An assessment of the history of Palestinian refugees and the situations they face

1. Prepared by
Sevdenur Atsal
REEFUG
EES

2. KEY CONCEPTS
 Normative dimensions and intangible needs in resolving the refugee problem.
 Two of the most pressing intangible needs are the right of return and recognition of the Jewish
character of Israel.
 Mutual Israeli and Palestinian unwillingness to recognize the other’s need becomes a threat to the
other’s feeling of legitimacy and security.
 Acknowledgment and/or apology for 1948, recognition of Palestinian rights and dignity, an end of
claims and the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries.

3. ORIGINS OF THE REFUGEE ISSUE
•With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 came the first Arab–Israeli war.
•Almost 700.000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes within the nascent Jewish state.
•UNRWA (United Nations Refugee and Works Agency) : definition of Palestine refugees :
"persons whose regular place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and
who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict."
•Israel confiscated almost all their property with the 1950 Absentees Property Law

4. •Since 1991, the UN General Assembly has
adopted an annual resolution allowing the
1967 refugees within the UNRWA
mandate.
•UNRWA 2020 records showed the number
of Palestinian refugees to be around 6.4
million and total of 68 refugee camps.
•Countries hosting refugees: Jordan,
Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and Gaza
Strip.
UNRWA Registered Population Dashboard (2020)

5. RETURN AND RESETTLEMENT
•Palestinian refugee advocates inalienable ‘‘right of return,’’ expressed in Resolution 194(III) of 1949, which declares that:
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.
Israel has long regarded this as a non-binding recommendation of the UN General Assembly.
•Israel's first offer of any limited right of return came at the 1949 Lausanne Conference, it offered to allow 100,000 refugees
to return.
• In this way, Israel will hold the land to take over and Arab states will house 600,000 refugees.
• The UNCCP considered the proposal unsatisfactory and Arabs rejected.

6. • At the Camp David negotiations in July 2000, the PLO demanded that Israel recognize the refugees’ right of return.
Palestinians would be prepared to show flexibility on issues of implementation.
Israel rejected this beacuse it would be vague for the jewish character and his future.
They argued that the refugees would be limited largely to repatriation to the Palestinian state or resettlement outside.

7.  US President Bill Clinton suggested compromise formulation in December 2000. Two-state
approach ;
 the state of Palestine as the homeland of the Palestinian people
 the state of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people.
 It would list the five possible homes for the refugees:
1) The state of Palestine
2) Areas in Israel being transferred to Palestine in the land swap
3) Rehabilitation in host country
4) Resettlement in third country
5) Admission to Israel

8. Taba Talks (Summit)
 Between Israel - Palestinian Authority held from 21 -27 January 2001 in Sinai.
 Resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, but he tried to achieve success for peace talks
before the election.
 Clinton Paramerts accepted.
 Israeli suggested that, 25,000 refugees might be accepted over 3 year
 Closest time reaching a final settlement than in any previous talk
 After Sharon government did not restart new negotiations.
40,000 over 5 years, in the context of a 15 year
program of absorption

9.  With the outbreak of Second Intifada ( 2000-2005), attitudes hardened.
 Annapolis in November 2007, Israel was much less willing to accept the return of even a purely
symbolic number of refugees such as 1000 refugee.
Restitution and compensation
1. The question of how to pay the recognition is: To the Palestinian state, to the host countries, or
individually?
2. Palestinian position on refugee properties should return these to their original owners.
3. Estimates of Palestinian losses in 1948 range from $3.4 billion to over $235 billion.
4. Israel is expected to offer 3 billion dollars to international donors instead of compensation.
5. Israel demands compensation for Jews who fled Arab countries after 1948.

10. Refugee Situations in Host
Countries
Lebanon → It might be willing to accept the settlement of
some refugees,
oPalestinian permanent Lebanese residency rather than as
Lebanese citizens.
oLebanese would certainly want to see many Palestinians
depart.

11. Syria→ It is unlikely that the Syrian government will force the Palestinians to leave
their residence.
oits exact stance may depend on the state of Israel-Syria relations (The Golan
Heights and Damascus)

12. Jordan→ Most refugees are already Jordanian citizens.
oThe Jordanian authorities prefer smaller number of non-Jordanian Palestinians (Gaza and West Bank)
repatriated to the Palestinian state.

13. Evaluation
•A large part of the Israeli side still approached the two-state solution with concern.
•Similarly, Hamas, which won the election in Palestine in 2006, refuses to recognize Israel.
•Israel does not want to accept responsibility for incidents in 1948 and does not favor the return of
Palestinians.
•The Palestinian side seems to be more disadvantaged in the asymmetrical power struggle.
•Illegal Israeli settlements continue on occupied Palestinian territory.

14. POSSIBLE FORMULATIONS
Palestine is the homeland of the Jewish and Palestinian people, to which both have a legitimate,
historical attachment.
Israel acknowledges that the establishment of Israel has resulted in injustices.
Israel accept in principle the right of return the Palestinian people to the historical homeland.
Israel offer along with the international community compensation to support the rebuilding of the
state of Palestine.
The PLO apologizes for any civilian casualties made by Palestinians during the armed struggle.

15. REFERENCES
Chatham House 2014 – ‘’The Palestinian Refugee Issue’’
Brynen 2012 – ‘’Palestinian Refugees’’
Palestine refugees | UNRWA
Joseph Alpher, Khalil Shikaki (1998), ‘’The Palestinian Refugee Problem and the Right of Return’’