ThePalestinian right of return[a] is the political position or principle thatPalestinian refugees, bothfirst-generation refugees (c. 30,000 to 50,000 people still alive as of 2012[update])[3][4] and their descendants (c. 5 million people as of 2012[update]),[3] have aright to return and a right to theproperty they themselves or their forebears left behind or were forced to leave in what is nowIsrael and thePalestinian territories (both formerly part of theBritish Mandate of Palestine) during the1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight (a result of the1948 Palestine war) and the1967 Six-Day War.
The right of return was initially formulated on 27 June 1948 by United Nations mediatorFolke Bernadotte.[5] Proponents of the right of return hold that it is ahuman right, whose applicability both generally and specifically to the Palestinians is protected underinternational law.[6] This view holds that those who opt not to return, or for whom return is not feasible, should receive compensation. Proponents argue that Israel's opposition stands in contrast with itsLaw of Return that grants all Jews the right to settle permanently, while withholding any comparable right from Palestinians.[7] Thegovernment of Israel, and its supporters, state that Palestinian refugees don't have the right of return under international law.[8][9]
There is also significant concern about the demographic impact of the return of 5 million Palestinians to Israel, whose population is nearly 10 million. Some Palestinians, includingYasser Arafat, have supported limits on the right of return to accommodate Israel's demographic concerns.[10]
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The number ofPalestinian refugees of the 1948 war is estimated at between 700,000 and 800,000, and another 280,000 to 350,000 people wererefugees of the 1967 war.[11][12][13][14] Approximately 120,000–170,000 among the 1967 refugees are believed to have also been refugees from the 1948 war, fleeing a second time.[15] Today, the estimated number of Palestinian refugees and their descendants exceeds four million.[16] The right of return has been of great importance to Palestinians since then.[17]
The first formal recognition of a right of return was inUN General Assembly Resolution 194 passed on 11 December 1948 which provided (Article 11):
Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours 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.
TheUN General Assembly Resolution 3236, passed on 22 November 1974, declared the right of return to be an "inalienable right".[17]
The right of return was defined as the "foremost of Palestinian rights" at the 12thPalestine National Council meeting in 1974 when it became the first component of thePalestine Liberation Organization's trinity of inalienable rights, along with the right of self-determination and the right to an independent state.[18]
Since the birth of the refugee problem, Israel has consistently rejected the idea that Palestinians would have any inherent "right" of return. In June 1948, the Israeli government stated its position, which was reiterated in a letter to the United Nations on 2 August 1949, that a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem must be sought not through the return of the refugees to Israel, but through the resettlement of the Palestinian Arab refugee population in other states.[19]
ThePalestinian refugee problem started during the1948 Palestine war, when between 700,000 and 800,000 Arabs left, fled, or were expelled from their homes in the area that would become Israel. They settled in refugee camps in Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and in the West Bank and the Gaza strip that were occupied by Transjordan and Egypt during the war.
From December 1947 to March 1948, around 100,000 Palestinians left. Among them were many from the upper and middle classes from the cities, who left voluntarily, expecting to return when the situation had calmed down.[20] From April to July, between 250,000 and 300,000 fled in front ofHaganah offensives, mainly from the towns ofHaifa,Tiberias,Beit-Shean,Safed,Jaffa andAcre, that lost more than 90% of their Arab inhabitants.[21] Some expulsions arose, particularly along the Tel-Aviv – Jerusalem road[22] and inEastern Galilee.[23] After the truce of June, about 100,000 Palestinians became refugees.[24] About 50,000 inhabitants of Lydda and Ramle were expelled towardsRamallah by Israeli forces duringOperation Danny,[25] and most others during clearing operations performed by the IDF on its rear areas.[26] DuringOperation Dekel, the Arabs of Nazareth and South Galilee could remain in their homes.[27] They later formed the core of theArab Israelis. From October to November 1948, the IDF launchedOperation Yoav to chase Egyptian forces from the Negev andOperation Hiram to chase theArab Liberation Army from NorthGalilee. This generated an exodus of 200,000 to 220,000 Palestinians. Here, Arabs fled fearing atrocities or were expelled if they had not fled.[28] During Operation Hiram, at least nine massacres of Arabs were performed by IDF soldiers.[29] After the war, from 1948 to 1950, the IDF cleared its borders, which resulted in the expulsion of around 30,000 to 40,000 Arabs.[30]
TheUnited Nations estimated the number of refugees outside Israel at 711,000.[31]
No Arab country except Jordan has to date assimilated a significant population of Palestinian refugees, nor given them full citizenship, and many rely on economic aid from the UN or persons in other countries.[citation needed] It is the position of most Arab governments not to grant citizenship to the Palestinian refugees born within their borders; this policy is in part due to the wishes of these Arab states for Palestinians to be allowed to return to their homes within Israel, in part due to these states wishing to relieve themselves of the refugees.[32][better source needed]
The causes and responsibilities of the exodus are a matter of controversy among historians and commentators of the conflict.[33] Although historians now agree on most of the events of that period, there is still disagreement on whether the exodus was due to a plan designed before or during the war by Zionist leaders, or whether it was an unintended result of the war.[34]
During the Palestinian exodus, Israeli leaders decided against the return of the refugees. During her visit at Haïfa on 1 May 1948,Golda Meir declared: "The Jews should treat the remaining Arabs 'with civil and human equality', but 'it is not our job to worry about the return [of those who have fled]".[35] A group consisting of "local authorities, the kibbutz movements, the settlement departments of the National institutions, Haganah commanders and influential figures such asYosef Weitz andEzra Danin started lobbying against repatriation.[36] ATransfer Committee and a policy offaits accomplis were set up to prevent a refugee return.[37] In July, it had become an official policy:[38] "Absentees' property" was managed by Israeli government and numerous Palestinian villages were leveled.
A parallel has been drawn by some commentators between the state and private restitutions made from Germany to Israel over Holocaust confiscations and the compensation due to Palestinians evicted in the formation of Israel.[39] Others have compared Palestinians' claims for compensation to the claims of ethnic Germans who were expelled from eastern Europe in the aftermath of the Holocaust and World War II.[40]
In 1945, of 26.4 milliondunams of land inMandate Palestine, 12.8 million was owned by Arabs, 1.5 million by Jews, 1.5 million was public land and 10.6 million constituted the desertic Beersheba district (Negev).[41][42] By 1949, Israel controlled 20.5 milliondunams (approx. 20,500 km2) or 78% of lands in what had been Mandate Palestine: 8% (approx. 1,650 km2) were privately controlled by Jews, 6% (approx. 1,300 km2) by Arabs, with the remaining 86% was public land.[43]
During theSix-Day War another Palestinian exodus occurred. An estimated 280,000 to 350,000[44] Palestinians fled or were expelled[45] from theWest Bank, theGaza Strip and theGolan Heights as a result of theSix-Day War; approximately 120,000–170,000 among them were believed to also be refugees from the first war, fleeing a second time.[46]
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A comparison is often made between the situation of Palestinian refugees andthe exodus of Jews from Arab countries who are now in Israel (or elsewhere).
It is estimated that 800,000 to 1,000,000 Jews were either forced from their homes or left the Arab countries from 1948 until the early 1970s; 260,000 reached Israel between 1948 and 1951, and 600,000 by 1972.[47][48][49]
In 2000, Bobby Brown, advisor to prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahu on Diaspora affairs and delegates from theWorld Jewish Congress and theConference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations began an intensive campaign to secure official political and legal recognition of Jews from Arab lands as refugees. The campaign's proponents hoped their efforts would prevent acceptance of the "right of return" to Palestinians, and reduce the amount of compensation that would be paid by Israel for appropriated Palestinian property.[50] Then-president of the United States Bill Clinton gave an interview in July 2000 to Israel's Channel One and disclosed an agreement to recognize Jews from Arab lands as refugees, whileEhud Barak hailed it as an achievement in an interview with Dan Margalit.
In 2002, the organization "Justice for Jews from Arab Countries" (JJAC) was created and its Founding Congress (Election of a Board of Directors, Finalized By-Laws for the organization, etc.) met in London in June 2008. Beginning in November 2008, they planned to undertake major initiatives and that in 2009, they would hold a national conference in Israel.[51] Their achievement to date is described as "having returned the issue of Jews from Arab countries to the agenda of the Middle East."
In November 2012,Palestinian Authority PresidentMahmud Abbas repeated his stance that the claim of return was not to his original hometown, but to a Palestinian state that would be established at the 1967 border line. Hamas denounced this adjustment.[52][53] Abbas later clarified (for the Arab media) that this was his own personal opinion and not a policy of giving up the right of return. Israeli politicians denounced the clarification.[54]
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The issue of the right of return of Palestinian refugees has been a very sensitive issue for Palestinians (and Arab countries in the region) since the creation of the refugee problem as a result of the1948 Arab–Israeli War.[17] TheUnited NationsUN General Assembly Resolution 194[55] which was passed on 11 December 1948, recognized the right of return for the first time.
Resolution 194 also deals with the situation in the region ofPalestine at that time, establishing and defining the role of theUnited Nations Conciliation Commission as an organization to facilitate peace in the region.
WithinUnited Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 (1948), it is (mainly) Article 11 which deals with the return of Palestinian refugees.
Article 11 of the resolution reads:
[The General Assembly] Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours 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 exact meaning and timing of enforcement of the resolution were disputed from the beginning.
Since the late 1960s, Article 11 has increasingly been quoted by those who interpret it as a basis for the "right of return" of Palestinian refugees.
Israel has always contested this reading, pointing out that the text merely states that the refugees "should be permitted" to return to their homes at the "earliest practicable date" and this recommendation applies only to those "wishing to ... live at peace with their neighbors".[citation needed] In particular,David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister ofIsrael, insisted in an interview with the members of the Conciliations Commission that as long as Israel could not count on the dedication of any Arab refugees to remain "at peace with their neighbors" – a consequence, he contended, of the Arab states' unwillingness to remain at peace with the state of Israel – resettlement was not an obligation for his country.[31]
Supporters of the right of return assert it partly based on the following sources:
According to Akram,[59] although the status of Palestinian nationals/citizens after the creation of the State of Israel has been much debated, established principles ofstate succession[60] andhuman rights law confirm that the denationalization of Palestinians was illegal and that they retain the right to return to their places of origin.[59]
On 15 March 2000, a group of 100 prominent Palestinians from around the world expressed their opinion that the right of return is individual, rather than collective, and that it cannot therefore be reduced or forfeited by any representation on behalf of the Palestinians in any agreement or treaty. They argued that the right to property "cannot be extinguished by new sovereignty or occupation and does not have a statute of limitation", and asserted that "it is according to this principle that the European Jews claimed successfully the restitution of their lost property in World War II". Their declaration partly rested on the assertion that, on certain occasions, Palestinians were expelled from their homes in Israel. The declaration placed the number of towns and villages in which this occurred at 531.[61]
SomeAmerican libertarians have argued for the Palestinian right of return largely from a privateproperty rights perspective. In "Property Rights and the 'Right of Return'", professorRichard Ebeling writes: "If a settlement is reached between the Israelis and the Palestinians, justice would suggest that all legitimate property should be returned to their rightful owners and that residence by those owners on their property should be once again permitted."[62] AttorneyStephen Halbrook in "The Alienation of a Homeland: How Palestine Became Israel" writes: "Palestinian Arabs have the rights to return to their homes and estates taken over by Israelis, to receive just compensation for loss of life and property, and to exercise nationalself-determination."[63] In "War Guilt in the Middle East"Murray Rothbard details Israel's "aggression against Middle East Arabs", confiscatory policies and its "refusal to let these refugees return and reclaim the property taken from them".[64]
Palestinian and international authors have justified the right of return of the Palestinian refugees on several grounds:[65][66][67]
A report from the military intelligence SHAI of the Haganah entitled "The emigration of Palestinian Arabs in the period 1/12/1947 – 1/6/1948", dated 30 June 1948 affirms that up to 1 June 1948:
"At least 55% of the total of the exodus was caused by our (Haganah/IDF) operations." To this figure, the report's compilers add the operations of the Irgun and Lehi, which "directly (caused) some 15%... of the emigration". A further 2% was attributed to explicit expulsion orders issued by Israeli troops, and 1% to their psychological warfare. This leads to a figure of 73% for departures caused directly by the Israelis. In addition, the report attributes 22% of the departures to "fears" and "a crisis of confidence" affecting the Palestinian population. As for Arab calls for flight, these were reckoned to be significant in only 5% of cases...[70][71][72][verify quotation]
Objectors to a Palestinian right of return contend that such a right would destroy Israel as a Jewish state as it would leave Jews a minority in Israel. In atwo-state solution framework, this would leave Israel as a bi-national state with a Jewish minority with an additional Palestinian state. Israelis see this demand as inherently contradicting the "two states for two peoples solution", and this has caused many Israelis to believe Israeli–Palestinian peace is not possible.[73]
Opponents of the right of return reject it partly based on the following sources:
Israeli official statements and many accounts from supporters have long claimed that the 1948 refugee crisis was instigated by the invading Arab armies who ordered Palestinian civilians to evacuate the battle zone in order to allow the Arab armies freedom to operate. Israel officially denies any responsibility for the Palestinian exodus, stating that their flight was caused by the Arab invasion.[78]
Opponents of the right of return, such asEfraim Karsh, say that Israel is therefore not obligated to compensate Palestinians or allow them to return.[79] Karsh writes that the Palestinians were not the victims of a "Zionist grand design to dispossess them" but rather were "the aggressors in the 1948–49 war" and as such are responsible for the refugee problem. Karsh does not deny that some Palestinians were forcibly expelled, but places the blame for the bulk of the exodus on Palestinian and Arab elites and leaders who, he writes, fled prior to April 1948 and caused a "stampede effect". Karsh writes that Arab leaders and/or Arab military forces drove out huge numbers of Palestinians from their homes. Karsh states that most Palestinians chose their status as refugees themselves, and therefore Israel is absolved of responsibility.[79]Benny Morris argues that the newly formed Israeli state viewed, and rightly so in his view, the Palestinian refugees as enemies "who had just attacked the Jewish community" and if they were allowed to return could form afifth column. He views the refugee problem as consequence of a war that they instigated.[80][81]
Some critics of the Palestinian right of return also argue that it is not supported by international precedent, drawing attention to the 758,000–866,000 Jews who wereexpelled, fled or emigrated from the ArabMiddle East andNorth Africa between 1945 and 1956. These critics argue that since these refugees were neither compensated nor allowed return—to no objection on the part of Arab leaders orinternational legal authorities—theinternational community had accepted this migration of Jews asfait accompli, and thereby set legal precedent in the region against a right of return.[82] Former Israeli foreign ministerMoshe Sharett asserted that the migration of refugees between Israel and theArab world essentially constituted apopulation exchange. He argued that precedent, such as the exchange of 2.5 million people betweenPoland and theSoviet Union, as well as the 13 millionHindus and Muslims who crossed theIndia–Pakistanborder, showed that international law neither requires nor expects the reversal of population exchanges. He further argued that precedent does not require reversal even of one-directional refugee migrations, such as the expulsion of 900,000Germans fromCzechoslovakia followingWorld War II. In Sharett's view, Israel was singled out as the exception to international law.[82]
Ruth Lapidoth has argued that U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194 does not specify a "right", but rather says refugees "should" be allowed to return. She has also noted that General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding on member states, and that this particular resolution based its recommendations on two conditions: that refugees wish to return, and that they be willing to "live at peace with their neighbors". She argues that the latter condition is unfulfilled, citing the actions of Palestinian militant groups. She concludes that Palestinian refugees have right to seek a negotiated compensation, but not a "right of return".[74]
According to Lapidoth,Stig Jägerskiöld in 1966 said that the right of return was intended as an individual and not a collective right, and that "there was no intention here to address the claims of masses of people who have been displaced as a by-product of war or by political transfers of territory or population, such as the relocation of ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe during and after the Second World War, the flight of the Palestinians from what became Israel, or the movement of Jews from the Arab countries".[74][83][84]
Andrew Kent, a Professor atFordham University Law School, argues that Israel is not obligated to accept a Palestinian right of return, as international law at the time the 1948 Palestinian exodus occurred did not render Israeli actions illegal, with documents cited by proponents of the right of return such as theFourth Geneva Convention and theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights coming into force after the Palestinian exodus had taken place. Kent argues that these documents do not apply, as international law almost never applies retroactively. Kent concedes that international law almost certainly would mandate a right of return if a refugee displacement under similar circumstances were to occur today.[85]
Anthony Oberschall [de;fr] has argued that a full right of return by refugees and their descendants to their original homes would create chaos as the original Palestinian villages no longer exist and in their place are Israeli homes and property, writing that "the townhouses, villages, farms, olive groves, and pastures of 1948 do not exist anymore. They have become Israeli towns, apartment blocks, shopping centers, industrial parks, agribusinesses, and highways." He further argues that a settlement between two warring people would ideally have a separation between them and their respective states.[86]
The argument over the existence of such a right has perpetuated theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict, and the failure of the peace process is due, in large part, to the inability of the two parties to achieve a solution with justice for both sides.
The majority of Palestinians consider that their homeland was lost during the establishment of Israel in 1948, and see the right of return as crucial to a peace agreement with Israel, even if the vast majority of surviving refugees and their descendants do not exercise that right. The Palestinians consider the vast majority of refugees as victims of Israeliethnic cleansing during the1948 Arab–Israeli War, and cite massacres such asDeir Yassin. All Palestinian political and militant groups, both Islamist and socialist, strongly support a right of return. ThePalestinian National Authority views the right of return as a non-negotiable right.
Almost all Israeli Jews oppose a literal right of return for Palestinian refugees on the grounds that allowing such an influx of Palestinians would render Jews a minority in Israel, thus transforming Israel into an Arab-Muslim state. In addition to the right-wing and center, a majority of the Israeli left, including thefar-left,[citation needed] opposes the right of return on these grounds. The Israeli left is generally open to compromise on the issue, and supports resolving it by means such asfinancial compensation, family reunification initiatives, and the admittance of a highly limited number of refugees to Israel, but is opposed to a full right of return.[87] The vast majority of Israelis believe that all or almost all of the refugees should be resettled in aPalestinian state, their countries of residence, or third-party countries. The Israeli political leadership has consistently opposed the right of return, but it has made offers of compensation, assistance in resettlement, and return for an extremely limited number of refugees based on family reunification or humanitarian considerations during peace talks.
Israel's first offer of any limited right of return came at theLausanne Conference of 1949, when it offered to allow 100,000 refugees to return, though not necessarily to their homes, including 25,000 who had returned surreptitiously and 10,000 family-reunion cases. The proposal was conditioned on a peace treaty that would allow Israel to retain territory it had captured which had been allocated to a proposed Palestinian state, and the Arab states absorbing the remaining 550,000–650,000 refugees. The Arabs rejected the proposal on both moral and political grounds, and Israel quickly withdrew its limited offer. At the2000 Camp David summit 52 years following Israeli independence, Israel offered to set up an international fund for the compensation for the property which had been lost by 1948 Palestinian refugees, to which Israel would contribute. Israel offered to allow 100,000 refugees to return on the basis of humanitarian considerations or family reunification. All other refugees would be resettled in their present places of residents, the Palestinian state, or in third-party countries, with Israel contributing $30 billion to fund their resettlement. During this time, most of the original refugees had already died without any compensation. Israel demanded that in exchange, Arafat forever abandon the right of return, and Arafat's refusal has been cited as one of the leading causes of the summit's failure.
The Palestinian right of return had been one of the issues whose solution had been deferred until the "final status agreement" in theOslo Accords of 1993. Not only was there no final status agreement, but the Oslo process itself broke down, and its failure was a major cause of theSecond Intifada and the continuing violence.
In 2003, during theRoad map for peace, Israeli Foreign MinisterSilvan Shalom stated that the establishment of a Palestinian state was conditional upon waiving the right of return. Prime MinisterAriel Sharon said that the Palestinian Authority must also drop its demand for the right of return, calling it "a recipe for Israel's destruction".[88]
In 2008, the Palestinian Authority issued a statement "calling on all Palestinians living abroad to converge on Israel by land, sea and air" to mark Israel's 60 anniversary.[89]
Since the Palestinian exodus of 1948, there have been many attempts to resolve the right of return dispute. These have produced minor results at best.
In 1949, Mark Etheridge, theAmerican representative to theUnited Nations Conciliation Commission (UNCC), suggested that Israel agree to grant fullcitizenship to the 70,000 Arab residents in the Gaza Strip, as well as its 200,000 refugees, on the condition that the Gaza Strip—then occupied by Egypt—be incorporated into Israel. Israel's delegation to the UNCC accepted this offer, although this plan was rejected and criticized by Arab governments, the United States, and even Israel's own government.[90]
In theLausanne Conference, Israel announced to the UNCC on 3 August 1949, that it would allow up to 100,000 Palestinian refugees to return into Israel. But this plan was not designed as a panacea for the refugee crisis. Rather, it was to "form a part of a general plan for resettlement of refugees which would be established by a special organ to be created … by the United Nations." Israel reserved the right to permit settlement of the refugees only in areas in which settlement would not be detrimental to the security and economy of the state. The UNCC and Arab governments communicated unofficially at the matter. The Arab governments agreed to the offer, but under drastically different terms: that it apply only to the area originally allotted to Israel under thePartition Plan, that all refugees originating from areas allotted to Arabs or under international control be immediately allowed to return to their homes, and that Israel exercise no control over the location of resettlement. Since the parties failed to agree on the terms of the measure, it died in July of the following year, asIsraeli Foreign MinisterMoshe Sharett declared: "The context in which that offer was made has disappeared, and Israel is no longer bound by that offer."[90]
On 23 August 1949, the United States sent Gordon R. Clapp,chairman of theboard of theTennessee Valley Authority, on the Clapp Mission. This mission was tasked with economic surveying, to estimate Arab states' capability of absorbing Palestinian refugees. This mission failed dramatically in achieving this goal. Clapp explained on 16 February 1950, in front of the AmericanHouse Foreign Affairs Committee: "Resettlement was a subject that the Arab governments were not willing to discuss, with the exception of King Abdallah [sic]". The mission concluded that, although repatriation would be the best solution to the refugee question, circumstances on the ground would only allow philanthropic relief. Moreover, it recommended that this relief be limited to four small pilot projects: in Jordan, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria.[91]
On 2 December 1950, the United Nations General Assembly passed resolution 393 by a vote of 46 in favor, 0 against, 6 abstaining.[92] This resolution allocated, for the period 1 July 1951 to 30 June 1952, "not less than the equivalent of $30,000,000" for the economic reintegration of Palestinian refugees in the Near East "either by repatriation or resettlement", their permanent re-establishment and removal from relief, "without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 11 of General Assembly Resolution 194".[93] Toward this goal, Israel donated the equivalent of $2.8 million, and Arab states pledged almost $600,000. The United States accounted for the greatest pledge with $25 million.[92]
On 29 November 1951, John B. Blandford Jr., then director ofUNRWA, proposed spending $50 million on relief for Palestinian refugees, and another $200 million on their integration into the communities where they resided.The New York Times reported that Blandford aspired to see 150,000 to 250,000 refugees resettled in Arab nations by building an economic infrastructure which would make their integration more plausible and sustainable for Arab societies. On 26 January 1952, the General Assembly accepted his proposal. In 1955,Henry Richardson Labouisse, who had by that time become UNRWA's third director, reported that "Resistance to self-support programmes is particularly evident in the case of large-scale development projects, since the latter inevitably appear to the refugees to carry serious political implications. Their cost, size and consequent permanence raise in the minds of the refugees the fear that to accept settlement on them will be tantamount to giving up the hope of repatriation."[94]
In 2002, former representative of thePalestine Liberation OrganizationSari Nusseibeh proposed a settlement between Israel and Palestine which would grant Palestinians a right of return to a Palestinian state, but not to Israel. The proposal failed.[95]
The2003 Geneva Accord, which was an agreement between individuals and not between official representatives of the government of Israel and the Palestinian people, completely relinquished the idea of a Right of Return. This document is extra-governmental and, therefore, unofficial and non-binding.[95]
In 2013, Boston University hosted the Right of Return conference.[96]
[U.S.] Deputy Secretary of State Tom Nides (..) affirmed the State Department's view on the number of Palestinian refugees (..) that the UN and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) "provides essential services for approximately 5 million refugees," (..)Middle East Forum founder Daniel Pipes recently noted in an op-ed for Israel Hayom that only 1 percent of the refugees served by UNRWA fit the agency's definition of "people whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948, who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict." The other 99 percent are descendants of refugees.
According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency – the main body tasked with providing assistance to Palestinian refugees – there are more than 5 million refugees at present. However, the number of Palestinians alive who were personally displaced during Israel's War of Independence is estimated to be around 30,000
As indicated earlier, the formulation of the right of return first appeared in Count Bernadotte's proposal of 27 June 1948... Bernadotte, who can correctly be viewed as the father of the right to return... But the murder of Bernadotte froze any further discussions on formulating a policy of resettlement.
Altogether some 200,000-300,000 Arabs fled or were driven from the West Bank and Gaza Strip...during the war and in the weeks immediately thereafter. Another eighty to ninety thousand fled or were driven from the Golan Heights
Any analogy between Palestinian refugees and Jewish immigrants from Arab lands is folly in historical and political terms
ethnic cleansing palestinians.
