DOHA, 6 April 2007 — Should hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled or were displaced from their homes during the Israeli-Arab wars in 1948 and 1967 give up their right to return to their homeland after decades of misery and sufferings in refugee camps?
A majority of the participants at Qatar Foundation’s recently-held Doha Debates rejected the idea when they overwhelmingly defeated the motion that suggested Palestinians should give up their full right to return. Only 18.4 percent of the participants voted for the motion.
Directed by well-known former BBC presenter, Tim Sebastian, the Doha Debates is a forum for free speech in the Arab world and forms part of the vital push for change and reform that is being spearheaded in Qatar. The program is a unique venture for the region and represents a vital exercise for a free and modern society.
Many Palestinians claim the right to return to land and property that once belonged to them in what is now Israel. Israelis say that opening the door to an estimated five million registered refugees would destroy the Jewish state. The fate of the estimated four million Palestinians living in refugee communities scattered around the Middle East is highly controversial.
A panel of Israeli and Palestinian speakers offered conflicting arguments on the issue at the latest session of the Doha Debates. The debate was marked with the presence of two prominent Jewish personalities from Israel, opposing each other and two Palestinians facing each other on the two sides of the panel.
Yossi Beilin, Knesset member and chairman of the Meretz-Yachad party, who spoke for the motion, warned the audience that Israel would never accept the “Right of Return” and said the only solution was compromise.
He said on the practical front, the majority of Jews in Israel would never accept the full return of Palestinian refugees, which is sure to change the demographic pattern of the Israeli society. Israel can allow a limited return of the refugees and provide compensation for those who agree to give up their claim for return. No peace process is going to succeed without a permanent solution to the refugee issue, he added.
Bassem Eid, a long-time Palestinian Human Rights campaigner, who has lived in refugee camps for 40 years, said it was time to give up the right of return and called for pressure on Arab governments to give citizenship to the refugees.
Bassem argued that the Palestinians that are living in miserable situations in refugee camps are fed up with their 60 years long suffering. They can no more pin their hopes on the inefficient Palestinian political leadership. The only option left for them is to comprise their right of return to Palestine to get a decent living elsewhere, he said.
Dr. Ilan Pappe, a renowned Jewish author, historian and senior lecturer of political science at Haifa University spoke against the motion. “The return of the Jews was justified in the eyes of the world after 2,000 years, why can’t the return of the Palestinians be justified.... after 60 years?” he asked. It is unacceptable to say that Palestinians should give up this right to gain a few concessions from Israel, pointed out Pappe.
Ali Abu Nimah, son of Palestinian refugees and co-founder of The Electronic Intifada, supported Pappe views. He accused Israel of being a racist state. “We should not ask people to give up their fundamental human rights,” he said. Abu Nimah said that during his visits to the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan, he found that despite their sufferings, the majority of the refugees are still longing to go back to Palestine.
Both speakers called for a solution to the Palestinian issue in the same way the Apartheid system in South Africa was tackled. The racist system in South Africa prolonged for about 300 years but now blacks and whites live in harmony in the country. “The same could happen in Palestine, if there is international pressure on Israel to change its racist policies,” said Abu Nimah.
Both panelists proposed a one-state solution to the Palestinian issue, where Jews, Muslims and Christians could live in harmony under a joint government.
To many Palestinians, the right to return is an inalienable basic human right to each individual refugee, and is therefore not for Palestinian negotiators — or anyone else — to bargain with.
The Palestinians base their claim to the right to return on United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution 194, which was passed in 1948. It states that Palestinian “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practical date.”
The Doha Debates will be broadcasted on BBC World on Saturday, April 14 and on Sunday, April 15.
