Palestinian refugees fleeing Haifa, May 1, 1948. John Philips/Time-Life Pictures/Getty Images
Refugee
law and practice, which applies to refugees all around the world, sets forth
three ‘durable solutions’: repatriation (the first choice of refugees and
usually of both the asylum country and the country of origin); integration in
the country of asylum (offered by only a few host countries); or resettlement
to a third country (available to a small number of refugees each year). Each
refugee must make a voluntary choice among these three solutions. The first two
solutions become viable only when the root cause of the original flight is
resolved in a manner acceptable to the refugees, the host country, and the
country of origin. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
frequently facilitates this agreement process.
Applying
these practices to Palestine refugees reveals an obvious dilemma. For more than
six decades, Palestinians have watched Israel whittle away the land which was
once home. Israel enjoys the support of major powers that tolerate and
sometimes promote the takeover of Palestinian territory, itself already reduced
by 78 percent in the aftermath of the Nakba. The influx of a population
believing that they have a biblical right to what had been Palestine meant that
the ‘country of origin,’ to which the refugees demand the right to return, had
no interest in, and in fact was strongly averse to, allowing that return. The
durable solution of choice is unavailable to Palestine refugees, given that
more and more of their former homeland is being taken over by Israelis. Their
‘country of origin’ is no longer ‘theirs,’ since it is populated by a people
and run by a government who see them as a threat and are firmly—and
actively—opposed to their ‘right of return.’
The
shrinking of Mandate Palestine over time was accelerated after the 1967
Arab-Israeli war, when the territory of the West Bank and Gaza Strip became
occupied by Israel. The pace accelerated further still following the (infamous)
1993 Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, and the
1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, more commonly known
as the Oslo accords. This divided the West Bank territory of the occupied
Palestinian lands into three parts: Area A, under Palestinian control, would
cover 3 percent of the territory, subsequently increased to 18 percent; Area B,
under joint Palestinian and Israeli control originally 21 percent, later 25
percent; and Area C, under full Israeli control, originally 72 percent, reduced
to 61 percent.(5) Jerusalem was relegated to
further negotiations (along with refugees, settlements, agreed borders,
security, and other contentious “final status” issues). Today, there are
300,000 Israeli settlers among 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank,(6) mainly in Area C,(7) and another 200,000 in East Jerusalem.(8) Settler-only roads, security zones and restricted military zones
protect the Israelis, leaving the Palestinians living in a series of enclaves
disconnected by onerous, and unfriendly checkpoints, fences, and walls
controlled by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Twenty
years after the first Oslo agreement proposed a step-by-step handover of the
West Bank to the Palestinians, only 21 percent of the territory is under any
semblance of Palestinian sovereignty. It remains closely monitored and often
violated by the misleadingly titled Israeli Civil Administration, under the
IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.
What are
the prospects for Palestinians, and more specifically, for Palestine refugees?
What of the 1.2 million refugees among the 1.6 million Gazans, the two million
in Jordan, the 450,000 in Lebanon, and the 500,000 who have not yet fled
war-torn Syria?(9) The
majority of refugees are self-reliant. Only one-third live in the fifty-eight
UNRWA ‘camps’ (usually urban neighborhoods in existing towns) and only 6
percent are considered vulnerable and benefit from social services.(10) Still, the dream of returning ‘home’ and the
related wish to control their own destinies in a genuinely independent
Palestinian state are ever present in the minds and hearts of refugees of all
ages. While subscribing to this common determination, however, Palestine
refugees get on with their lives, in many ways influenced by the different
locations in which they are hosted.
Refugee Geography
The 1948
refugees in Jordan enjoy most of the benefits of citizenship—passports,
employment in all but some sensitive security jobs, property ownership, health,
education, and other state services. Refugees from the 1967 war (and thereafter,
including the thousands of recent arrivals from Syria, now twice displaced) are
not accorded the same privileges and are known as the Gazan or Jerash refugees
(the latter term associated with the Jordanian camp where 24,000 Palestinians
from Gaza live.) This group depends heavily on UNRWA services.
Refugees
in Lebanon fare less well, given the sectarian nature and political
organization of the country and the contribution, either actual or feared,
Palestinians may make (or have made) to demographic and other conflicts, past
and present. Unlike in the other host nations, some of the camps in Lebanon are
tightly controlled by the Lebanese army. Palestinians cannot own land,
property, or businesses and cannot get work permits for other than manual
labor. Students find difficulty continuing their education beyond UNRWA’s
elementary schools.
In many
ways, Syria has been the ‘best’ place to be hosted as a Palestine refugee.
Refugees were treated as ‘brothers and sisters’. Although not given nationality
(or passports), they enjoyed most other privileges of citizens. They were not
discriminated against in employment, education, or property ownership and often
participated fully in the social and political life of the country.
For the
first eighteen months of the current internal conflict in Syria, they managed
to maintain neutrality that left them mostly unaffected by the violence,
especially those in the large Yarmouk camp that houses 150,000 refugees on the
periphery of Damascus. Eventually, what has become a non-international armed
conflict (or civil war) began to intrude on the camp by the warring parties, as
fighters and others took refuge in the camp, which then became a target for
shelling and air strikes.(11) Statements supporting the Syrian
opposition by Palestinian officials (representing the main Fatah and Hamas
parties) were not well received by the government and some refugees themselves
began to take sides in the struggle. Thousands of Palestine refugees affected
by attacks on the camps or the towns and villages where they lived have now
sought refuge in Jordan and Lebanon along with tens of thousands of Syrian refugees
in each country. These numbers continue to grow, creating a humanitarian
emergency and prompting worries about destabilizing the neighborhood more
generally. In such an atmosphere, the Palestinians from Syria face additional
difficulties in crossing these borders.
Difficulties
for Palestine refugees in the occupied Palestinian territory (the West Bank and
Gaza) are compounded by the Israeli occupation, including an exercise of
complete control in and out of the territory as well as wherever settlements,
military installations and security roads are present inside the West Bank.(12) The West Bank, although highly aid dependent, has
managed at least to establish a growing economy and to function under a Palestinian
National Authority.(13) The Authority’s efforts at
legitimization were arguably rewarded in November 2012 when Palestine achieved
United Nations recognition as a non-member observer state, since December known
officially as the State of Palestine.
Gaza’s
suffering as a result of seven years of blockade is well known. Movement of
both people and goods is minutely presided over by the Israeli Civil
Administration. The refugees in the West Bank and Gaza are full participants in
the Palestinian polity, but suffer along with all others from living under
occupation—the stifling and humiliating characteristics of which are difficult
to convey unless experienced firsthand.
Adding to
the vagaries of living and growing apart for more than six decades there is
more recently the serious rift between the West Bank and Gaza in terms of the
party politics of Fatah and Hamas, with each controlling a separate government
although trying repeatedly to reconcile and unify. Bringing the leaders and
supporters of the two groups together is a necessary condition for holding
national elections and being able to resume negotiations on the long dormant
‘peace process.’ Internal strife is driven by opposing approaches to basic
issues such as a secular state versus one based on Shari’a law and the methods
for confronting or relating to the occupying power, as well as by plain old
power politics. Such serious differences have been one of the excuses for
external parties to retreat, at best, into a benign neglect of the Palestinian
struggle for independence and justice. The divisions also allow, even justify,
the unchallenged power of those, as in all conflicts, who benefit from the
status quo. ‘Muddling on’ suits some stakeholders who fear losing power,
position, or resources should there be a significant move toward resolving the
conflict.
A Complimentary Narrative
Is there
a way for Palestine refugees to escape their plight? Can new, different, better
directions be devised or leaders found to engage in serious talks instead of
endless, pointless, one-sided, make-believe ‘negotiations’? When will
discussions begin that offer justice to Palestinians, including an economically
and politically viable state with its capital in Jerusalem; fair, secure, and
contiguous borders; and a solution to refugee exile acceptable to Palestinians
and their hosts alike? Why is international law not referenced and not brought
to bear on vital issues such as the illegal settlements and human rights
violations that are condemned when they occur in other parts of the world?
There are
few grounds for optimism and many reasons for frustration and fury at the
persistent injustice. These emotions are also felt by many non-Palestinians who
live and work among Palestine refugees with UNRWA and other organizations,
especially those based in Gaza. My own presence there from 2000−10 and during the past three years of observing the region from both
near and far, however, prompt me to share an additional, contrasting narrative.
My dry
and depressing sketch of the Palestine refugee condition (and that of
Palestinians more generally) is a political description of what Palestinians
have endured over the past sixty-five years. It is intended as a partial
summary of some of the ‘facts on the ground’ that are widely covered by
analysts, academics, and journalists, some appreciative of the grievances borne
by the Palestinians, others nuanced or skeptical about who is to blame. In any
case, this rendering reflects what I observed myself, and heard repeatedly from
Palestinian interlocutors.
It was
there and then, while watching conditions deteriorate day by day, that I
learned to appreciate the character, capabilities, and achievements of the
Palestinians, refugee and non-refugee alike. While dealing with the setbacks of
their recent history, Palestinians continue to believe in the future they have
so long desired and deserved, and they are determined to carry on the struggle
to achieve their rights. Those who believe in, and advocate adhering to
international law, and who are, therefore, on the side of justice, freedom, and
equality (as well as the thirty rights listed in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, none of which is enjoyed by Palestine refugees), should also be
willing and ready to support and help them work toward that future.(14)
Despite
the grim rendition of obstacles and prospects that might discourage the
hardiest of human beings, Palestine refugees, like so many other refugees
facing oppression and deprivation, refuse to give up on their attempts to
improve their immediate circumstances. And in this, they excel.
Steadfastness
and resilience, two adjectives often used to describe Palestine refugees, are
qualities that serve them well in their environment. While never losing sight
of their political goals, they make every effort to live their lives as
normally as possible. From the blockaded Gazans to the threatened population in
Syria, five million Palestine refugees face their surroundings with strength,
creativity, adaptability—and good nature. They are quite capable of voicing
their complaints—and they do so often and vociferously—yet at the same time
they get on with what life offers them.
Rarely is
such widespread and fulsome generosity, hospitality, and sharing of available
resources, however meager, on offer to strangers elsewhere, or the willingness
to exchange thoughts and feelings to help outsiders understand their longings,
their hopes, and their predicaments.
Also
exceptional is the constant pushing back against impediments that appear in a
new and more burdensome form each time the last one is overcome. When there is
no vehicle fuel, sesame oil will do. When entry is blocked for everyday
essentials, tunnels are dug. When year after year UN resolutions are blocked in
the Security Council, move on to the General Assembly. If property ownership is
denied, establish a partnership with a local citizen. Unfairly imprisoned by
the occupying power? Go on hunger strike. Movement of goods complicated by
rules, roadblocks, fences, and walls? Create your own internal
self-sufficiency. Your land taken over by settlers and used for exports? Start
a peaceful boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement. Too little land left
for the two-state solution? Advocate living together in one, pluralistic,
democratic state. Bombing of your tiny, fourteen-by-twenty-six kilometer strip
of undefended land by the neighbor’s well-armed, sophisticated army? Show the
world the devastation, show that you have survived and become stronger, shake
your fist, and rebuild.(15)
Prizes and Pride
Examples
are many of Palestinian ingenuity in addressing a gamut of issues from small
inconveniences to the most consequential political proposals. It is
enlightening to cite the non-violent means Palestinians have chosen to confront
the constant undermining of their everyday lives. Quite simply, the majority of
refugees use peaceful resistance to fight the denial of their rights in
contrast to what captures the headlines, namely, the periodic eruptions of
violent resistance when provocations become too much to bear. There are many
more illustrations on the ‘human’ side of how Palestinians interact within
their families, with their neighbors, and with the wider world.
One of
their main preoccupations is to ensure a brighter future for their children.
Therefore, crucial attention is given to education. Parents and children alike
thirst for learning and opportunities to advance their knowledge and abilities.
Proof abounds of refugee children excelling in nationwide exams in each of the
countries hosting them, despite a comparative lack of resources and poorer
living conditions. Last January, a fourteen-year-old student, Areej El Madhoun,
from Jabalia camp in Gaza, won first prize among 2,500 contestants from ten
countries in the Intelligent Mental-Arithmetic Competition, held in Malaysia
every two years. Four other young Palestinians received awards in the
competition.(16) Three
Gaza female students participating in an UNRWA after-school program, Yara, 14,
Nadeen, 13, and Rahaf, 11, gained places on the Palestine National and Olympic
chess team. Yara was the youngest participant in the 2012 World Chess Olympiad
in Turkey, and Rahaf won first prize in an Arab World Chess Competition in
Yemen, also in 2012.(17)
One of my
early experiences in Gaza was accepting an invitation to attend the ‘virtual’
graduation of Gaza engineering students from the West Bank’s Birzeit University
in 2001. Virtual, as there were no travel permissions granted for families to
witness the graduation in person.(18)
The viewing auditorium was packed with whole families, from grandparents to
infants. All the graduates and their family members were given a chance to take
the microphone to speak. The room was awash in tears as, in that pre-Skype and
Facetime era, none had seen each other for at least a year. Every person, young
and old, in Gaza not only congratulated the graduate, but also wished that she
or he would go on to get a master’s degree and a doctorate.(19)
In Syria
today, displaced refugee medical staff are doing their utmost to keep
twenty-three UNRWA clinics working, serving not only refugees, but also many
other displaced persons in need of care. Two displaced nurses are caring for
1,500 displaced Syrians who have taken refuge in UNRWA’s Damascus Training
Centre. A Palestinian midwife from the Khan Eshieh refugee camp received a
midnight call in January this year to help deliver the baby of a Syrian woman
who had taken refuge from fighting in Daraya (a strategic suburb of Damascus)
in a camp shelter housing fifteen people. Fadia, the midwife, managed to
deliver a healthy baby boy by candlelight—the electricity had gone out, and
kerosene for the only lamp ran out as well.(20)
In 2011,
engineering students from UNRWA’s Khan Younis Training Centre overcame enormous
odds and obstacles imposed by the Israeli Civil Administration to enter a
European technical universities’ competition to build a single-seat race car to
be judged at the Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom. Their business plan
won third prize and their financial report took ninth prize. And this despite
the fact the blockade on Gaza prevented specialty parts arriving from Italy,
meaning they lost points on their design and specification report. Their car
had to be built using old-fashioned tools from parts salvaged from old cars and
machinery. Those running the competition called the work of the Gaza students
‘remarkable’ and ‘inspirational.’(21)
These are
but a few anecdotes to demonstrate achievements based on the values, abilities,
creativity, generosity, and bravery of the Palestinian people and the refugees
among them. They are examples of the strength of Palestinian determination and
resilience. These traits move them to overcome past and present hurdles to
excel in extraordinary ways.
Possibilities
appear less bleak when one takes account of how innovative both young and old
Palestinians are, how much they crave learning about the outside world, how
they yearn for freedom—of movement and of thought, and for a future that does
not circumscribe them physically or mentally. One of the most hopeful signs
today is the current (though long planned) campaign for inclusive elections to
the Palestinian National Council.(22)
Palestinian refugee communities all over the world are demanding to participate
in the national elections now being planned—with the aim of realizing their
dreams of return, liberation, and national independence, and a viable, unified,
and independent state.
If the
international community or individual states and groups garner the political
will to begin or continue to engage with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by
addressing the root cause, they must acknowledge and respond to the much
battered but still healthy humanity of the Palestinians and their just demands.
There is a pressing need to restore a long-lost balance by giving equal credit
and respect to the positions of both parties to this conflict.
Equally
essential is for those who presume to address the Middle East ‘peace process,’
both internally and externally, to consult the largest Palestinian
constituency—the refugees. Only if the refugees are involved in planning for
the future will there be a chance to move beyond claims and counter claims,
recriminations and blame, and references to competing histories and
definitions, to resolve this too-long, too-noxious conflict in a way that will
be accepted by all sides. The welcome consequence will be to eliminate perhaps
the key factor affecting stability in the region, and beyond.
Karen Koning AbuZayd served as commissioner-general
for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the
Near East (UNRWA) from 2005 to 2010. Based in Gaza, she oversaw education,
health, social services, and microenterprise programs for four million
Palestinian refugees. From 2000 to 2005, she was deputy commissioner-general of
UNRWA. Previously, she worked for nineteen years in the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Since 2011, she has been a commissioner
of the UN Human Rights Council’s Independent International Commission of
Inquiry for Syria.