Post by Moses on May 15, 2005 19:02:34 GMT -5
Palestinian Refugees Right to Return and Repatriation [/size]
"The right of refugees to return to their homes and lands is not only legal and moral but also feasible.."
By Mazin Qumsiyeh
Excerpted from Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle
"There is no such thing as a Palestinian people... It is not as if we came and threw them out and took their country. They didn’t exist." --Golda Meir statement to the Sunday Times, 15 June, 1969.
The Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot interviewing Israeli foreign Minister Shimon Peres (Oct. 5, 2001): Y.A.: “I was wondering, would [the Palestinian] dreams about Jaffa and Haifa suddenly disappear?” Peres: “On this issue I recommend to kill and annihilate.”
Israel’s military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) is the most persistent military occupation on earth. But this 35-year-old occupation is only the second stage in the colonization of the land of Canaan. The first stage, between 1947-1949, generated the largest population of refugees still unsettled since World War Two, with the longest displacement in modern history. Until recently, two competing accounts of this catastrophic event existed. The first version, advocated by Israeli leaders, holds that the native Palestinians left present day Israel of their own free will or through the encouragement of their leaders. This version even indicates that Israeli leaders desired the Palestinian people to stay within Israel’s borders.
The second version, reported by the Palestinian refugees themselves, is that they were ethnically cleansed before, during and after the 1948 war. In their lexicon, the expulsion became known as Al-Naqba (the Catastrophe) and is the most traumatic event in Palestinian recorded history. More recently, Israeli historians, such as Ilan Pappé, Benny Morris, Zeev Sternhall, Avi Shlaim, Simha Flapan, and Tom Segev, have debunked the established Israeli myths of Israel’s creation. Using Israeli archives and declassified material, they were able to discover much of the hidden history of Zionism and they reveal a factual account of the establishment of Israel.
For example, after opening the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) archives, a cable was discovered dated October 31, 1948, signed by Major General Carmel and addressed to all the division and district commanders under his command. In that cable he stated, “Do all you can to immediately and quickly purge the conquered territories of all hostile elements in accordance with the orders issued. The residents should be helped to leave the areas that have been conquered.” A detailed analysis of such declassified material is provided by Nur Masalha in his book Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of ‘Transfer’ in Zionist Political Thought, 1882-1948.1
Yitzhak Rabin, the future Prime Minister and Noble Prize winner, wrote in his diary soon after Lydda’s and Ramla’s occupation:
After attacking Lydda and then Ramla...What would they do with the 50,000 civilians living in the two cities...Not even Ben-Gurion could offer a solution...and during the discussion at operation headquarters, he [Ben-Gurion] remained silent, as was his habit in such situations. Clearly, we could not leave hostile and armed populace in our rear, where it could endanger the supply route [to the troops who were] advancing eastward...Ben-Gurion would repeat the question: “What is to be done with the population?,” waving his hand in a gesture which said: “Drive them out!.” ‘Driving out’ is a term with a harsh ring... Psychologically, this was one of the most difficult actions we undertook.2
More recently, even Israelis acknowledge this history, though many still refuse to address its consequences or the need to redress the injustice. Benny Morris, for example, recognizes the forced removal of Palestinians but opposes giving those refugees and their descendants the right of return.
Palestinian officials did not demand right of return during the Oslo peace negotiations, even though all segments of the Palestinian people continue to demand the implementation of this right. Understanding this call for the right of return, the origin of the problem and potential viable solutions is thus essential to any lasting peace.
The estimated population of Palestine in 1893, under the Ottoman Empire, was 469,000 (98%) Arabs, composed of a mixture of Muslims and Christians, and 10,000 (2%) Jews. In 1897, the population of Arabs was 563,000 and of Jews was 21,500, slightly shifting the population proportions to 96% and 4% respectively. In 1912, the estimated population of Palestine was 525,000 (93%) Arabs and 40,000 (6%) Jews. By 1920, the population of Arabs was 542,000 (90%) and of Jews was 61,000 (10%).3 Thus, in 23 years, only a small number of European Jews had chosen to come live in Palestine.
Things changed dramatically in the 1920s. Following World War I, the victorious British took Palestine over from the Ottomans and at the urging of British Zionists, proceeded to fulfill their 100-year-old program to bring Jews to create a colony for British interests. In the 16 years after 1920, Jewish immigrants flooded into Palestine, and by 1936, 385,400 Jews (27.8% of the population) were living among 983,200 Arabs.4 Thus, in approximately one generation (40 years), the population of Jews in Palestine increased from 2% to 28% due to the synergy of the Zionist program and anti-Jewish actions in Europe.
At the same time that this Jewish / Zionist population of Palestine was increasing, the indigenous Arab farming class (Fellahin) was being increasingly dispossessed by a system of land registration that had begun under the Ottomans and was now continuing under the British. These two factors led to a widespread Arab revolt in 1936, which was brutally put down by the British. While this revolt did cause a temporary decline in Zionist immigration, its long term consequence was to devastate the nascent political organization that had begun among the Palestinian population, eliminating much of its leadership and weakening the Palestinian resistance.
As violence between Zionist immigrants and the indigenous Palestinian population, and by both groups against the occupying British, continued to escalate during and following World War II, the United Nations, under pressure from the United States (under pressure from its own domestic Zionist lobby), proposed a partition plan in which Palestine would be divided between the two groups. Under this plan 55 percent of hereditary Palestine was to be given to a Jewish state, despite the fact that this largely immigrant group still consisted of only 30 percent of the population and owned under seven percent of the land. The war that resulted in 1948 is called “the War of Independence” by Israel, and “Al-Naqba” — The Catastrophe — by Palestinians, and resulted in a massive refugee crisis. What is less widely known is that the dispossession of the Palestinian population actually started in the months before the war began. And while, as we have stated, some Palestinian dispossession had begun under the Ottoman occupation, the bulk of the dispossession, which continues to the present, started in 1947. Preparations for this cleansing began immediately after WWII, intensified in late 1947 following the UN partition plan and launched into full onslaught months before May 1948, and well before Arab Armies were involved.4,5 According to Morris, the waves of refugees originated in these periods.5
(rest at link)
"The right of refugees to return to their homes and lands is not only legal and moral but also feasible.."
By Mazin Qumsiyeh
Excerpted from Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle
"There is no such thing as a Palestinian people... It is not as if we came and threw them out and took their country. They didn’t exist." --Golda Meir statement to the Sunday Times, 15 June, 1969.
The Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot interviewing Israeli foreign Minister Shimon Peres (Oct. 5, 2001): Y.A.: “I was wondering, would [the Palestinian] dreams about Jaffa and Haifa suddenly disappear?” Peres: “On this issue I recommend to kill and annihilate.”
Israel’s military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) is the most persistent military occupation on earth. But this 35-year-old occupation is only the second stage in the colonization of the land of Canaan. The first stage, between 1947-1949, generated the largest population of refugees still unsettled since World War Two, with the longest displacement in modern history. Until recently, two competing accounts of this catastrophic event existed. The first version, advocated by Israeli leaders, holds that the native Palestinians left present day Israel of their own free will or through the encouragement of their leaders. This version even indicates that Israeli leaders desired the Palestinian people to stay within Israel’s borders.
The second version, reported by the Palestinian refugees themselves, is that they were ethnically cleansed before, during and after the 1948 war. In their lexicon, the expulsion became known as Al-Naqba (the Catastrophe) and is the most traumatic event in Palestinian recorded history. More recently, Israeli historians, such as Ilan Pappé, Benny Morris, Zeev Sternhall, Avi Shlaim, Simha Flapan, and Tom Segev, have debunked the established Israeli myths of Israel’s creation. Using Israeli archives and declassified material, they were able to discover much of the hidden history of Zionism and they reveal a factual account of the establishment of Israel.
For example, after opening the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) archives, a cable was discovered dated October 31, 1948, signed by Major General Carmel and addressed to all the division and district commanders under his command. In that cable he stated, “Do all you can to immediately and quickly purge the conquered territories of all hostile elements in accordance with the orders issued. The residents should be helped to leave the areas that have been conquered.” A detailed analysis of such declassified material is provided by Nur Masalha in his book Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of ‘Transfer’ in Zionist Political Thought, 1882-1948.1
Yitzhak Rabin, the future Prime Minister and Noble Prize winner, wrote in his diary soon after Lydda’s and Ramla’s occupation:
After attacking Lydda and then Ramla...What would they do with the 50,000 civilians living in the two cities...Not even Ben-Gurion could offer a solution...and during the discussion at operation headquarters, he [Ben-Gurion] remained silent, as was his habit in such situations. Clearly, we could not leave hostile and armed populace in our rear, where it could endanger the supply route [to the troops who were] advancing eastward...Ben-Gurion would repeat the question: “What is to be done with the population?,” waving his hand in a gesture which said: “Drive them out!.” ‘Driving out’ is a term with a harsh ring... Psychologically, this was one of the most difficult actions we undertook.2
More recently, even Israelis acknowledge this history, though many still refuse to address its consequences or the need to redress the injustice. Benny Morris, for example, recognizes the forced removal of Palestinians but opposes giving those refugees and their descendants the right of return.
Palestinian officials did not demand right of return during the Oslo peace negotiations, even though all segments of the Palestinian people continue to demand the implementation of this right. Understanding this call for the right of return, the origin of the problem and potential viable solutions is thus essential to any lasting peace.
The estimated population of Palestine in 1893, under the Ottoman Empire, was 469,000 (98%) Arabs, composed of a mixture of Muslims and Christians, and 10,000 (2%) Jews. In 1897, the population of Arabs was 563,000 and of Jews was 21,500, slightly shifting the population proportions to 96% and 4% respectively. In 1912, the estimated population of Palestine was 525,000 (93%) Arabs and 40,000 (6%) Jews. By 1920, the population of Arabs was 542,000 (90%) and of Jews was 61,000 (10%).3 Thus, in 23 years, only a small number of European Jews had chosen to come live in Palestine.
Things changed dramatically in the 1920s. Following World War I, the victorious British took Palestine over from the Ottomans and at the urging of British Zionists, proceeded to fulfill their 100-year-old program to bring Jews to create a colony for British interests. In the 16 years after 1920, Jewish immigrants flooded into Palestine, and by 1936, 385,400 Jews (27.8% of the population) were living among 983,200 Arabs.4 Thus, in approximately one generation (40 years), the population of Jews in Palestine increased from 2% to 28% due to the synergy of the Zionist program and anti-Jewish actions in Europe.
At the same time that this Jewish / Zionist population of Palestine was increasing, the indigenous Arab farming class (Fellahin) was being increasingly dispossessed by a system of land registration that had begun under the Ottomans and was now continuing under the British. These two factors led to a widespread Arab revolt in 1936, which was brutally put down by the British. While this revolt did cause a temporary decline in Zionist immigration, its long term consequence was to devastate the nascent political organization that had begun among the Palestinian population, eliminating much of its leadership and weakening the Palestinian resistance.
As violence between Zionist immigrants and the indigenous Palestinian population, and by both groups against the occupying British, continued to escalate during and following World War II, the United Nations, under pressure from the United States (under pressure from its own domestic Zionist lobby), proposed a partition plan in which Palestine would be divided between the two groups. Under this plan 55 percent of hereditary Palestine was to be given to a Jewish state, despite the fact that this largely immigrant group still consisted of only 30 percent of the population and owned under seven percent of the land. The war that resulted in 1948 is called “the War of Independence” by Israel, and “Al-Naqba” — The Catastrophe — by Palestinians, and resulted in a massive refugee crisis. What is less widely known is that the dispossession of the Palestinian population actually started in the months before the war began. And while, as we have stated, some Palestinian dispossession had begun under the Ottoman occupation, the bulk of the dispossession, which continues to the present, started in 1947. Preparations for this cleansing began immediately after WWII, intensified in late 1947 following the UN partition plan and launched into full onslaught months before May 1948, and well before Arab Armies were involved.4,5 According to Morris, the waves of refugees originated in these periods.5
(rest at link)