If Israel truly wants peace, it should acknowledge the Nakba and the right of return of Palestinian refugees

The Israeli Response

The unique status of Palestinian refugees sets them apart from other refugee groups. Their refugee definition covers all descendants without limit, and they are not encouraged to resettle. This has contributed to their enduring refugee status and prevented assimilation into new lives, unlike other refugee groups.

Key Points

What is the history of Palestinian refugees?

in 1947, Arab countries waged a war against Israel which resulted in the creation of Palestinian refugees.

In the same years (1945–1951), many people from many nations became refugees

Among them were Polish, Germans, Indians, Pakistanis, Jewish and Arabs.

By 1960, all the refugees from after World War II had successfully integrated and became citizens of their countries, except for one group: the Palestinians.

In 1959, the Arab League made Resolution Number 1547

Determined that Arab countries would deny any request for citizenship from Palestinians, even though a lot of them are originally from Egypt, Jordan, etc.

They did this in order to preserve their refugee status and weaponize the "right of return" to Israel.

As of 2024, the UN has one authority to treat refugees from all nations (UNHCR) and another dedicated only for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

Palestinians are the only refugee group in the world that has a UN organization dedicated just for them

How does UNWRA define a Palestinian refugee?

Based on the UNWRA definition, Palestinian refugees are defined as “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 War. The descendants of Palestine refugee males, including legally adopted children, are also eligible for registration."

The problematic definition of Palestinian refugees inflates their numbers endlessly.

Palestinians are the only people whose status as refugees is transferred through inheritance.

Instead of helping them to rehabilitate, UNRWA ensures the preservation of their refugee status.

There are a lot more people defined as Palestinian refugees (5.9 million) compared to the original Palestinian refugees from Israel's independence war.

The exact number of original refugees is controversial, but even if we consider the highest evaluation, the number of refugees in 2023 is still multiplied by about 6 times.

You can be the grandson of a Palestinian living abroad, never having visited Israel, and still be counted as a refugee.

The refugee status is not lost when safely settled somewhere else. For example, the Gigi Hadid, one of the highest-paid fashion models in the world in 2018 who lives in Los Angeles, is a refugee by this definition and eligible for UNWRA services.

And what about Jewish refugees?

In the days of the establishment of the state of Israel, about 856,000 Jews had to flee or be deported from their Arab homeland countries in the Middle East because of antisemitism, persecutions and pogroms.

If Jews are eligible for "right of return" to the land they owned in Arab countries, this land would be triple the size of Israel.

If we were to use the UNWRA refugee definition for 'Jewish refugees' on data from the US Census Bureau, the tragedy is made much worse:

The Palestinian population in Gaza grew from 250,000 in 1950 to 2.1 million in 2023 - 8.4x

The Jewish population in Israel grew from 1.3M to 9.2M in the same years - 7x

850,000, or 70% of the Jews in Israel in 1948 were refugees forced to leave their home due to the Jewish Nakba in Arab countries.

By including all their children regardless of where they live today, over 70% of Jews in Israel are refugees - over 6.5 million Jewish refugees!!

The plight of these refugees is shockingly ignored by the international community.

Had the UN been a true champion of human rights, the UN, it would have established a dedicated body to address the Jewish refugee crisis.

The world must amplify their voices and acknowledge this injustice to pave the way for a solution.

When the Palestinian refugee crisis began, so did the Jewish refugee crisis. A lasting peace requires addressing the grievances of all those impacted by the conflict, including Jewish refugees!

From the Media

Why won't Egypt take in Palestinians escaping Gaza?(youtube)

Resources

↗Ben-Dror Yemini - The Industry of Lies(Chapter 8 - is there a right of return?)

Conclusions

The right of return for Palestinian refugees is an impractical policy for any modern country, and has never been implemented by one. Calls for a full right of return disguised as demands for justice and human rights serve political agendas of the Arab world, aiming to eliminate Israel.

#1948
#nakba
#rightofreturn
#refugees
#peace
#acknowledge
#refugee
#unwra
#resolution
#1547
#unhcr