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Palestinian Refugees in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

Rempel, Terry M.
http://www.forcedmigration.org/research-resources/expert-guides/palestinian-refugees-in-the-west-bank-and-the-gaza/alldocuments

Publisher:  forcedmigration.org
Date Written:  01/08/2006
Year Published:  2006  
Resource Type:  Article

The Palestinian refugee situation is one of the most protracted cases of forced displacement in the world today (UNHCR, 2006). The largest group of Palestinian refugees originate from areas inside the state of Israel and were displaced during the 1948 Israeli-Arab war. A smaller number of Palestinians remain internally displaced from this period and are citizens of Israel.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

Needs and Responses

Palestinian refugees and IDPs lack voluntary durable solutions. Most refugees originate from areas inside the state of Israel which opposes their return. Historically, only a small number of Jewish groups and individuals have supported the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes of origin inside Israel. More recently, however, a number of groups like Zochrot and Bat Shalom have begun education programs about Palestinian refugees and their rights. These include visits to the sites of destroyed refugee villages hosted by a refugee or IDP from the village and sign-posting at the village site.

The framework for durable solutions for Palestinian refugees displaced in 1948, including internally displaced persons inside Israel, is set forth in paragraph 11 of UN General Assembly Resolution 194(III), 11 December 1948. The resolution affirms three separate rights i.e., right of return, right to housing and property restitution, and the right to compensation and two distinct solutions (i.e. return, restitution and compensation or resettlement, restitution and compensation) governed by the principle of individual refugee choice. The framework for refugees displaced for the first time from the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967 is set forth in UN Security Council Resolution 237, 14 June 1967.

The first round of political negotiations to craft a solution to the conflict including durable solutions for all persons displaced in 1948 lasted from 1949 to 1952. These UN-facilitated talks ended without agreement (Caplan, 1997). The UN established a special agency to seek durable solutions and protect this refugee group, the UN Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP) composed of representatives of the United States, France and Turkey. The UNCCP, which was established in 1948 under Resolution 194, also had a mandate to facilitate a resolution of all aspects of the conflict. The UNCCP attempted to facilitate solutions for refugees primarily through intervention with Israel and Arab host states, preliminary technical work such as the creation of a profile of the refugee population, investigating methods for determination of refugee choices and examination of modalities for compensation, a series of framework proposals, mixed working groups and several conferences. The UNCCP did manage to obtain the release of refugee assets held in banks inside Israel and it completed a global and individual identification of Palestinian properties (Boqai & Rempel, 2005).

When the UN set up the UNCCP it was assumed that the refugees would return to their places of origin within a short period of time. The Commission was not provided with the machinery or with the resources to facilitate a solution in the context of a protracted conflict. Since 1952 the Commission has taken the view that the governments concerned have the primary responsibility for the settlement of their outstanding differences, including the plight of the refugees (Forsythe, 1972). A final effort to facilitate durable solutions for the refugees in 1961 led by Joseph E. Johnson, then head of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, ended without agreement. The UNCCP still exists, but has no budget and no staff. The UN Department of Political Affairs assigns an individual responsible as UNCCP secretary. The Commission continues to file an annual report of roughly one paragraph in length stating that is has nothing new to report.
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