gelatik
18.12.02, 02:11
Palestinian refugees
Since 1920, the British mandate government has put Palestine in a difficult
economic, administrative, and political situation, facilitating the
establishment of a Jewish state and the displacement of over 750,000
Palestinians through four successive waves of immigrations.
The First Wave: Approximately 30,000 Palestinians were forced to leave the
country during the period from January 1947 up to March 1948.
The Second Wave: Over 300,000 Palestinians left West Jerusalem, Tiberias,
Haifa, Jafa, Beishan, and those who survived the Deir Yasin massacre. These
huge numbers were forced to leave during the period from March 1948 up to May
1948. They were terrified by the horrible massacre committed by Hagana and
Stern forces against innocent civilians in Deir Yasin village where the death
toll reached 250 persons including children, women, and elderly people.
The Third Wave: The Israeli armed forces deported approximately 100,000
Palestinians from Lod and Ramlah cities to Jordan during the period from May
1948 to December 1948.
The Fourth Wave: In view of the Israeli hostilities, which continued even
after the 1948 war, over 200,000 Palestinians were forced to move to the Gaza
Strip.
The Palestinian refugee case is the largest and one of the longest standing
refugee cases in the world today. More than 6 million persons, comprising
around three-quarters of the Palestinian people, and nearly one-third of the
global refugee population, remain without a durable solution to their plight.
More than half of all Palestinian refugees lack basic day-to-day protection,
such as physical security, freedom of movement, and access to employment.
It is estimated that there are more than 5.5 million Palestinian refugees.
The Palestinian refugee Diaspora spreads around the world. The majority of
Palestinian refugees, however, live within 100 miles of the borders of Israel
in neighboring Arab host states. More than half the refugee population lives
in Jordan. Approximately one-quarter of the refugee population lives in the
Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Around 15 percent of the refugee population
resides in almost equal numbers in Syria and Lebanon, with the remaining
refugee population residing inside Israel (internally displaced persons), in
the Arab Gulf and in Europe and the United States. Approximately one-third of
those refugees displaced in 1948 live in refugee camps located in the West
Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria
According to international law, refugees have the right to return to their
homes of origin, receive real property restitution, and compensation for
losses and damages. There are three basic solutions to refugee problems:
voluntary repatriation (or return), voluntary host country integration, and
voluntary resettlement in a third country. Of these three solutions only
repatriation or return is a right recognized under international law. Each of
the three solutions mentioned above is guided by the principle of voluntaries
or refugee choice.
On the other hand, the state of Israel refuses to allow Palestinian refugees
to exercise their basic human rights to return to their ancestral homes based
on several arguments:
Israeli officials have claimed that there is no space for the refugees to
return.
Israeli officials have also argued that the return of Palestinian refugees
would create a security risk and lead to conflict.
Israel rejects the return of the refugees because it would change what it
calls the Jewish character of the state. The Jewish character of the state is
based on a permanent Jewish majority, special privileges for Jewish citizens,
residents and non-residents that are set forth in Israel’s laws, and
permanent Jewish control of land and property confiscated from the refugees.
