Palestinian Refugees

Naseer Aruri

Description

With contributions from a range of international experts, including Edward W. Said, Noam Chomsky, Ilan Pappe, Alain Gresh and Norman Finkelstein, this collection examines the Palestinians' right of return.



Chapters cover the historical roots of the Palestinian refugee question; the rights of the refugees under international law; the special case of Lebanon; Israeli perceptions of the refugee question; the practical feasibility of the return; the role of the United States and the European Union and the Refugee Question; the value of the refugee property; the principles of compensation; and a programme for an Independent Rights Campaign.
Preface  

Elaine C. Hagopian

Introduction: The Right of Return at Last by Edward W. Said

PART I: THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT

1. The Right to Expel:The Bible and Ethnic Cleansing by Michael Prior

2. The Historical Roots of the Palestinian Refugee Question by Nur Masalha

PART II: THE INTERESTS OF THE MAJOR ACTORS

3. Israeli Perceptions of the Refugee Question by Ilan Pappe

4. The United States and the Refugee Question by Noam Chomsky

5. The European Union and the Refugee Question by Alain Gresh

6. The Palestine Liberation Organization: From the Right of Return to Bantustan by Jaber Suleiman

PART III: RETURN OR PERMANENT EXILE

7. Return or Permanent Exile? by Joseph Massad

8. The Obligations of Host Countries to Refugees under International Law: The Case of Lebanon by Wadie Said

9. Meeting the Needs of Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon by Nahla Ghandour

PART IV: REFUGEE CLAIMS AND THE SEARCH FOR A JUST SOLUTION

10. Reinterpreting Palestinian Refugee Rights underInternational Law by Susan Akram

11. The Right of Return: Sacred, Legal and Possible by Salman Abu-Sitta

12. Deconstructing the Link: Palestinian Refugees and Jewish Immigrants from Arab Countries by Jan Abu Shakrah

13. Valuing Palestinian Losses in Today's Dollars by Atif Kubursi

14. A Programme for an Independent Rights Campaign by Ingrid Jaradat Gassner

15. Towards Convening a Congress of Return and Self-Determination by Naseer Aruri

16. Lessons of Holocaust Compensation by Norman G. Finkelstein

Index

Sujets

• Human Rights
• Social Science
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Emigration
• International relations
• Middle East
• Immigration

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 juillet 2001
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781849641173
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

PALESTINIAN REFUGEES The Right of Return

Edited by N ASEER A RURI

P Pluto Press LONDON • STERLING, VIRGINIA

First published 2001 by PLUTO PRESS 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166–2012, USA

www.plutobooks.com

Copyright © Naseer Aruri 2001

The right of the individual contributors to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Palestinian refugees : the right of return / edited by Naseer Aruri. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–7453–1777–4 (hardback) — ISBN 0–7453–1776–6 (pbk.) 1. Refugees, Palestinian Arabs. 2. Refugees, Palestinian Arabs—Government policy—Israel. 3. Repatriation—Israel. 4. Arab–Israeli conflict—1993—Peace. I. Aruri, Naseer Hasan, 1934– HV640.5.P36 P35 2001 362.87'089'9274—dc21 20010006

10 10

09 9

ISBN 0 7453 1777 4 hardback ISBN 0 7453 1776 6 paperback

08 8

07 7

06 6

05 5

04 03 02 01 4 3 2 1

20

Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Publishing Services, Fortescue, Sidmouth EX10 9QG Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton Printed in the European Union by Antony Rowe, Chippenham, England

CONTENTS

Preface Elaine C. Hagopian

Acknowledgements

Introduction: The Right of Return at Last Edward W. Said

Part I The Historical Context 1 The Right to Expel: The Bible and Ethnic Cleansing Michael Prior 2 The Historical Roots of the Palestinian Refugee Question Nur Masalha

Part II The Interests of the Major Actors 3 Israeli Perceptions of the Refugee Question Ilan Pappe 4 The United States and the Refugee Question Noam Chomsky 5 The European Union and the Refugee Question Alain Gresh 6 The Palestinian Liberation Organization: From the Right of Return to Bantustan Jaber Suleiman

vii

xi

1

9

36

71

77

82

87

Part III Return or Permanent Exile 7 Return or Permanent Exile? 105 Joseph Massad 8 The Obligations of Host Countries to Refugees under International Law: The Case of Lebanon 123 Wadie Said 9 Meeting the Needs of Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon 152 Nahla Ghandour

vi Part IV

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

Palestinian Refugees

Refugee Claims and the Search for a Just Solution

Reinterpreting Palestinian Refugee Rights under International Law Susan Akram

The Right of Return: Sacred, Legal and Possible Salman Abu-Sitta

Deconstructing the Link: Palestinian Refugees and Jewish Immigrants from Arab Countries Jan Abu Shakrah

Valuing Palestinian Losses in Today’s Dollars Atif Kubursi

A Programme for an Independent Rights Campaign Ingrid Jaradat Gassner

Towards Convening a Congress of Return and Self-Determination Naseer Aruri

Lessons of Holocaust Compensation Norman G. Finkelstein

Notes on the Contributors Index

165

195

208

217

252

260

272

276 279

PREFACE Elaine C. Hagopian

Looking at the issue of the Palestinian right of return from the viewpoint of autumn 1999, it appeared that the PLO Chairman, Yasir Arafat, was on the point of signing away that right in exchange for a truncated Palestinian ‘state’. Final status negotiations were imminent. For this reason, elements of the Palestinian refugee population in Occupied Palestine stepped up their efforts to publicize their just and legal right to the international community. As early as 1996, they had informed Arafat that he had no mandate to compromise their absolute and inalienable right of return to their homes and property in Israel proper, and to receive full compensation for losses and damages that had been incurred. Although Arafat attempted to defuse their anger by establishing a Department for Refugee Rights, headed by Dr As’ad Abdul Rahman, the refugee organizational effort continued. In the forefront was the Union of Youth Activities Centres, based in the West Bank camps, whose activities began three years after the Oslo Declaration of Principles was signed in September 1993. It had become obvious to them that the refugees’ right of return under the Declaration was to be nullified, and in its place a ‘humanitarian’, phased family reunification programme for very limited numbers was being discussed. Clearly, Israel was refusing to accept any responsibility for the expulsion of Palestinians from Palestine. At the same time a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for refugee rights, as well as research centres, were being established. Foremost among these is the BADIL Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, which is based in Bethlehem. Informed by the work of Professors Susan Akram, Guy Goodwin-Gill and John Quigley, but especially of Akram, BADIL pursued a solid campaign for publicizing refugee rights in various international fora. Joining those efforts was a Palestinian researcher, Salman Abu-Sitta, whose work resulted in an analysis of the outcome of confiscated Palestinian land in Israel proper, and a detailed map of the depopulated villages and their present status. His work was published by the Palestinian Research Centre in London. Abu-Sitta’s studies also inform BADIL’s campaign. Independently, other refugee right of return organizations had been established throughout the Arab region. These included: A’idun (‘We Will

vii

viiiPalestinian Refugees Return’) in Lebanon and Syria; several committees in Jordan; refugee advocates for Palestinians in Israel whose homes and property were confiscated by Israel, making them internal refugees;Shaml, the Palestinian Diaspora and Refugee Centre, founded in 1994 in Jerusalem; and numerous Arab popular committees supporting refugee rights. In addition, various local and national Arab-American organizations, such as the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Association of Arab-American University graduates, national Muslim groups and numerous local groups, have long supported Palestinian refugees’ right to return. However, most of these groups, scattered as they are across North America, Europe and elsewhere, were unaware of each other’s work, nor did they follow a common programme or strategy. As final status negotiations drew ever closer, the Board of Directors of the Trans-Arab Research Institute, Boston, recognized the need to hold a conference on the right of return. Their thinking was based on the conviction that any agreement that attempted to nullify the inalienable Palestinian right of return would result in greater instability in the area, rather than the expected closing of the refugee file. They therefore felt a responsibility to publicize this matter as part of the Institute’s educational mission. ‘The Right of Return: Palestinian Refugees and Prospects for a Durable Peace’ conference was held on 8 April 1999 at the Boston University Law School. It brought together scholars, journalists, individuals and represen- tatives of some of the Palestinian refugee advocacy organizations listed above. The papers presented at that conference make up the chapters of the present volume, to which are added chapters by Michael Prior, Nur Masalha, Joseph Massad and Jan Abu Shakrah, which complement the comprehen- sive coverage of this core issue topic. Crucially, the various individual and refugee organizational advocates met on their own initiative the day following the conference to begin to coordinate their efforts. The meeting had two outcomes: the establishment of a Palestinian right of return grassroots activist organization in North America and Europe, Al-Awda (Return); and an opportunity for the repre- sentatives of refugee organizations from abroad to meet and develop a refugee network. Subsequently, Al-Awda North America and Europe set up a Palestine Right to Return Coalition, which organized massive marches and rallies in September 2000 in Washington and London, complemented by similar events in Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and Jordan. Their activities are continuing, and their spokespeople have declared that they will go on until the Palestinians’ right to return to their homes and property in Israel proper with full compensation is recognized and implemented. The network of refugee right of return organizations abroad not only sponsored and held their complementary marches and rallies, but also ran a coordinating workshop in October 2000 to further their common efforts to secure the right of return under international law. A British Commission of Inquiry on

Prefaceix Palestinian Refugee Choice interviewed refugees on site in the Israeli- occupied Palestinian territories, as well as organizational leaders and Palestinian legislators. They determined that the refugees want repatriation to their original homes or property in Israel proper, and compensation for material losses and damages, and for the suffering caused by the years of exile. The Commission was an initiative of the Joint British Parliamentarian Middle East Council and was premised on the recognition of Britain’s historical responsibility for the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem. By the time President Clinton organized Camp David II in July 2000 – presumably with a view to completing all final status negotiations – a viable and vociferous right of return movement had made its voice heard. Although other issues, particularly Jerusalem, were considered thorny, the right of return was the thorniest and most threatening to Israel. Arafat – and as PLO chairman, he is supposed to represent all Palestinians – understood that he could not do what the Americans and Israelis wanted him to do: that is, encompass refugee individual rights within the collective right of a promised Palestinian ‘state’. Arafat himself did not want to go to Camp David II, but went nevertheless. On his arrival, he was made aware of a Joint Statement of the Popular Organizations of the Refugee Camps in the West Bank. The Statement affirmed: that the negotiators should not bother returning if they bring anything less than the right of return. ‘We are going home – home to Palestine. Our olive trees and oranges await us. We will not accept anything less no matter who signs the next of the infinite agreements.’ (News from Within, September 2000, p. 20)

Camp David II was a failure for Clinton and the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak. They failed to make Arafat capitulate to their terms, which were neither based on minimal justice, nor applicable to international law or UN Security Council Resolution 242 – the very basis of the Oslo process. Clearly, the activities after the Right of Return Conference had had a sobering effect on Arafat’s freedom to sign away the refugees’ rights. Although he reportedly attempted to finesse this issue at Camp David, Israel did not cooperate. He sought to have Israel admit responsibility for the refugee problem, following which the ‘modalities’ of a solution could be worked out. He believed that Israel’s acknowledgement would compensate for the expected inadequate ‘modalities’. But whatever the case, anything short of implementation of UN General Assembly Resolution 194 (III) would not be acceptable nor lead to a lasting peace. After all, the Palestinian refugees constitute 70 per cent of the Palestinian population, the largest single Palestinian constituency and the most destitute; and the unresolved refugee issue, coupled with all the Oslo ‘peace’ process-induced and intensified Palestinian suffering in the Israeli-occupied Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem had led inexorably to theal-Aqsa Intifada. The chapters presented in this book represent the most comprehensive coverage of the various facets of the refugee issue to date and recognize the

xPalestinian Refugees compelling human and legal case of Palestinian refugee rights. The book is divided into an introductory essay and four parts: the urgency of the re- emergence of the refugee right of return (E. Said, Aruri); the historical roots and context (Masalha, Prior, W. Said); the interests and behaviour of the major actors – Israel, the United States, the European Union and the PLO (Pappe, Chomsky, Gresh, Suleiman); the conditions of diaspora refugees (Massad, Ghandour); and the legal case and strategy for a just solution (Akram, Abu-Sitta, Finkelstein, Abu Shakrah, Kubursi and Jaradat Gassner). The Trans-Arab Research Institute is pleased to have provided the important information and analyses presented in the chapters in the hope that they may enlighten solutions that lead to a durable peace.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book would not have been possible without the help of many individuals, who participated in preparing the conference on the ‘Right of Return’ held at Boston University Law School under the auspices of the Trans-Arab Research institute (TARI) on 8 April, 2000. Most of the chapters in this book were the product of that conference. Two persons, in particular, made that conference possible through consistent voluntary work throughout the largest part of the year 1999 and the first quarter of 2000. Not only did Dr Elaine Hagopian conceptualize the conference, identify potential speakers, extend the invitations, raise funds, handle the voluminous correspondence, and finalize the programme in a most profes- sional manner, but she also handled most of the arrangements, normally carried out by paid staff, such as monitoring and recording registrations, and dealing with all tedious tasks, including meals, projectors, and book-sale tables at the conference, among many other chores. Beyond all that, she offered financial support and she planned a conference in Siracusa, Italy three years earlier, which had in effect given birth to TARI. Her dedication is, indeed, very rare and her commitment to justice in Palestine has been a lifetime endeavour. The second person is Dr Nancy Murray, who was the first to propose holding this conference, and who assumed many tasks, which were indispensable to the success of the conference. Her counsel, wisdom, and hard work, ever-present throughout the long conference preparation period, made it possible to convene the conference. I am grateful for the commitment and support of organizations and individuals who contributed to the success of the Conference of Return, including the Jerusalem Fund, the Canadian Arab Society, National Council on Canadian-Arab Relations, Americans for Middle East understanding, Genevieve McMillan, Maha Kaddoura, Marwan Taqtaq, Elise Young, Rhonda and Shukri Khouri, Katha Kissman and Samih Farsoun, Nazik and Mujid Kazimi, Rima and Ghaleb Daouk, Robert Bateh, Susan Akram and Jeff Boshar, Maysoon and Subhi Ali, Najwa and Rifaat Dweik, Anthony Sahyoun, Margaret and Omar Khudari, Eid Mustafa, Baker Azzam, Said Abu-Zahra, Tareef Kawaf, Lucie and Charles Hagopian, Ahmad Kawash and Cheryl and Martin Rubenberg. I wish to express my deep gratitude to the Boston University Arab Students, who hosted the conference, and in particular to Nedal Awde, who

xi

xiiPalestinian Refugees organized the students and opened the conference. An incredible number of Boston University students assembled the conference packets, served as ushers at the conference, and spread the word on their campuses. I am also grateful for the help provided by the many students and volunteers from Boston’s surrounding universities and associations. Among them I would like to thank Mona Fawaz (MIT), Maysa Sabah (MIT), Nasser Sharara, Yasmin Khayal, Mera Eftaiha, Professor Betty Anderson, of the History Department at Boston university, Hannah Schuller (Friends of Sabeel), Mark Wolff (Boston Committee on the Middle East), and Hussein Ibish. Many colleagues and friends have helped in various capacities, offering suggestions, ideas and voluntary services during the planning stage of the conference as well as organizing the book. Among them, I would like to thank Merrie Najimy, Leila Farsakh, and Lamis Andoni. I would like to thank Nur Masalha, for adding to the original conference essays a prime chapter that provided a much needed historical background. He also introduced me to the work of Michael Prior and persuaded him to write the seminal chapter on ethnic cleansing and the Bible. Both of these chapters, based largely on original sources in Hebrew and English, have enriched the volume and made it more complete. My colleague and friend Professor Samih Farsoun read many drafts of the outline and a number of the chapters, and offered valuable commentary. I am truly grateful for his sustained support. My wife Joyce provided invaluable assistance throughout the long process during which this book was in preparation. She was generous with ideas, discussions, and logistics, in addition to assuming my share of the duties in the household. My son, Jamal and his wife Mona Igram offered assistance in maintaining the financial records of the conference and assisted in other capacities at the conference. I wish to thank the editors of theColumbia Human Rights Law Reviewand the journalCritiquefor granting permission to reprint articles by Wadie Said and Joseph Massad in this volume. Last but not least, Roger van Zwanenberg and Robert Webb of Pluto Press have been a continued source of support in handling logistics and dealing with complex issues related to the realization of this project. I wish to also thank Ruth Willats, the copy-editor, Melanie Patrick, Tracey Day and Ray Addicott of Chase Publishing Services. My thanks also go to the authors, without whose hard work and cooperation this volume would not have been possible.