Palestinian refugees
Palestinian refugees are citizens of
In 1949, the
As of 2019, more than 5.6 million Palestinians were registered with UNRWA as refugees,
During the
Today, the largest number of refugees, over 2,000,000, live in Jordan, where by 2009 over 90% of
On 11 December 1948, the
Definitions
UNRWA
The
A Palestine refugee camp is "a plot of land placed at the disposal of UNRWA by the host government to accommodate Palestine refugees and to set up facilities to cater to their needs".[21] About 1.4 million of registered Palestine refugees, approximately one-third, live in the 58 UNRWA-recognised refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.[22] The UNRWA definition does not cover final status.[22][23]
Registered descendants of UNRWA Palestine refugees, like "Nansen passport" and "Certificate of Eligibility" holders (the documents issued to those displaced by World War II) or like UNHCR refugees,[24] inherit the same Palestine refugee status as their male parent. According to UNRWA, "The descendants of Palestine refugee males, including adopted children, are also eligible for registration."[25]
The
Palestinian definitions
Palestinians make several distinctions relating to Palestinian refugees. The 1948 refugees and their descendants are broadly defined as "refugees" (laji'un). The
Origin of the Palestine refugees
Part of a series on the |
Nakba |
---|
Most Palestinian refugees have retained their refugee status and continue to reside in refugee camps, including within the State of Palestine in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. Their descendants form a sizable portion of the Palestinian diaspora.
Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Palestine War
During the
] were alive by 2012.The causes and responsibilities of the exodus are a matter of controversy among historians and commentators of the conflict.[30] While historians agree on most of the events of the period, there remains disagreement as to whether the exodus was the result of a plan designed before or during the war or was an unintended consequence of the war.[31] According to historian Benny Morris, the expulsion was planned and encouraged by the Zionist leadership.[32]
According to Morris, between December 1947 and March 1948, around 100,000 Palestine Arabs fled. Among them were many from the higher and middle classes from the cities, who left voluntarily, expecting to return when the Arab states won the war and took control of the country.
Palestinian refugees from Six-Day War
As a result of the
Palestinian exodus from Kuwait (Gulf War)
The
Prior to the Gulf War, Palestinians numbered 400,000 out of
Palestinian refugees as part of the Syrian refugee crisis
Many Palestinians in Syria were displaced as a result of the
There were reports that Jordan and Lebanon had turned away Palestinian refugees attempting to flee the humanitarian crises in Syria.[53] By 2013, Jordan had absorbed 126,000 Syrian refugees but Palestinians fleeing Syria were placed in a separate refugee camp under stricter conditions and banned from entering Jordanian cities.[54]
Palestinian refugees from Syria also sought asylum in
Palestinian refugees during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
As of January 2024, more than 85% of Palestinians in Gaza, approximately 1.9 million people, were internally displaced during the
Refugee statistics
The number of Palestine refugees varies depending on the source. For 1948–49 refugees, for example, the
District | Number of depopulated villages | Number of refugees in 1948 | Number of refugees in 2000 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beersheba | 88 | 90,507 | 590,231 | |||
Beisan
|
31 | 19,602 | 127,832 | |||
Jenin
|
6 | 4,005 | 26,118 | |||
Haifa | 59 | 121,196 | 790,365 | |||
Hebron | 16 | 22,991 | 149,933 | |||
Ramle | 64 | 97,405 | 635,215 | |||
Safad | 78 | 52,248 | 340,729 | |||
Tiberias | 26 | 28,872 | 188,285 | |||
Tulkarm
|
18 | 11,032 | 71,944 | |||
Acre | 30 | 47,038 | 306,753 | |||
Gaza | 46 | 79,947 | 521,360 | |||
Jerusalem | 39 | 97,950 | 638,769 | |||
Nazareth | 5 | 8,746 | 57,036 | |||
Jaffa | 25 | 123,227 | 803,610 | |||
Total | 531 | 804,766 | 5,248,185 | |||
Demography of Palestine[59] |
The number of UNRWA registered Palestine refugees by country or territory in January 2015 were as follows:[58]
Jordan | 2,117,361 |
Gaza Strip | 1,276,929 |
West Bank | 774,167 |
Syria | 528,616 |
Lebanon | 452,669 |
Total | 5,149,742 |
In the context of the
Gaza Strip
As of January 2015, the Gaza Strip has 8 UNRWA refugee camps with 560,964 Palestinian refugees, and 1,276,929 registered refugees in total,[58] out of a population of 1,816,379.[citation needed]
West Bank
As of January 2015, the West Bank has 19 UNRWA refugee camps with 228,560 Palestinian refugees, and 774,167 registered refugees in total,[58] out of a population of 2,345,107.[citation needed]
Jordan
"More than 2 million registered Palestine refugees live in Jordan. Most Palestine refugees in Jordan, but not all, have full citizenship",[60] following Jordan's annexation and occupation of the West Bank. The percentage of Palestinian refugees living in refugee camps to those who settled outside the camps is the lowest of all UNRWA fields of operations. Palestine refugees are allowed access to public services and healthcare, as a result, refugee camps are becoming more like poor city suburbs than refugee camps. Most Palestine refugees moved out of the camps to other parts of the country and the number of people registered in refugee camps as of January 2015 is 385,418, who live in ten refugee camps.[58] This caused UNRWA to reduce the budget allocated to Palestine refugee camps in Jordan. Former UNRWA chief-attorney James G. Lindsay wrote in 2009: "In Jordan, where 2 million Palestinian refugees live, all but 167,000 have citizenship, and are fully eligible for government services including education and health care." Lindsay suggests that eliminating services to refugees whose needs are subsidized by Jordan "would reduce the refugee list by 40%".[61][9]
Palestinians who moved from the West Bank (whether refugees or not) to Jordan, are issued yellow-ID cards to distinguish them from the Palestinians of the "official 10 refugee camps" in Jordan. From 1988 to 2012, thousands of those yellow-ID card Palestinians had their Jordanian citizenship revoked. Human Rights Watch estimated that about 2,700 Palestinians were stripped of Jordanian nationality between 2004 and 2008.[62] In 2012, the Jordanian government promised to stop revoking the citizenship of some Palestinians, and restored citizenship to 4,500 Palestinians who had previously lost it.[63]
Lebanon
100,000 Palestinians fled to Lebanon because of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and were not allowed to return.[64] As of January 2015, there were 452,669 registered refugees in Lebanon.[58]
In a 2007 study, Amnesty International denounced the "appalling social and economic condition" of Palestinians in Lebanon.[64] Until 2005, Palestinians were forbidden to work in over 70 jobs because they do not have Lebanese citizenship, but this was later reduced to around 20 as of 2007 after liberalization laws.[64] In 2010, Palestinians were granted the same rights to work as other foreigners in the country.[65]
Lebanon gave citizenship to about 50,000 Christian Palestinian refugees during the 1950s and 1960s. In the mid-1990s, about 60,000 Shiite Muslim refugees were granted citizenship. This caused a protest from Maronite authorities, leading to citizenship being given to all Christian refugees who were not already citizens.[66]
In the 2010s, many Palestinian refugees in Lebanon began immigrating to Europe, both legally and illegally, as part of the
According to writer and researcher Mudar Zahran, a Jordanian of Palestinian heritage, the media chose to deliberately ignore the conditions of the Palestinians living in Lebanese refugee camps, and that the "tendency to blame Israel for everything" has provided Arab leaders with an excuse to deliberately ignore the human rights of the Palestinian in their countries.[70]
Syria
Syria had 528,616 registered Palestinian refugees in January 2015. There were 9 UNRWA refugee camps with 178,666 official Palestinian refugees.[58]
As a result of the
Saudi Arabia
An estimated 240,000
Iraq
There were 34,000 Palestinian refugees living in Iraq prior to the Iraq War. In the aftermath of the war, the majority fled to neighboring Jordan and Syria, or were killed.[citation needed] Thousands lived as internally displaced persons within Iraq or were stranded in camps along Iraq's borders with Jordan and Syria, as no country in the region would accept them, and lived in temporary camps along the no man's land in the border zones.
Other countries
In 2009, significant numbers of these refugees were allowed to resettle abroad. More than 1,000 were accepted by various countries in Europe and South America, and an additional 1,350 were cleared for resettlement in the United States.[77][78] Another 68 were allowed to resettle in Australia.[79] However, the majority of Palestine refugees strongly oppose resettlement and much rather want to return.[80]
Positions
Part of a series on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict |
Israeli–Palestinian peace process |
---|
On 11 December 1948 the
Israeli views
The Jewish Agency promised to the UN before 1948 that Palestinian Arabs would become full citizens of the State of Israel,
Arab states
Most Palestinian refugees live either in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, or the three original "host countries" of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria who unwillingly accepted the first wave of refugees in 1948; these refugees are supported by
Arab states' view of Palestinian refugees has varied over time. Arab governments have often supported the refugees in the name of Arab unity, or because they viewed the Palestinians as an important source of skilled human capital to support their economic development. However, Arab governments have also frequently "despised" the Palestinian refugees – either viewing them as a threat to demographic balance (as in Lebanon), or because of the "political message of freedom and emancipation that their ‘Palestinian-ness’ carried", or else because in some countries' history Palestinians have been "somewhat associated with strife and unrest".[88]
Palestinian refugees have taken citizenship in other Arab states, most notably in
Tashbih Sayyed, a fellow of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, criticized Arab nations of violating human rights and making the children and grandchildren of Palestinian refugees second class citizens in Lebanon, Syria, or the Gulf States, and said that the UNRWA Palestine refugees "cling to the illusion that defeating the Jews will restore their dignity".[91]
Palestinian views
Most Palestine refugees claim a
However, a report in Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper in which Abdullah Muhammad Ibrahim Abdullah, the Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon and the chairman of the Palestinian Legislative Council's Political and Parliamentary Affairs committees,[94] said the proposed future Palestinian state would not be issuing Palestinian passports to UNRWA Palestine refugees – even refugees living in the West Bank and Gaza.
An independent poll by Khalil Shikaki was conducted in 2003 with 4,500 Palestinian refugee families of Gaza, West Bank, Jordan and Lebanon. It showed that the majority (54%) would accept a financial compensation and a place to live in West Bank or Gaza in place of returning to the exact place in modern-day Israel where they or their ancestors lived (this possibility of settlement is contemplated in the Resolution 194). Only 10% said they would live in Israel if given the option. The other third said they would prefer to live in other countries, or rejected the terms described.[95] However, the poll has been criticized as "methodologically problematic" and "rigged".[96] In 2003, nearly a hundred refugee organizations and NGOs in Lebanon denounced Shikaki's survey, as no local organization was aware of its implementation in Lebanon.[97]
In a 2 January 2005 opinion poll conducted by the Palestinian Association for Human Rights involving Palestinian refugees in Lebanon:[98]
- 96% refused to give up their right of return
- 3% answered contrary
- 1% did not answer
The Oslo Accords
Upon signing the Oslo Accords in 1993, Israel, the EU and the US recognized PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. In return, Yasser Arafat recognized the State of Israel and renounced terrorism. At the time, the accords were celebrated as a historic breakthrough. In accordance with these agreements, the Palestinian refugees began to be governed by an autonomous Palestinian Authority, and the parties agreed to negotiate the permanent status of the refugees, as early as 1996. However, events have halted the phasing process and made the likelihood of a future sovereign Palestinian state uncertain.[99] In another development, a rift developed between Fatah in the West-Bank and Hamas in Gaza after Hamas won the 2006 elections. Among other differences, Fatah officially recognizes the Oslo Accords with Israel, whereas Hamas does not.
United States
As of May 2012, the United States Senate Appropriations Committee approved a definition of a Palestine refugee to include only those original Palestine refugees who were actually displaced between June 1946 and May 1948, resulting in an estimated number of 30,000.[100]
See also
- Estimates of the Palestinian Refugee flight of 1948
- Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel
- Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries
- Palestinian diaspora
References
Notes
- ^ The West Bank was formerly administered by Jordan, who gave citizenship to its residents.
- ^ Anani called this a "crude estimate", as the Jordanian government has not made direct statistics on this matter.
- ^ List of estimates of the Palestinian Refugee flight of 1948for details.
Citations
- ISBN 978-0415573221.
The term 'refugees' applies to all persons, Arabs, Jews and others who have been displaced from their homes in Palestine. This would include Arabs in Israel who have been shifted from their normal places of residence. It would also include Jews who had their homes in Arab Palestine, such as the inhabitants of the Jewish quarter of the Old City. It would not include Arabs who lost their lands but not their houses, such as the inhabitants of Tulkarm
- ^ "Consolidated Eligibility and Registration Instructions" (PDF). UNRWA.
Persons who meet UNRWA's Palestine Refugee criteria These are persons whose normal 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. Palestine Refugees, and descendants of Palestine refugee males, including legally adopted children, are eligible to register for UNRWA services. The Agency accepts new applications from persons who wish to be registered as Palestine Refugees. Once they are registered with UNRWA, persons in this category are referred to as Registered Refugees or as Registered Palestine Refugees.
- ^ UNRWA: FAQ: As of 2019, over 5.6 million Palestine refugees were registered as such with the Agency
- ^ UNRWA: more than 1.5 million individuals, live in 58 recognized Palestine refugee camps in ...
- ^ BADIL 2015, p. 52.
- ^ a b c Morris 2001, pp. 252–258.
- ^ UNRWA: In the aftermath of the hostilities of June 1967 and the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ten camps were established to accommodate a new wave of displaced persons, both refugees and non-refugees.
- Al-Jazeera English.
- ^ a b James G. Lindsay (January 2009). "Fixing UNRWA" (PDF). Policy Focus (91). The Washington Institute for Near East Policy: 52 (see footnote 11). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 July 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- )
- ^ Menachem Klein, 'The Palestinian refugees of 1948: models of allowed and denied return,' in Dumper, 2006 pp. 87–106, [93].
- ^ "Treatment and Rights in Arab Host States (Right to Return". Human Rights Watch Policy. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
Unlike Jordan, Syria has maintained the stateless status of its Palestinians but has afforded them the same economic and social rights enjoyed by Syrian citizens. According to a 1956 law, Palestinians are treated as if they are Syrians "in all matters pertaining to...the rights of employment, work, commerce, and national obligations". As a consequence, Palestinians in Syria do not suffer from massive unemployment or underemployment
- ^ "Profiles: Palestinian Refugees in SYRIA". BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
- ^ Bolongaro, Kait (23 March 2016). "Palestinian Syrians: Twice refugees - Human Rights". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
- ^ a b A/RES/194 (III).
- ^ Dumper 2006, p. 2: the right of return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes was accepted and supported by the United Nations Resolution 194.
- ^ Goldberg 2012: Today, UNRWA's annual budget stands at approximately $600 million, ...
- ^ UNRWA.
- ^ Based on UNGA Resolution 46/46 C of 9 December 1991.
- ^ UNRWA: UNRWA services are available to all those living in its area of operations who meet this definition, who are registered with the Agency and who need assistance.
- ^ UNRWA: A Palestine refugee camp is defined as a plot of land placed at the disposal of UNRWA by the host government to accommodate Palestine refugees and set up facilities to cater to their needs.
- ^ a b "Who are Palestine refugees?". Palestine refugees. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
- ^ "UNRWA's Frequently Asked Questions under "Who is a Palestine refugee?"". United Nations. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
- ^ http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/3ae6b3314.pdf "Thus, a holder of a so-called 'Nansen Passport' or a 'Certificate of Eligibility' issued by the International Refugee Organization must be considered a refugee under the 1951 Convention unless one of the cessation clauses has become applicable to his case or he is excluded from the application of the Convention by one of the exclusion clauses. This also applies to a surviving child of a statutory refugee."
- ^ "Palestine refugees". UNRWA.
- ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "UNHCR - Page not found". UNHCR.
{{cite web}}
: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ Helena Lindholm Schulz, with Juliane Hammer, The Palestinian Diaspora: Formation of Identities and Politics of Homeland, Psychology Press reprint 2003 p. 130.
- ^ Chiller-Glaus 2007, p. 82: Those exiled during or since 1967 are with their offspring known as "displaced persons" (nazihun) – although a high proportion of them are 1948 refugees
- ^ Goldberg 2012: 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.
- ^ Shlaim, Avi, "The War of the Israeli Historians." Center for Arab Studies, 1 December 2003 (retrieved 17 February 2009) Archived 3 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Benny Morris, 1989, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949, Cambridge University Press; Benny Morris, 1991, 1948 and after; Israel and the Palestinians, Clarendon Press, Oxford; Walid Khalidi, 1992, All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, Institute for Palestine Studies; Nur Masalha, 1992, Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of "Transfer" in Zionist Political Thought, Institute for Palestine Studies; Efraim Karsh, 1997, Fabricating Israeli History: The "New Historians", Cass; Benny Morris, 2004, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge University Press; Yoav Gelber, 2006, Palestine 1948: War, Escape and the Palestinian Refugee Problem, Oxford University Press; Ilan Pappé, 2006, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, OneWorld
- ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
But no expulsion policy was ever enunciated and Ben-Gurion always refrained from issuing clear or written expulsion orders; he preferred that his generals 'understand' what he wanted. He probably wished to avoid going down in history as the 'great expeller' and he did not want his government to be blamed for a morally questionable policy.
- ^ Benny Morris (2003), pp. 138–139.
- ^ Benny Morris (2003), p. 262
- ^ Benny Morris (2003), pp. 233–240.
- ^ Benny Morris (2003), pp. 248–252.
- ^ Benny Morris (2003), pp. 423–436.
- ^ Benny Morris (2003), p. 438.
- ^ Benny Morris (2003), pp. 415–423.
- ^ Benny Morris, Righteous Victims, p. 245.
- ^ Benny Morris (2003), p. 492.
- ^ Benny Morris (2003), p. 538
- ^ Bowker 2003, p. 81.
- ^ Gerson, 1978, p. 162.
- ^ UN Doc A/8389 of 5 October 1971. Para 57. appearing in the Sunday Times (London) on 11 October 1970, where reference is made not only to the villages of Jalou, Beit Nuba, and Imwas, also referred to by the Special Committee in its first report, but in addition to villages like Surit, Beit Awwa, Beit Mirsem and El-Shuyoukh in the Hebron area and Jiflik, Agarith and Huseirat, in the Jordan Valley. The Special Committee has ascertained that all these villages have been completely destroyed Para 58. the village of Nebi Samwil was in fact destroyed by Israeli armed forces on 22 March 1971. "A/8389 of 5 October 1971". Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b c Shafeeq Ghabra (8 May 1991). "The PLO in Kuwait".
- ^ "Kuwait – Population". Countrystudies.us. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- JSTOR 2538306.
- ^ "Jordanians of Kuwait". Joshua Project. 2013.
- ^ Hatuqa, Dalia (15 April 2013). "Palestinians Reopen EmbassyIn Kuwait After Two Decades". Al-Monitor. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
- UNRWA. 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
- ^ "Palestine Refugees in Syria: A Tale of Devastation and Courage – UNRWA Commissioner-General Op Ed – Question of Palestine". Question of Palestine. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
- ^ "Jordan: Palestinians Escaping Syria Turned Away | Human Rights Watch". 7 August 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ^ "Jordan turns away Palestinian refugees fleeing violence in Syria". The Times of Israel. 9 January 2013.
- ^ "PFLP-GC: Thousands from Yarmouk camp have fled to Sweden". Archived from the original on 18 December 2014.
- ^ "As Israel's Aerial Bombardments Intensify, 'There Is No Safe Place in Gaza', Humanitarian Affairs Chief Warns Security Council". United Nations. 12 January 2024.
- ^ "Foreign nationals and injured Palestinians allowed to flee Gaza for first time since Israel-Hamas war began". CNN. 1 November 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g "UNRWA in figures" (PDF). UNRWA.
- Population in Palestine(March 2016)
- ^ "Where We Work". UNRWA. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ^ "Israel News - Online Israeli News Covering Israel & The Jewish World". jpost.com. 8 July 2012. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012.
- ^ Jordan: Stop Withdrawing Nationality from Palestinian-Origin Citizens - Human Rights Watch.
- Times of Israel
- ^ a b c "Lebanon Exiled and suffering: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon". Amnesty International. 2007. Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
- ^ "Lebanon Gives Palestinians New Work Rights". The New York Times. 18 August 2010.
- ^ Simon Haddad, The Origins of Popular Opposition to Palestinian Resettlement in Lebanon, International Migration Review, Volume 38 Number 2 (Summer 2004):470-492. Also Peteet [1].
- ^ Samaha, Nour. "Why are Lebanon's Palestinians leaving for Europe?". www.aljazeera.com.
- ^ News, Business. "Palestinian refugees number 175,000". businessnews.com.lb.
{{cite web}}
:|last=
has generic name (help) - ^ "Lebanon Census Finds Number of Palestinian Refugees Only a Third of Official UN Data". Haaretz. 25 December 2017.
- ^ Demonizing Israel is bad for the Palestinians, by Mudar Zarhan, 01/08/2010, Jerusalem Post
- ^ "100,000 Palestinians have fled Syria to Europe, official says". The Jerusalem Post - JPost.com. 6 September 2015.
- ^ "Expatriates Can Apply for Saudi Citizenship in Two-to-Three Months". Arabnews.com. 14 February 2005. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
- ^ Ghafour, Abdul (14 February 2005). "Expatriates Can Apply for Saudi Citizenship in Two-to-Three Months". Arab News. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "UNHCR - Palestinians bid goodbye to India, hello Sweden". UNHCR.
- ^ "Sweden, Iceland absorbing Palestinian refugees - CNN.com". www.cnn.com.
- ^ "United Nations News Centre". UN News Service Section. 3 July 2007.
- ^ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "UNHCR - End of long ordeal for Palestinian refugees as desert camp closes". UNHCR.
- ^ Miriam Jordan (17 July 2009). "U.S. Agrees to Resettle Palestinians Displaced by Iraq War". WSJ.
- ^ "Palestinian-Iraqi refugees – the forgotten victims of Iraq war". 5 September 2016.
- ^ "page 68ff" (PDF). fmreview.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 February 2017.
- ^ "Ods Home Page" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 January 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
- ^ a b "United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194" (PDF). United Nations. 1948. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 January 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
- ^ Ilan Pappe, "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine", p. 110
- ^ "Declaration of Establishment of State of Israel". GxMSDev.
- ^ "I Want This Poem to End: A Nakba Commemoration". thejerusalemfund.org. 17 May 2018.
- ^ "Palestinian refugees were excluded from entitlement to citizenship in the State of Israel under the 1952 Citizenship Law. They were "denationalized" and turned into stateless refugees in violation of the law of state succession Archived 25 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine.". "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine", Ilan Pappé, p. 131
- ^ Albanese & Takkenberg 2020, p. 183: "The vast majority of the Palestinians who became refugees in 1948, continues to live in the places where they initially took refuge: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, as well as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, known as the traditional ‘host countries’, had no choice but to accept the presence of the refugees, while the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP) provided them assistance and attempted to negotiate a political solution. Smaller groups of refugees who had settled in Egypt and Iraq were assisted by local governments, rather than the UN. Difficult living conditions in the host countries prompted thousands of refugees to seek better opportunities not only in the Arabian Peninsula, but also in North Africa."
- ^ Albanese & Takkenberg 2020, p. 183-184: "Arab countries have generally supported Palestinians, including refugees, in the name of Arab brotherhood and solidarity, but at times also despised them, as a result of political factors and interests. For example, in Jordan former King Abdullah’s aspiration to modernize the East Bank of the Jordan River and re-establish ‘Greater Syria’ resulted in the annexation of the West Bank in 1950, and the extension of Jordanian citizenship to Palestinians under its control (refugees and non-refugee alike). In Lebanon, the Palestinian influx, dominated by Sunni Muslims, was perceived as a threat to the delicate balance between different religious confessions and the related political status quo. In Syria, the Palestinian refugees never constituted more than three per cent of the population and their presence was therefore far less sensitive than in Lebanon. In North Africa and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Palestinians were not recognized as refugees as they largely moved there as migrant workers seeking better opportunities, rather than international protection. Arab rulers generally welcomed them as a much needed work-force and also offered political support to their national cause, but subliminally despised the political message of freedom and emancipation that their ‘Palestinian-ness’ carried. With time, Palestinian refugees’ identity crystalized as a ‘nation-in-exile’, but it also became part of the national fabric of some of these countries, not only in Jordan and Lebanon, but also in Egypt, Iraq, and Kuwait. In the national history of some of those countries, Palestinians are somewhat associated with strife and unrest. This, coupled with lack of application of international human rights and refugee laws, as well as a high degree of politicization, has compounded their situation. While socio-economic differences exist across Palestinians in exile, and those who have thrived in host communities are all but rare, the large majority has come to constitute a ‘politically, socially, and economically disadvantaged group’ that has often experienced poverty, discrimination, and, not infrequently, persecution because of their nationality, including in countries where they were initially well received and either legally or de facto integrated. As a result, pending the quest for a political settlement, many have been forced to move from one country to another, often more than once, finding themselves going from one unstable situation to the next."
- ^ Albanese & Takkenberg 2020, p. 268: "While cases of Palestinians acquiring citizenship in Arab states are not rare – with Jordan standing out for conferring its citizenship to a large group of Palestinians en masse – they have been ad hoc and are not well documented. The subject remains sensitive, as it is often perceived as allowing Israel to evade its responsibility towards the refugees. In general, the treatment has ranged from favourable in certain countries and at given times in history (e.g. in Libya and the Arabian Peninsula until the 1990s and in Iraq until 2003), to discriminatory and often degrading in others (such as Lebanon and Egypt after the 1970s, as well as many states on multiple occasions since the 1990s). Such treatment has also reflected self-interest, since Palestinians were largely welcome as qualified work-force at the time it was needed. Political circumstances surrounding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, as well as shifts in the relations between Arab states and the Palestinian leadership (PLO and PA) have often impacted Arab states’ approach to Palestinians. Vindictive policies, often aiming at targeting the PLO, have resulted in the punishment of hundreds of thousands and the ongoing displacement of many more. About 700,000 Palestinians, mostly children and grandchildren of the 1948 refugees, have been cumulatively displaced from Arab countries alone, from the 1970s onward. While the legacy of Palestinian militant resistance in a number of Arab countries cannot be ignored, as a whole, the Palestinian people – and the refugees in particular – have paid the brunt for the political deadlock."
- ^ Alkousaa, Riham (17 October 2023). "King Abdullah on Gaza: 'No refugees in Jordan, no refugees in Egypt'". Reuters. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- ^ Sayyed, Tashbih (18 June 2003). "Defeat Terrorism First". National Review. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
- UNISPAL. 31 December 1949. Archived from the originalon 21 July 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
- ^ R. Brynen, 'Addressing the Palestinian Refugee Issue: A Brief Overview' (McGill University, background paper for the Refugee Coordination Forum, Berlin, April 2007), p. 15, available here (08/08/09)
- ^ "Interview: Refugees will not be citizens of new state". The Daily Star Newspaper – Lebanon.
- Time Magazine, 6 November 2012
- ^ "The 'Right of Return' Debate Revisited". www.washingtoninstitute.org. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
- ISBN 978-0812220520.
- ^ "استطلاع للاجئين في مخيمات لبنان: الغالبية تعارض انتخابات تحت الاحتلال ولا تثق بقدرة "ابو مازن"". Saida City Net. 2 January 2005. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
- ^ "Text: 1993 Declaration of Principles". 29 November 2001 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "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 the 1948 Arab–Israeli War is estimated to be around 30,000."US Senate dramatically scales down definition of Palestinian 'refugees'
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