fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.”[7]
· Lawyers are denied the means necessary to build a proper defense. According to Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Association, it takes an average of 30 to 45 days before a lawyer is able to meet his or her client due to a series of undue bureaucratic obstacles placed by the Israeli authorities.[8] Additionally, lawyers are often searched at the prison before they are able to meet with their client, and client visits are often monitored by guards such that attorney-client privilege is compromised[9].
· Palestinian detainees are often tortured, or subjected to cruel and degrading treatment during their interrogation or detention[10]. The use of torture, combined with the absence of prompt access to an attorney compromise the veracity of confessions obtained through interrogation.
· Palestinians can be held in Israeli jails for 90 days without charge. This period can be extended by another 90 days by Israeli authorities.
· Sentences handed down by the military courts cannot be appealed to courts outside the military court system. Given that all actors within the military court system fall under a single command, and share common institutional allegiances and sets of interests, the military courts review process provides limited recourse, at best. As a result, Palestinians convicted of “security offenses” do not have access to an effective appeals process, and hence are denied the right guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to have a “conviction and sentence … reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law.”[11]
- What is “administrative detention”?
Israel has over 1,150 Palestinians locked up in what is called “administrative detention.”[12] “Administrative Detention” refers to the detention of individuals for preventative purposes.
The practice of administrative detention as exercised by Israel is illegal.
- Israel uses administrative detention as “a quick and efficient alternative to criminal trial”,[13] circumventing international procedural protections for the accused.[14] Under Israeli law, administrative detention orders may last for up to six months, with Palestinians held without charge or trial during this period.[15] Israel routinely renews the detention orders and may do so any number of times, thereby holding Palestinians without charge or trial indefinitely.
- The Israeli military detains Palestinians on a broad definition of “security threat” – a definition so broad as to include “political subversion.”[16]
- Detainees are not informed of the reason for their detention.
- While detainees may appeal their detention, neither they nor their attorneys are allowed to access the State’s evidence, making it very difficult for them to refute the allegations against them.[17]
- Does Israel use Palestinian prisoners as political bargaining chips?
Yes. Israel has often used Palestinian political prisoners as bargaining chips in its history of negotiations with Palestinians. For instance, in 1994, Israel agreed to release 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners within 5 weeks,[18] but failed to do so. Instead, it made the release of Palestinian political prisoners an issue to be renegotiated, to extract further Palestinian concessions.
In 1999, Israel agreed to release Palestinian prisoners arrested prior to May 4, 1994 in the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum. However, Israel failed to release these prisoners, and opted to hold onto them instead.
A more recent example is the “arrest” of 27 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council on June 29, 2006. These officials were arrested following the capture of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit. Only months before, Israel did not prevent these same people from running and campaigning in Palestinian elections, raising serious doubt that they presented a real security threat to Israel.
- Is Israel committing violations against the prisoners’ families?
Yes. Families of Palestinian detainees are exposed to frequent violations, including raiding their houses, beating family members, or using family members as human shields during the arrest. In most cases, house raids are conducted after midnight, without providing the reason for the detention and opening fire against the building before entering.
In addition, since most prisoners are held outside the occupied Palestinian territory, their families are prevented from visiting them since Israel does not readily issue the permits required to enter Israel.[19] This practice is particularly severe when it comes to relatives living in the Gaza Strip, whose right to visit the prisoners has been denied by Israel since 2005.[20]
- Do conditions of detention for Palestinian children meet minimum standards?
No. Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Israel is obligated to refrain from imprisoning children except as a measure of last resort and only for the shortest appropriate period of time. Yet, over 6,700 Palestinian children were arrested and detained between September 2000 and August 2008.[21]
Today, about 326 children remain in Israeli jails, some as young as 12 and 13[22]. Almost all child detainees have reported some form of torture or mistreatment, whether physical (beatings or being placed in painful positions) or psychological (abuse, threats or intimidation).[23]
Children are routinely held in detention centers under appalling conditions: In some centers, up to eleven children have been packed into cells as small as five square meters.[24] Children are also kept in centers with adults, all in contravention of the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child.
A United Nations committee reported:
A few witnesses also drew the attention of the Special Committee to the appalling conditions of imprisoned minors, mixed up with adults, sometimes with women adults. They were allegedly arrested in the same way as adults, at night, taken to military camps and beaten up. They were interrogated without the presence of relatives and could not meet their lawyers for 60 days. They were subjected to various threats such as destruction of their homes, life imprisonment, beheading or rape. One youth had reportedly been confined in an isolated cell for 60 days. They were often kept three to a cell, sleeping on the floor, struggling with cockroaches and suffering poor hygienic conditions owing to lack of water. They were often exposed to ill-treatment when transferred to the court or to another prison. Unlike Israeli detainees, they had no rehabilitation or recreational programmes.[25]
- Do conditions of detention for Palestinian women meet minimum standards?
No. In Israel, there is just one prison for women, but no Palestinian female prisoner is held there. On the contrary, most Palestinian women are detained in jails that do not meet the minimum standards for female captives, including old jails that were built for men during the British Mandate.[26] With bad hygienic conditions, as well as lack of food and basic services, even the two children living with their mothers in Israeli prisons are forbidden from getting toys into the jail.
Punishment against female prisoners, either individual or collective, ranges from confiscation of personal belongings and prohibition of family visits to strip-searching and late-night searches of cells conducted by male jailers. The most recurrent “faults” for which women are punished are:[27]
a) Chatting and singing together (meaning that it might be a political meeting);
b) Doing physical activities (meaning that they are conducting military training); and
c) “Destroying public property”, which is often simply the result of the poor condition of the jails.
In addition, sexual harassment occurs frequently in Israeli prisons. Female prisoners do not have privacy and are constantly verbally abused with sexual harassment and sexual threats[28], house demolition, or imprisonment of relatives[29].
- Do conditions of detention for Palestinians meet minimum standards?
No. Israel has regularly failed to ensure that the conditions under which Palestinians are detained or imprisoned meet minimum standards.[30] Prisons and detention centers often provide prisoners little to no protection from the summer heat or the winter cold. They are poorly equipped, poorly maintained and overcrowded. In many cases, prisoners have contracted diseases as a result of poor hygiene.
In January 2006, a report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur found that:
Prison conditions are harsh: prisoners live in overcrowded and poorly ventilated cells which they generally leave for only two hours a day. Allegations of torture and inhuman treatment of detainees and prisoners continue. Such treatment includes beatings, shackling in painful positions, kicking, prolonged blindfolding, denial of access to medical care, exposure to extreme temperatures and inadequate provision of food and water.
Additionally, Israel transfers Palestinian prisoners to facilities in Israel despite its obligation to detain them within occupied Palestinian territory. Moreover, according to the UN Special Rapporteur, “family visits remain a serious problem. As prisons are held in Israel and many Palestinians are denied admission to Israel, a majority of prisoners receive no family visits.”[31]
[1] GRAFF, James (1991) Palestinian Children & Israeli State Violence. NECEF: Toronto, p. 57.
[2] Then Israeli Transport Minister Avigdor Lieberman offered to bus Palestinian political prisoners to the Dead Sea to be drowned. Israel Radio, July 7, 2003.
[3] United Nations, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Commission of Human Rights, Question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine, January 2006 (para. 42).
[4] Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Palestinians in Israeli Prisons. August 2008.
[5] Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Palestinians in Israeli Prisons. August 2008.
[6] Military Order 101, CONCERNING PROHIBITION OF INCITEMENT AND HOSTILE PROPAGANDA (1967).
[7] Through its ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Israel has accepted the international agreement that sets the standard for the fundamental rights of the accused in a criminal case. The International Court of Justice in its 2004 Advisory Opinion on the Wall affirmed that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights applies to the Occupied Palestinian Territory (See Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion (9 July 2004), para. 111 (I.C.J.).)
[8] Lawyers often must first find out where their clients are detained. Then they must coordinate the visit with Israeli authorities, and typically can only meet with their clients during three days of the week (other days being reserved for family visits, and visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross). In order to obtain copies of material related to their clients’ cases, lawyers must schedule an appointment to use the coin-operated copy machine at the military court. Files are not translated into Arabic.
[9] Addameer, Status of Palestinian Political Prisoners In Israeli Prisons, Detention and Interrogation Centers (June 2004), available at: < http://www.addameer.org/
[10] The use of torture by Israeli authorities is widespread. On 6 September 1999, the Israeli High Court ruled that the Israel Security Agency (formerly known as GSS) could no longer use a number of methods of torture (including violent shaking, tying prisoners in contorted positions to a small child’s chair, covering the prisoner’s head with a sack, and sleep deprivation). This ruling was widely reported as an end to Israel’s practice of torture. However, according to the Public Committee against Torture in Israel and B’Tselem, the practice of torture has not ceased. Methods of torture include: sleep deprivation, tying a detainee to a chair in painful positions, beating, slapping, kicking, threats, verbal abuse and humiliation, bending the body in extremely painful positions, intentional tightening of the handcuffs, stepping on manacles, application of pressure to different parts of the body, forcing the detainee to squat in a painful position (“Kambaz”), choking and other forms of violence and humiliation (pulling out hair, spitting etc.). Ill treatment in solitary confinement includes: sleep prevention, exposure to extreme heat and cold, continuous exposure to artificial light, and confinement in inhuman conditions.
See: <http://www.stoptorture.org.
According to Amnesty International:
“Among the thousands of Palestinians arrested after 27 February 2002, some hundreds were transferred to full-scale interrogation by the GSS [Israel Security Agency], in centers…. Amnesty International has received reports that some of the detainees interrogated by the GSS were subjected to prolonged sleep deprivation, shabeh (prolonged standing or sitting in a painful position), and being violently shaken.”
Amnesty International, Israel and the Occupied Territories: Mass detention in cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions, May 2002 (14).
[11] International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 14 (5).
[12] Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs. “Palestinians in Israeli Prisons”. August 2008.
[13] B’Tselem, Prisoners of Peace: Administrative Detention During the Oslo Process, July 1997 (13).
[14] Fourth Geneva Convention, Arts. 64 to 77; and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 14.
[15] Administrative detentions are currently carried out on the basis of Military Order No. 1229, of 1988. This Order empowers military commanders in the West Bank to detain an individual for up to six months if they have “reasonable grounds to presume that the security of the area or public security require the detention.” Commanders can extend detentions for additional periods of up to six months.
[16] B’Tselem, Prisoners of Peace: Administrative Detention During the Oslo Process, July 1997 (18).
[17] B’Tselem, Prisoners of Peace: Administrative Detention During the Oslo Process, July 1997 (31); and Hamoked, Annual Report, 2004 (39). Available at: <http://www.hamoked.org.il/
[18] Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area, Article XX (May 4, 1994).
[19] According to the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees, from the current number of prisoners, just 150 are Palestinians with Israeli citizenship and over 250 are holders of Jerusalem ID. The rest, over 8.000 families, are not able to visit their relatives.
[20] http://www.reuters.com/
[21] Ministry of Detainees and Ex Detainees Affairs. Palestinian Child Detainees in Israeli Prisons. August 2008.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Defence for Children International/Palestine Section, Palestinian Children in the Judicial System, http://www.dci-pal.org/
[24] Defence for Children International/Palestine Section, Press Release, Israeli Government Fails to Release Child Detainees – 330 Still in Custody, 7 June 2003. See also, International Federation for Human Rights, Palestinian Detainees in Israel: Inhuman Conditions in Detention, 2003 (15-16).
[25] Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that “every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child's best interest not to do so.”
The Article also states that “[n]o child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” See Convention on the Rights of the Child, available at: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/
[26] Fact Sheet “Behind the Bars: Palestinian Women in Israeli Prisons”. Addameer. July 2008. P 1.
[27] Ibid. P 5.
[28] UNFPA. Gender-Based Violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. http://www.unfpa.org/women/
[29] Interview with Addameer Advisor. July 23, 2008.
[30] United Nations, Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, September 26, 2005 (para. 96)
[31] Ibid. (para. 91-96)
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Ban Ki Moon on June 3rd On the Question of Palestine Conference
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the International Meeting on the Question of Palestine, delivered by Max Gaylard, Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, in Malta, 3 June:
It gives me pleasure to convey my greetings to all the participants in this International Meeting on the Question of Palestine, which has been organized by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
You meet at a time when the international community has intensified its efforts to help Israelis and Palestinians reach a peace treaty. The goal, as agreed in Annapolis, is to resolve all permanent status issues before the end of the year. The parameters of this agreement are clear -- an end of the occupation that began in 1967, an end to conflict, and the establishment of a sovereign, viable and independent Palestinian State living side by side in peace with a secure Israel.
The willingness of Israeli and Palestinian leaders to continue their regular discussions on the major issues is another welcome development. I particularly commend President [Mahmoud] Abbas and Prime Minister [Ehud] Olmert for their commitment to resolving the decades-old conflict, and for persisting with negotiations despite the difficulties. I urge them not be deterred by any obstacles and to see this effort through.
To succeed, current efforts to achieve a peace deal need to be underpinned by visible progress on the ground. Last December’s Donors’ Conference in Paris already raised nearly $8 billion in assistance for the Palestinian Authority. The recent London meetings of the Quartet principals and the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee also demonstrated the need for a robust follow-up by the international community, so as to build up political and economic support.
These meetings and pledges must now be translated into real results. Quartet Representative Tony Blair’s announcement of a package of measures is a welcome start. His proposals seek, initially, to increase the movement of people and goods in the West Bank, while accommodating Israel’s legitimate security needs. If implemented, these steps can bolster the Palestinian economy and lead to renewed confidence among the Palestinian people in the peace process.
Both sides must seize the current window of opportunity to push the peace process forward, especially by acting on their obligations under the Road Map.
Some actions have already been taken. The Palestinian Authority under Prime Minister [Salam] Fayyad has acted to improve its security capabilities and to implement fiscal reform. Israel has agreed to remove some of the obstacles that hinder Palestinian movement in the West Bank. It has also consented to the issuance of entry permits to Israel for thousands of Palestinian workers.
These are welcome steps. But much more remains needs to be done. Continuing settlement activity contravenes both international law and Israel’s obligations under the Road Map. Also, the construction of the barrier in the Occupied Palestinian Territory contravenes the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice. These activities must cease at once.
On the Palestinian side, efforts to improve capacity and performance on security and the rule of law should continue. Next month at a conference in Berlin, donors will also have an opportunity to extend much needed support to this process.
There is particularly urgent need to develop a different and more positive strategy for Gaza. The Palestinian people, especially the 1.5 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, endure punishing humanitarian conditions. UNRWA’s aid operation in the area is drastically impeded. Low and inconsistent supplies of fuel hamper transport, water and sanitation. Two thirds of Gaza’s residents subsist in poverty, and economic growth stood at zero last year.
Continuing Israeli air and ground operations only aggravate this situation, resulting in unacceptable casualties among Palestinian civilians in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Equally unacceptable and deeply irresponsible are the rocket and other attacks by militants against Israeli civilians and at crossings points. I reiterate my call for the cessation of all such condemnable acts of violence and for all parties to comply with international humanitarian law. In particular, measures of collective punishment should cease immediately.
In this context, I commend Egypt for its efforts to achieve calm in the Gaza Strip; these measures should lead to a reopening of the crossings and achieve greater security at the border. This is a first and vital step if Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are to be given the chance to succeed, and also for creating conditions to pursue the reunification of Gaza and the West Bank within the framework of the legitimate Palestinian Authority. This reunification is essential, because a Palestinian State must necessarily encompass both Gaza and the West Bank, as well as East Jerusalem.
I also welcome the reaffirmation of the Arab Peace Initiative, which is a central element in the quest for peace in the region. And I urge strong Arab support for the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to negotiate a peace agreement, to build its institutions and to advance Palestinian unity.
The coming months will be critical to our collective efforts to restore hope to the Palestinians. For my part, I will remain closely involved in the peace process both personally as well as through the Quartet and the efforts of the United Nations Special Coordinator. Together, we must do everything possible to help ensure a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East, based on full implementation of relevant United Nations resolutions and the requirements under the Road Map.
In that spirit, please accept my best wishes for a productive meeting.
[source]
It gives me pleasure to convey my greetings to all the participants in this International Meeting on the Question of Palestine, which has been organized by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
You meet at a time when the international community has intensified its efforts to help Israelis and Palestinians reach a peace treaty. The goal, as agreed in Annapolis, is to resolve all permanent status issues before the end of the year. The parameters of this agreement are clear -- an end of the occupation that began in 1967, an end to conflict, and the establishment of a sovereign, viable and independent Palestinian State living side by side in peace with a secure Israel.
The willingness of Israeli and Palestinian leaders to continue their regular discussions on the major issues is another welcome development. I particularly commend President [Mahmoud] Abbas and Prime Minister [Ehud] Olmert for their commitment to resolving the decades-old conflict, and for persisting with negotiations despite the difficulties. I urge them not be deterred by any obstacles and to see this effort through.
To succeed, current efforts to achieve a peace deal need to be underpinned by visible progress on the ground. Last December’s Donors’ Conference in Paris already raised nearly $8 billion in assistance for the Palestinian Authority. The recent London meetings of the Quartet principals and the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee also demonstrated the need for a robust follow-up by the international community, so as to build up political and economic support.
These meetings and pledges must now be translated into real results. Quartet Representative Tony Blair’s announcement of a package of measures is a welcome start. His proposals seek, initially, to increase the movement of people and goods in the West Bank, while accommodating Israel’s legitimate security needs. If implemented, these steps can bolster the Palestinian economy and lead to renewed confidence among the Palestinian people in the peace process.
Both sides must seize the current window of opportunity to push the peace process forward, especially by acting on their obligations under the Road Map.
Some actions have already been taken. The Palestinian Authority under Prime Minister [Salam] Fayyad has acted to improve its security capabilities and to implement fiscal reform. Israel has agreed to remove some of the obstacles that hinder Palestinian movement in the West Bank. It has also consented to the issuance of entry permits to Israel for thousands of Palestinian workers.
These are welcome steps. But much more remains needs to be done. Continuing settlement activity contravenes both international law and Israel’s obligations under the Road Map. Also, the construction of the barrier in the Occupied Palestinian Territory contravenes the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice. These activities must cease at once.
On the Palestinian side, efforts to improve capacity and performance on security and the rule of law should continue. Next month at a conference in Berlin, donors will also have an opportunity to extend much needed support to this process.
There is particularly urgent need to develop a different and more positive strategy for Gaza. The Palestinian people, especially the 1.5 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, endure punishing humanitarian conditions. UNRWA’s aid operation in the area is drastically impeded. Low and inconsistent supplies of fuel hamper transport, water and sanitation. Two thirds of Gaza’s residents subsist in poverty, and economic growth stood at zero last year.
Continuing Israeli air and ground operations only aggravate this situation, resulting in unacceptable casualties among Palestinian civilians in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Equally unacceptable and deeply irresponsible are the rocket and other attacks by militants against Israeli civilians and at crossings points. I reiterate my call for the cessation of all such condemnable acts of violence and for all parties to comply with international humanitarian law. In particular, measures of collective punishment should cease immediately.
In this context, I commend Egypt for its efforts to achieve calm in the Gaza Strip; these measures should lead to a reopening of the crossings and achieve greater security at the border. This is a first and vital step if Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are to be given the chance to succeed, and also for creating conditions to pursue the reunification of Gaza and the West Bank within the framework of the legitimate Palestinian Authority. This reunification is essential, because a Palestinian State must necessarily encompass both Gaza and the West Bank, as well as East Jerusalem.
I also welcome the reaffirmation of the Arab Peace Initiative, which is a central element in the quest for peace in the region. And I urge strong Arab support for the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to negotiate a peace agreement, to build its institutions and to advance Palestinian unity.
The coming months will be critical to our collective efforts to restore hope to the Palestinians. For my part, I will remain closely involved in the peace process both personally as well as through the Quartet and the efforts of the United Nations Special Coordinator. Together, we must do everything possible to help ensure a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East, based on full implementation of relevant United Nations resolutions and the requirements under the Road Map.
In that spirit, please accept my best wishes for a productive meeting.
[source]
Thursday, 15 May 2008
Updated Fact Sheet About Palestinian Refugees
“No Settlement can be just and complete if recognition is not accorded to the right of the Arab refugee to return to the home from which he has been dislodged… It would be an offence against the principles of elemental justice if these innocent victims of the conflict were denied the right to return to their homes while Jewish immigrants flow into Palestine, and indeed, offer the threat of permanent replacement of the Arab refugees who have been rooted in the land for centuries.”
-U.N. Mediator for Palestine, Count Folk Bernadotte, September 16th, 1948
"I will 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 refugees. Full stop. It is a moral issue of the highest level. I don't think that we should accept any kind of responsibility for the creation of this problem."
-Ehud Olmert, Israeli Prime Minister, March 30th, 2008
May 15th, 2008 marks the 60th commemoration of the Palestinian “Nakba” -the catastrophe- that struck the Palestinian people through the policies and actions surrounding the establishment of the State of Israel on 78% of Historic Palestine. Sixty years ago the world witnessed the expulsion of around 800,000 Muslim and Christian Palestinians from their cities and villages, the killings of civilians and the destruction of hundreds of Palestinian villages. Palestinians were displaced and dispossessed from their homes, creating the largest refugee population in the world.
Today, sadly, the Nakba continues but on a different scale. Israel is perpetuating long-standing policies to forcibly displace a significant amount of the population in the occupied Palestinian territory (“oPt”).
The following provides answers to the most frequently asked questions.
1- Who are the Palestinian Refugees?
The original Palestinian refugees were approximately 800,000 Muslims and Christians, (amounting to 75% of the Arab population of what became Israel) who fled or were expelled prior to, during and after the 1948 war to create a state for Jews in Palestine. They and their descendents are often referred to as the “1948 refugees”. (See map: Population Movements, 1948-1951, http//www.nad-plo.org/images/maps/pdf/palreg.pdf ).
In 1967, approximately 240,000 Palestinians fled their homes in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the war launched by Israel against Jordan and Egypt, capturing and occupying the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip (the oPt). They and their descendents are often referred to as the “1967 displaced persons”.
Since 1967, another 400,000 Palestinians have been displaced from the oPt due to Israeli policies. These policies include home demolitions, settlements and wall construction as well as revocation of residency rights and deportation of Palestinians. They have lead to more forced emigration from the oPt.
The victims of these illegal acts who are displaced within the “borders” of the oPt are referred to as Internally Displaced Persons (“IDPs”). The exact number is unknown due to the absence of a comprehensive registration system, but they are considered to be around 450,000
Neither the 1948 refugees nor the 1967 (or more recently) displaced persons have been allowed by Israel to return to their homes in what are now Israel and the oPt.
2- How many Palestinian refugees are there?
Today, the original Palestinian refugees and their descendents are estimated to number more than 7 million and constitute the world’s oldest and largest refugee population. They include:
a) 4.5 million 1948 refugees who are registered with UNRWA (2007);
b) 1.5 million 1948 refugees who are not registered with UNRWA either because they did not register or did not need assistance at the time they became refugees;
c) 950,000 1967 displaced persons; and
d) 350,000 internally displaced in Israel;
See map: Palestinian refugees, 2001, http//www.nad-plo.org/images/maps/pdf/palreg.pdf
3- Where do the Palestinian refugees live?
Palestinian refugees are dispersed throughout the world, although the majority live within 100 miles of Israel’s border. The largest refugee communities reside in Jordan (2,359,000), Syria (465,000) and Lebanon (438,000). Some 1,825,000 refugees live inside the oPt, while an additional 335,000 internally displaced Palestinians live in Israel. The remainder live scattered around the world, primarily in the rest of the Arab World, Europe and the Americas.
More than 1.3 million Palestinian refugees live in 59 U.N administered refugee camps in the oPt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon and 12 unrecognized refugee camps: 5 in the occupied West Bank, 3 in Jordan and 4 in Syria.
4- How did they become refugees?
“These operations can be carried out in the following manner: either by destroying villages (by setting fire to them, by blowing them up, and by planting mines in their debris) and especially of those populations centers which are difficult to control continuously; or by mounting combing and control operations according to the following guidelines: encirclement of the villages, conducting a search inside them. In case of resistance, the armed forces must be wiped out and the population expelled outside the borders of the State.”
Plan Dalet, March 10th, 1948
Like all refugees, Palestinians left their homes out of fear for their safety as a result of Jewish military operations perpetrated on the ground essentially by the Irgoun and Hagana troops before and during the 1948 war.
Military attacks on Palestinian villages and neighborhoods began as early as December 1947, a few days after the UN Partition Resolution Plan was adopted on 29 November 1947. Coerced expulsions intensified with the establishment of the Plan Dalet on 10 March 1948 which called for the destruction of Palestinian villages and urban centers and the expulsion of the Arab population living in these areas. Thus, many Palestinians fled due to direct military assaults on their towns and villages; others were forcibly expelled by Jewish military forces. Massacres of Palestinian civilians created an atmosphere of fear that caused many Palestinians to seek safety elsewhere, on the understanding that they would return once the hostilities subsided.
The most famous massacre occurred in Deir Yassin (not far from what is now Israel’s Holocaust Memorial) where, by most conservative estimates, the Irgun and Stern troops murdered more than 100 Palestinian men, women and children.
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. 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; the refugee crisis was the result of a war started by Arabs.
These mythologies have been debunked not only by newspaper reports (the New York Times in particular), U.N. documents and Palestinian sources, but also by Israeli historians such as Benny Morris or, more recently, Illan Pappe.
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 through which they became refugees.
5- Why are there Palestinian refugees in Israel?
In 1948, approximately 32,000 Palestinians left their homes but remained within the borders of what became Israel. These Palestinians have never been allowed to return to their homes and villages in Israel, despite the fact that they are Israeli citizens. Their homes, like the homes of other Palestinian refugees, were either demolished or given to Jewish immigrants
6- What happened to the property of the Palestinian refugees?
Following the 1948 war, more than 400 Palestinian villages and towns were destroyed or resettled by Jewish immigrants in an attempt to erase any evidence of a non-Jewish history and attachment to Palestine. Some destroyed Palestinian villages were rebuilt as Jewish towns and given Hebrew names. Although no exact accounting of refugee property exists in Israeli records, sight surveys reveal that much of the Palestinian refugee rural property remains vacant. Nearly all of Palestinian refugee property continues to be held by the State of Israel or the Jewish National Fund. Until now, Israel has refused to discuss the restitution of these confiscated properties.
7- What are Palestinian refugees’ rights according to international law?
Under international law, Palestinian refugees’ rights are entitled to the following:
- the recognition of Israel’s responsibility in the creation and continuation of the refugee issue;
- the recognition and implementation of the principle of the right of return;
- the restitution of Palestinian refugee properties;
- full compensation for these properties (when restitution is not materially possible or if the refugee chooses that the losses should be repaired via compensation), as well as compensation for the longstanding displacement and suffering of the refugees.
8- 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. The right is embodied in:
U.N 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, 10 December 1948:
“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, 21 December 1965:
“…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)).
nternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966:
“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.
9- Why haven’t the Palestinian refugees been able 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 clear demonstration of religious/ethnic discrimination, the indigenous Palestinian Muslim and Christian populations are banned from returning to their homes.
10- What has the international community done about the Palestinian refugees?
The international community has largely supported the principle of the Palestinian right of return which is reaffirmed every year by the UN General Assembly.
In 1949, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was created; it is the primary 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
11- Doesn’t the right of return threaten Israel’s “Jewish character”?
Allowing Muslims and Christians to choose to return to their homes or not does not negate Jewish historical attachment to Israel nor does it deny the rights of Jews to immigrate to Israel. The right of return is essentially a right of choice and seeks only to address historic injustices and affirms the rights of the indigenous non-Jewish population.
12- 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 some countries have granted Palestinian refugees full citizenship, acquiring rights in another country does not negate a refugee’s right to return home.
13- Why can’t the future Palestinian State absorb the Palestinian refugees?
Again, according to international law, including UNGA Resolution 194, Palestinian refugees have a right to choose whether to return to their original homes or resettle elsewhere. For the 1948 refugees, resettlement in the Palestinian state may be an attractive option but providing refugees with such an option cannot preclude their right to return.
14- Is property restitution realistic in this case?
Under international law, refugees, like any other person wrongfully deprived of property, are entitled to restitution. Palestinian refugees have the right to recover their properties. It is only if such restitution is materially impossible or if the refugee chooses that he should be compensated for his/her losses, that compensation should be provided.
The right to restitution is independent of the right to return so that even if a refugee chooses not to return he remains entitled to claim his property. The fact that a great extent of refugee property remains unsettled or vacant means that it would be materially possible to provide restitution in this case. At the very least, refugees should be given the choice as to how they want to resolve their property claims, irrespective of whether they return to what is now Israel.
15- 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, for instance, the right to return. Compensation is only one of the remedies to which refugees are entitled. Compensation is therefore necessary but not sufficient to resolve the issue.
16- How has the issue of refugees been addressed in negotiations with Israel?
In 1948, immediately following the adoption of UNGA Resolution 194, Israeli leaders did not reject the Resolution or the right of return or restitution. Instead they sought to delay addressing these matters until a comprehensive peace with Arab states was possible.
At Camp David, in 2000, Israel refused to discuss the rights of the Palestinian refugees, arguing that it bore no responsibility for the refugee problem or its solution. At the Taba negotiations, Israel continued to press for an abandonment of the right of return.
In 2002, the Arab Peace Initiative called for “A just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194”.
This position represents a willingness on the part of the PLO to consider the legitimate interests and concerns of all stakeholders involved in the matter, including Israel’s. Despite Palestinian overtures to discuss Israeli interests, Israel leaders continue to reject acknowledging their responsibility or addressing the rights of the refugees. In an interview given to the Jerusalem Post on 30 March 2008, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reiterated that Israel will not accept the return to Israel of any refugees and refused to recognize any responsibility in this regard.
17- How can the 60 year plight of the Palestinian refugees be resolved?
While complex, the Palestinian refugee issue can be resolved in accordance to international law. In practice, this would mean the following:
The recognition of Israel’s responsibility for the creation and continuation of the refugee issue.
The displacement of the civilian population in time of war is an illegal act in contravention of international law and human rights. Israel was responsible for the displacement and dispossession of the refugees in the first place and then for the subsequent prevention of their return to their homes.
Israel will have to recognize formally its primary responsibility for the Palestinian displacement and dispossession. This formal apology is a right according to international law and is essential for the satisfaction of Palestinian refugees.
The recognition that Palestinian refugees and their descendants have the right to return to their homes in principle.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 is unequivocal in mandating that “the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live in peace with their neighbors should be allowed to do so”.
In recent years, the right of refugees to return to their homes has been recognized by the international community and put into practice in numerous instances, some of the most notable being in Bosnia and Kosovo.
The modalities of the implementation of this right will be worked out in negotiations.
Palestinian refugees must be given the option to exercise their right of return, though refugees may prefer other options such as:
resettlement in third countries,
resettlement in a new independent Palestine (even though they originate from that part of Palestine which became Israel), or
normalization of their legal status in the host country where they currently reside.
What is important is that refugees decide for themselves which option they prefer – a decision must not be imposed on them. This is a principle which is clearly established under international law and respected by international practice.
The recognition of the right for the restitution of the properties lost by Palestinians.
According to international law, restitution is the primary remedy to repair a loss. It is only if restitution is practically impossible (or if the victim of the loss prefers compensation to restitution) that compensation should be made available.
Compensation should be provided in full:
for material damages (Real Estate properties, movable assets, loss of livelihood), and
non-material damages: compensation as a result of the longstanding displacement and suffering.
Related books:
In English
Michael R. Fischbach, Records of Dispossession, Colombia University Press, New York Chechester , West Sussex, Institute for Palestine Studies, 2003
Hussein Abu Hussein, Fiona Mc Kay, Access denied: Palestinian land rights in Israel, Zed books, 2003.
Ilan Pappe, The Ethnic cleansing of Palestine, Oneworld, Oxford, 2006
Lex Takkenberg, The status of Palestinian refugees in international law, Oxford, 1998.
In French
Farouk Mardam-Bey & Elias Sanbar (dir.), Le droit au retour, Sindbad, Actes Sud, 2002
In Spanish
Nur Masalha, Politicas de la Negacion: Israel y los Refugiados Palestinos, ediciones Bellaterra, Barcelona, 2005.
Illan Pappe, La limpieza etnica de Palestina, Editorial Cronica, Barcelona, 2008
For additional information on Palestinian refugees, please visit:
BADIL – A Bethlehem-based resource center for Palestinian refugee rights. www.badil.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. http://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.org/unispal.nsf
UNRWA – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency is the main provider of basic services – education, health, relieg and social services – to over 4.5 million registered Palestine refugees in the Middle East. http://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. http://www.al-awda.org/
Palestine Remembered – A website created to highlight the towns and villages destroyed by Israel in 1948. http://www.palestineremembered.com/
Deir Yassin Remembered – A website created to highlight the Deir Yassin massacre. http://www.deiryassin.org/
-U.N. Mediator for Palestine, Count Folk Bernadotte, September 16th, 1948
"I will 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 refugees. Full stop. It is a moral issue of the highest level. I don't think that we should accept any kind of responsibility for the creation of this problem."
-Ehud Olmert, Israeli Prime Minister, March 30th, 2008
May 15th, 2008 marks the 60th commemoration of the Palestinian “Nakba” -the catastrophe- that struck the Palestinian people through the policies and actions surrounding the establishment of the State of Israel on 78% of Historic Palestine. Sixty years ago the world witnessed the expulsion of around 800,000 Muslim and Christian Palestinians from their cities and villages, the killings of civilians and the destruction of hundreds of Palestinian villages. Palestinians were displaced and dispossessed from their homes, creating the largest refugee population in the world.
Today, sadly, the Nakba continues but on a different scale. Israel is perpetuating long-standing policies to forcibly displace a significant amount of the population in the occupied Palestinian territory (“oPt”).
The following provides answers to the most frequently asked questions.
1- Who are the Palestinian Refugees?
The original Palestinian refugees were approximately 800,000 Muslims and Christians, (amounting to 75% of the Arab population of what became Israel) who fled or were expelled prior to, during and after the 1948 war to create a state for Jews in Palestine. They and their descendents are often referred to as the “1948 refugees”. (See map: Population Movements, 1948-1951, http//www.nad-plo.org/images/maps/pdf/palreg.pdf ).
In 1967, approximately 240,000 Palestinians fled their homes in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the war launched by Israel against Jordan and Egypt, capturing and occupying the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip (the oPt). They and their descendents are often referred to as the “1967 displaced persons”.
Since 1967, another 400,000 Palestinians have been displaced from the oPt due to Israeli policies. These policies include home demolitions, settlements and wall construction as well as revocation of residency rights and deportation of Palestinians. They have lead to more forced emigration from the oPt.
The victims of these illegal acts who are displaced within the “borders” of the oPt are referred to as Internally Displaced Persons (“IDPs”). The exact number is unknown due to the absence of a comprehensive registration system, but they are considered to be around 450,000
Neither the 1948 refugees nor the 1967 (or more recently) displaced persons have been allowed by Israel to return to their homes in what are now Israel and the oPt.
2- How many Palestinian refugees are there?
Today, the original Palestinian refugees and their descendents are estimated to number more than 7 million and constitute the world’s oldest and largest refugee population. They include:
a) 4.5 million 1948 refugees who are registered with UNRWA (2007);
b) 1.5 million 1948 refugees who are not registered with UNRWA either because they did not register or did not need assistance at the time they became refugees;
c) 950,000 1967 displaced persons; and
d) 350,000 internally displaced in Israel;
See map: Palestinian refugees, 2001, http//www.nad-plo.org/images/maps/pdf/palreg.pdf
3- Where do the Palestinian refugees live?
Palestinian refugees are dispersed throughout the world, although the majority live within 100 miles of Israel’s border. The largest refugee communities reside in Jordan (2,359,000), Syria (465,000) and Lebanon (438,000). Some 1,825,000 refugees live inside the oPt, while an additional 335,000 internally displaced Palestinians live in Israel. The remainder live scattered around the world, primarily in the rest of the Arab World, Europe and the Americas.
More than 1.3 million Palestinian refugees live in 59 U.N administered refugee camps in the oPt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon and 12 unrecognized refugee camps: 5 in the occupied West Bank, 3 in Jordan and 4 in Syria.
4- How did they become refugees?
“These operations can be carried out in the following manner: either by destroying villages (by setting fire to them, by blowing them up, and by planting mines in their debris) and especially of those populations centers which are difficult to control continuously; or by mounting combing and control operations according to the following guidelines: encirclement of the villages, conducting a search inside them. In case of resistance, the armed forces must be wiped out and the population expelled outside the borders of the State.”
Plan Dalet, March 10th, 1948
Like all refugees, Palestinians left their homes out of fear for their safety as a result of Jewish military operations perpetrated on the ground essentially by the Irgoun and Hagana troops before and during the 1948 war.
Military attacks on Palestinian villages and neighborhoods began as early as December 1947, a few days after the UN Partition Resolution Plan was adopted on 29 November 1947. Coerced expulsions intensified with the establishment of the Plan Dalet on 10 March 1948 which called for the destruction of Palestinian villages and urban centers and the expulsion of the Arab population living in these areas. Thus, many Palestinians fled due to direct military assaults on their towns and villages; others were forcibly expelled by Jewish military forces. Massacres of Palestinian civilians created an atmosphere of fear that caused many Palestinians to seek safety elsewhere, on the understanding that they would return once the hostilities subsided.
The most famous massacre occurred in Deir Yassin (not far from what is now Israel’s Holocaust Memorial) where, by most conservative estimates, the Irgun and Stern troops murdered more than 100 Palestinian men, women and children.
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. 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; the refugee crisis was the result of a war started by Arabs.
These mythologies have been debunked not only by newspaper reports (the New York Times in particular), U.N. documents and Palestinian sources, but also by Israeli historians such as Benny Morris or, more recently, Illan Pappe.
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 through which they became refugees.
5- Why are there Palestinian refugees in Israel?
In 1948, approximately 32,000 Palestinians left their homes but remained within the borders of what became Israel. These Palestinians have never been allowed to return to their homes and villages in Israel, despite the fact that they are Israeli citizens. Their homes, like the homes of other Palestinian refugees, were either demolished or given to Jewish immigrants
6- What happened to the property of the Palestinian refugees?
Following the 1948 war, more than 400 Palestinian villages and towns were destroyed or resettled by Jewish immigrants in an attempt to erase any evidence of a non-Jewish history and attachment to Palestine. Some destroyed Palestinian villages were rebuilt as Jewish towns and given Hebrew names. Although no exact accounting of refugee property exists in Israeli records, sight surveys reveal that much of the Palestinian refugee rural property remains vacant. Nearly all of Palestinian refugee property continues to be held by the State of Israel or the Jewish National Fund. Until now, Israel has refused to discuss the restitution of these confiscated properties.
7- What are Palestinian refugees’ rights according to international law?
Under international law, Palestinian refugees’ rights are entitled to the following:
- the recognition of Israel’s responsibility in the creation and continuation of the refugee issue;
- the recognition and implementation of the principle of the right of return;
- the restitution of Palestinian refugee properties;
- full compensation for these properties (when restitution is not materially possible or if the refugee chooses that the losses should be repaired via compensation), as well as compensation for the longstanding displacement and suffering of the refugees.
8- 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. The right is embodied in:
U.N 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, 10 December 1948:
“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, 21 December 1965:
“…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)).
nternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966:
“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.
9- Why haven’t the Palestinian refugees been able 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 clear demonstration of religious/ethnic discrimination, the indigenous Palestinian Muslim and Christian populations are banned from returning to their homes.
10- What has the international community done about the Palestinian refugees?
The international community has largely supported the principle of the Palestinian right of return which is reaffirmed every year by the UN General Assembly.
In 1949, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was created; it is the primary 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
11- Doesn’t the right of return threaten Israel’s “Jewish character”?
Allowing Muslims and Christians to choose to return to their homes or not does not negate Jewish historical attachment to Israel nor does it deny the rights of Jews to immigrate to Israel. The right of return is essentially a right of choice and seeks only to address historic injustices and affirms the rights of the indigenous non-Jewish population.
12- 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 some countries have granted Palestinian refugees full citizenship, acquiring rights in another country does not negate a refugee’s right to return home.
13- Why can’t the future Palestinian State absorb the Palestinian refugees?
Again, according to international law, including UNGA Resolution 194, Palestinian refugees have a right to choose whether to return to their original homes or resettle elsewhere. For the 1948 refugees, resettlement in the Palestinian state may be an attractive option but providing refugees with such an option cannot preclude their right to return.
14- Is property restitution realistic in this case?
Under international law, refugees, like any other person wrongfully deprived of property, are entitled to restitution. Palestinian refugees have the right to recover their properties. It is only if such restitution is materially impossible or if the refugee chooses that he should be compensated for his/her losses, that compensation should be provided.
The right to restitution is independent of the right to return so that even if a refugee chooses not to return he remains entitled to claim his property. The fact that a great extent of refugee property remains unsettled or vacant means that it would be materially possible to provide restitution in this case. At the very least, refugees should be given the choice as to how they want to resolve their property claims, irrespective of whether they return to what is now Israel.
15- 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, for instance, the right to return. Compensation is only one of the remedies to which refugees are entitled. Compensation is therefore necessary but not sufficient to resolve the issue.
16- How has the issue of refugees been addressed in negotiations with Israel?
In 1948, immediately following the adoption of UNGA Resolution 194, Israeli leaders did not reject the Resolution or the right of return or restitution. Instead they sought to delay addressing these matters until a comprehensive peace with Arab states was possible.
At Camp David, in 2000, Israel refused to discuss the rights of the Palestinian refugees, arguing that it bore no responsibility for the refugee problem or its solution. At the Taba negotiations, Israel continued to press for an abandonment of the right of return.
In 2002, the Arab Peace Initiative called for “A just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194”.
This position represents a willingness on the part of the PLO to consider the legitimate interests and concerns of all stakeholders involved in the matter, including Israel’s. Despite Palestinian overtures to discuss Israeli interests, Israel leaders continue to reject acknowledging their responsibility or addressing the rights of the refugees. In an interview given to the Jerusalem Post on 30 March 2008, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reiterated that Israel will not accept the return to Israel of any refugees and refused to recognize any responsibility in this regard.
17- How can the 60 year plight of the Palestinian refugees be resolved?
While complex, the Palestinian refugee issue can be resolved in accordance to international law. In practice, this would mean the following:
The recognition of Israel’s responsibility for the creation and continuation of the refugee issue.
The displacement of the civilian population in time of war is an illegal act in contravention of international law and human rights. Israel was responsible for the displacement and dispossession of the refugees in the first place and then for the subsequent prevention of their return to their homes.
Israel will have to recognize formally its primary responsibility for the Palestinian displacement and dispossession. This formal apology is a right according to international law and is essential for the satisfaction of Palestinian refugees.
The recognition that Palestinian refugees and their descendants have the right to return to their homes in principle.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 is unequivocal in mandating that “the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live in peace with their neighbors should be allowed to do so”.
In recent years, the right of refugees to return to their homes has been recognized by the international community and put into practice in numerous instances, some of the most notable being in Bosnia and Kosovo.
The modalities of the implementation of this right will be worked out in negotiations.
Palestinian refugees must be given the option to exercise their right of return, though refugees may prefer other options such as:
resettlement in third countries,
resettlement in a new independent Palestine (even though they originate from that part of Palestine which became Israel), or
normalization of their legal status in the host country where they currently reside.
What is important is that refugees decide for themselves which option they prefer – a decision must not be imposed on them. This is a principle which is clearly established under international law and respected by international practice.
The recognition of the right for the restitution of the properties lost by Palestinians.
According to international law, restitution is the primary remedy to repair a loss. It is only if restitution is practically impossible (or if the victim of the loss prefers compensation to restitution) that compensation should be made available.
Compensation should be provided in full:
for material damages (Real Estate properties, movable assets, loss of livelihood), and
non-material damages: compensation as a result of the longstanding displacement and suffering.
Related books:
In English
Michael R. Fischbach, Records of Dispossession, Colombia University Press, New York Chechester , West Sussex, Institute for Palestine Studies, 2003
Hussein Abu Hussein, Fiona Mc Kay, Access denied: Palestinian land rights in Israel, Zed books, 2003.
Ilan Pappe, The Ethnic cleansing of Palestine, Oneworld, Oxford, 2006
Lex Takkenberg, The status of Palestinian refugees in international law, Oxford, 1998.
In French
Farouk Mardam-Bey & Elias Sanbar (dir.), Le droit au retour, Sindbad, Actes Sud, 2002
In Spanish
Nur Masalha, Politicas de la Negacion: Israel y los Refugiados Palestinos, ediciones Bellaterra, Barcelona, 2005.
Illan Pappe, La limpieza etnica de Palestina, Editorial Cronica, Barcelona, 2008
For additional information on Palestinian refugees, please visit:
BADIL – A Bethlehem-based resource center for Palestinian refugee rights. www.badil.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. http://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.org/unispal.nsf
UNRWA – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency is the main provider of basic services – education, health, relieg and social services – to over 4.5 million registered Palestine refugees in the Middle East. http://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. http://www.al-awda.org/
Palestine Remembered – A website created to highlight the towns and villages destroyed by Israel in 1948. http://www.palestineremembered.com/
Deir Yassin Remembered – A website created to highlight the Deir Yassin massacre. http://www.deiryassin.org/
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