Palestinian Refugees...

Israel & Palestine Forum

Can someone please clarify for me what the Palestinians are? I thought they were refugees from the war when the Arab countries attacked Israel. My question is why are they then to lose rights to land they have the deeds to if they were just refugees that fled a war?

As a goodwill gesture during the Lausanne negotiations in 1949, Israel offered to take back 100,000 Palestinian refugees prior to any discussion of the refugee question. The Arab states, who had refused even to negotiate face-to-face with the Israelis, turned down the offer because it implicitly recognized Israel's existence. (Nadav Safran, Israel: The Embattled Ally, Harvard University Press, p 336)

Despite this, on humanitarian grounds Israel has since the 1950's allowed more than 50,000 refugees to return to Israel under a family reunification program, and between 1967 and 1993 allowed a further 75,000 to return to the West Bank or Gaza. Since the beginning of the Oslo process Israel has allowed another 90,000 Palestinians to gain residence in PA-controlled territory.

I don't think you really answered the question.

As I posted, in 1949. Israel offered to take back 100,000 Palestinian refugees prior to any discussion of the refugee question. The Arab states, who had refused even to negotiate face-to-face with the Israelis, turned down the offer because it implicitly recognized Israel's existence. In the years since they have taken back more than 50,000 refugees.

If there is ever a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, financial settlement for Arab refugess will be discussed. Jews were forced from Arab countries and had to leave everything behind have received nothing from those Arab countries.

Let me give a crack at it.

Jews/Israelis owned land too in 48. Had the deeds and all. In fact, they purchased the land from Arabs at 10 times their worth on many occasions. Yet they were constantly rejected by Arabs.

Remember, Israel didn’t like the 48 partition either Inner City yet they sought to compromise. Arabs didn’t and sought to annihilate.

News flash!!!! Arabs lost. So why is it so hard to understand “why” they aren’t allowed to gain back the lost spoils of war? This is always their cry. They make war, lose, then claim that Israel stole it.

Ask yourself this question. Why are those camps still there? This is the only situation in the world where refugees were created from war (and there were many) in which the refugees weren’t absorbed into other societies related to their existence.

A point of further clarification. The ones who fled but remained in Israel during the 1948 war were allowed to return and reclaim their homes as well.