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Abstract
With contributions from a range of international experts, including Edward W. Said, Noam Chomsky, Ilan Pappe, Alain Gresh and Norman Finkelstein, this collection examines the Palestinians' right of return.
Chapters cover the historical roots of the Palestinian refugee question; the rights of the refugees under international law; the special case of Lebanon; Israeli perceptions of the refugee question; the practical feasibility of the return; the role of the United States and the European Union and the Refugee Question; the value of the refugee property; the principles of compensation; and a programme for an Independent Rights Campaign.
'Invaluable ... A wealth of information on historical background'
Palestine News
'An indispensable resource for everyone committed to finding a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict'
Race and Class
'The most substantial and detailed volume on this issue to have been produced since it returned to the forefront of Palestinian consciousness'
Laila Juma, Al-Jazeera
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| CONTENTS | iii | ||
| PREFACE | vii | ||
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | xi | ||
| INTRODUCTION: THE RIGHT OF RETURN AT LAST | 1 | ||
| Part I: The Historical Context | 7 | ||
| 1. THE RIGHT TO EXPEL: THE BIBLE AND ETHNIC CLEANSING | 9 | ||
| RETURNING TO EXPEL | 9 | ||
| THE BIBLE AND THE REDEEMING IDEA OF COLONIALISM | 11 | ||
| ARCHAEOLOGY, THE BIBLE AND STATE FORMATION | 13 | ||
| THE PROBLEM OF THE EXODUS PARADIGM | 15 | ||
| BIBLICAL RESONANCES OF ZIONISM | 19 | ||
| THE UBIQUITOUS AND PERENNIAL DIASPORA LONGING FOR THE LAND OF ISRAEL | 21 | ||
| ZIONISM AND THE RELIGIOUS SPIRIT | 24 | ||
| CONCLUSIONS | 26 | ||
| NOTES | 29 | ||
| 2. THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEE QUESTION | 36 | ||
| THE CONCEPT OF ‘POPULATION TRANSFER’ IN MAINSTREAM ZIONISM, 1882 –1948 | 37 | ||
| WEIZMANN ’S PROPOSAL TO TRANSFER PEASANTS TO TRANSJORDAN, 1930 | 41 | ||
| EMERGING CONSENSUS, 1937–48 | 42 | ||
| Three (Semi-Official and Official) Transfer Committees, 1937-48 | 42 | ||
| THE ISSUES OF LAND AND DEMOGRAPHY | 43 | ||
| THE 1948 EXODUS | 43 | ||
| On the Connection between Premeditation and Action | 43 | ||
| ‘THE SMOKING GUN ’: LYDDA AND RAMLE, 12 –13 JULY 1948 | 45 | ||
| THE MASSACRES FACTOR | 46 | ||
| Deir Yassin, 9 April 1948 | 46 | ||
| Al-Dawayma, 28-29 October 1948 | 47 | ||
| THE SYSTEMATIC DESTRUCTION OF 418 VILLAGES | 49 | ||
| THE PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ZIONIST LEADERSHIP FOR THE DISPLACEMENT AND DISPOSSESSION OF THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEES | 50 | ||
| THE POST-1948 PERIOD | 51 | ||
| Preventing the Return of Refugees: Proposals of the Israeli Government's 'Transfer Committee', October 1948 | 51 | ||
| ISRAELI PROPAGANDA | 52 | ||
| EXPULSION OF THE TOWN OF AL-MAJDAL, SUMMER 1950 | 53 | ||
| COMPENSATIONS: ISRAELI PROPOSALS, 1949–53 | 54 | ||
| ‘INFILTRATION’: REFUGEES ATTEMPTING TO RETURN 1949 –56 | 55 | ||
| EXPULSION OF THE NEGEV BEDOUIN, 1949 –59 | 56 | ||
| EXPULSION OF GALILEE BEDOUIN BY YITZHAK RABIN, 30 OCTOBER 1956 | 57 | ||
| TREATMENT OF ‘INTERNAL REFUGEES ’ | 57 | ||
| The Case of Iqrit and Bir'im, November 1948-2000 | 60 | ||
| WHOLESALE LAND EXPROPRIATION | 61 | ||
| THE 1967 EXODUS: WHY DID THE PALESTINIANS LEAVE? | 61 | ||
| EPILOGUE | 62 | ||
| NOTES | 62 | ||
| Part II The Interests of the Major Actors | 69 | ||
| 3. ISRAELI PERCEPTIONS OF THE REFUGEE QUESTION | 71 | ||
| NOTES | 76 | ||
| 4. THE UNITED STATES AND THE REFUGEE QUESTION | 77 | ||
| EDITOR'S NOTE | 81 | ||
| 5. THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE REFUGEE QUESTION | 82 | ||
| FROM THE RIGHTS OF REFUGEES TO THE RIGHT TO A STATE | 83 | ||
| OSLO,REFUGEES AND THE ‘RIGHT OF RETURN ’ | 84 | ||
| THE FRENCH POSITION | 86 | ||
| 6. THE PALESTINIAN LIBERATION ORGANIZATION: FROM THE RIGHT OF RETURN TO BANTUSTAN | 87 | ||
| THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE RIGHT OF RETURN | 88 | ||
| The Sources of the Right of Return in International Law | 88 | ||
| The Right of Return in International Human Rights Law | 88 | ||
| The Right of Return in Humanitarian Law | 89 | ||
| The Palestinian Right of Return in United Nations Resolutions | 89 | ||
| Summary | 91 | ||
| THE PLO AND THE ISSUE OF RETURN | 92 | ||
| From the Establishment of the PLO to the Provisional Political Programme | 92 | ||
| Summary | 95 | ||
| From Madrid to Oslo and Beyond (1991-present) | 96 | ||
| THE MADRID CONFERENCE | 96 | ||
| THE LETTERS OF MUTUAL RECOGNITION AND THE DECLARATION OF\r PRINCIPLES | 97 | ||
| OFFICIAL AND QUASI-OFFICIAL STATEMENTS | 99 | ||
| Summary | 100 | ||
| FROM RIGHT OF RETURN TO BANTUSTAN | 100 | ||
| NOTES | 102 | ||
| Part III: Return or Permanent Exile | 103 | ||
| 7. RETURN OR PERMANENT EXILE? | 105 | ||
| THE ROAD TO OSLO | 105 | ||
| PROTECTING ISRAELI INTERESTS AS PRAGMATISM | 108 | ||
| PRAGMATISM AND REFUGEE INTERESTS | 113 | ||
| IS RETURN PRAGMATIC? | 114 | ||
| SEPARATING PALESTINIAN POLITICAL INTERESTS | 116 | ||
| NOTES | 119 | ||
| 8. THE OBLIGATIONS OF HOST COUNTRIES TO REFUGEES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW: THE CASE OF LEBANON | 123 | ||
| 1 HISTORY | 125 | ||
| 2 THE PALESTINIANS UNDER LEBANESE LAW: AN OVERVIEW | 129 | ||
| History of the Laws Governing Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon | 129 | ||
| The Right of Palestinian Refugees to Employment in Lebanon | 131 | ||
| The Residency and Travel Rights of the Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon | 135 | ||
| Lebanese Attitudes towards the Palestinian Refugees | 139 | ||
| Conclusion | 140 | ||
| 3 THE CURRENT PREDICAMENT OF THE REFUGEES: THE OSLO ACCORDS AND BEYOND | 141 | ||
| The Right of Return | 141 | ||
| The Oslo Accords | 142 | ||
| CONCLUSION | 144 | ||
| NOTES | 146 | ||
| 9. MEETING THE NEEDS OF PALESTINIAN REFUGEES IN LEBANON | 152 | ||
| PALESTINIANS IN THE LEBANESE CAMPS | 152 | ||
| ACTIVE ORGANIZATIONS IN THE CAMPS | 154 | ||
| NOTES | 159 | ||
| Part IV: Refugee Claims and the Search for a Just Solution | 163 | ||
| 10. REINTERPRETING PALESTINIAN REFUGEE RIGHTS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW | 165 | ||
| INTERNATIONAL LAW PRINCIPLES AND INSTRUMENTS APPLICABLE TO PALESTINIAN REFUGEES | 166 | ||
| INTERNATIONAL LAW PRINCIPLES OF STATELESSNESS APPLICABLE TO PALESTINIANS | 170 | ||
| A REINTERPRETATION OF THE REGIME APPLICABLE TO PALESTINIAN REFUGEES, | 172 | ||
| CONCLUSION | 178 | ||
| NOTES | 179 | ||
| 11. THE RIGHT OF RETURN: SACRED, LEGAL AND POSSIBLE | 195 | ||
| NOTES | 205 | ||
| 12 DECONSTRUCTING THE LINK: PALESTINIAN REFUGEES AND JEWISH IMMIGRANTS FROM ARAB COUNTRIES | 208 | ||
| THE CREATION OF THE ‘POPULATION EXCHANGE ’ MYTH | 208 | ||
| THE CASE OF THE IRAQI JEWS | 210 | ||
| JEWS FROM OTHER ARAB COUNTRIES | 212 | ||
| DECONSTRUCTING THE LINK | 213 | ||
| RESURRECTION OF THE MYTH | 214 | ||
| NOTES | 215 | ||
| 13. VALUING PALESTINIAN LOSSES IN TODAY'S DOLLARS | 217 | ||
| 1. | 217 | ||
| THE THEORETICAL BASIS FOR COMPENSATION | 219 | ||
| Previous Valuations of Palestinian Losses and their Deficiencies | 221 | ||
| Outline of the Chapter | 223 | ||
| A Synopsis of the Results | 223 | ||
| 2. | 224 | ||
| The Topology of Palestinian Losses: A Re-evaluation | 224 | ||
| Ownership of Capital | 226 | ||
| 3. | 236 | ||
| Valuation of Palestinian Urban and Rural Real Estate Losses | 236 | ||
| A Note on the Data | 237 | ||
| Valuation of Rural Land | 238 | ||
| Valuation of Urban Property | 241 | ||
| A Synopsis of Results | 245 | ||
| 4. | 246 | ||
| Palestinian Losses: A Final Balance Sheet | 246 | ||
| Distribution of Losses by Item | 247 | ||
| The Capitalized Income Approach versus the Itemized Approach | 249 | ||
| 5. | 250 | ||
| Conclusion | 250 | ||
| NOTES | 250 | ||
| 14. A PROGRAMME FOR AN INDEPENDENT RIGHTS CAMPAIGN | 252 | ||
| GRASS-ROOTS ACTIVISM IN PRE-OSLO PALESTINE | 253 | ||
| THE POST-MADRID/OSLO PERIOD (1991–99) | 254 | ||
| Evolution of Independent Refugee Initiatives | 254 | ||
| REFUGEE MOBILIZATION IN 1948 PALESTINE/ISRAEL | 255 | ||
| REFUGEE MOBILIZATION IN 1967-OCCUPIED PALESTINE | 256 | ||
| Principles and Agenda of the Independent, Community- based Campaign for Palestinian Refugee Rights | 257 | ||
| TOWARDS A PALESTINIAN-INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR THE DEFENSE OF PALESTINIAN REFUGEE RIGHTS | 259 | ||
| NOTE | 259 | ||
| 15. TOWARDS CONVENING A CONGRESS OF RETURN AND SELF-DETERMINATION | 260 | ||
| A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW | 261 | ||
| THE ‘PEACE PROCESS’ AND THE RIGHT OF RETURN | 263 | ||
| THE REFUGEES AND THE YOSSI BEILIN–ABU-MAZIN AGREEMENT | 266 | ||
| TOWARDS CONVENING A CONGRESS OF RETURN AND SELF-DETERMINATION | 269 | ||
| 16. LESSONS OF HOLOCAUST COMPENSATION | 272 | ||
| NOTES | 275 | ||
| NOTES ON THE CONTRIBUTORS | 276 | ||
| Index | 279 | ||
| Aaronson, Aaron, 40 | 40 | ||
| Abdul Rahman, Dr As'ad | vii |