The Palestinian and Israeli People

Palestinian Refugees:

About two thirds of Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from the territories which came under Israeli control after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, although these numbers are controversial. Estimates range from a low-end figure of around 400,000 claimed by the Israeli government, to over 950,000 according to some Arab sources and human rights organizations.

The official UN estimate is 711,000. By 1950, according to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the number of registered refugees was 914,000. The U.N. Conciliation Commission attributed this discrepancy to, among other things, "duplication of ration cards, addition of persons who have been displaced from area other than Israel-held areas and of persons who, although not displaced, are destitute", and the UNWRA additionally attributed it to the fact that "all births are eagerly announced, the deaths wherever possible are passed over in silence", as well as the fact that "the birthrate is high in any case, a net addition of 30,000 names a year" (the UNWRA figures included descendants of the Palestinian refugees born after the Palestinian exodus up to June, 1951). By June, 1951 the UNWRA had reduced the number of registered refugees to 876,000 after "many false and duplicate registrations weeded out."

During the period of mid-1948 to 1953 between 30,000 and 90,000 refugees made their way from their countries of exile to resettle in their former villages or in other parts of Israel, despite Israeli legal and military efforts to stop them. At the Lausanne Conference of 1949, Israel offered to let in up to 75,000 more as part of a wider proposed deal with the surrounding Arab countries, but they rejected it, and Israel withdrew the proposal in 1950. Others emigrated to other countries, such as the US and Canada; most, however, remained in refugee camps in neighboring countries.

Current Palestinian refugee counts include:

• Gaza 986,034 refugees
• Jordan 1,827,877 refugees
• Lebanon 404,170 refugees
• Syria 432,048 refugees
• West Bank 699,817 refugees
• Egypt 70,245 refugees
• Saudi Arabia 240,000 refugees

Right of return:

The Palestinian refugees claim a right of return, based on Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ("Everyone has the right to leave any country including his own, and to return to his country") and United Nations General Assembly Resolution #194, paragraph 11, where the General Assembly:

Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for the loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the governments or authorities responsible...
Instructs the Conciliation Commission to facilitate the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and the payment of compensation.

The Palestinian National Authority supports this right, although its extent has been a subject of negotiation at the various peace talks; Mahmoud Abbas promised in November 2004 to continue working towards it if elected president.

The Arab League issued instructions barring the Arab states from granting citizenship to Palestinian Arab refugees "to avoid dissolution of their identity and protect their right to return to their homeland".

Jordan is the only Arab country which historically gave citizenship rights to Palestinian refugees. Meanwhile Lebanon barred Palestinian Arabs from 73 job categories including professions such as medicine, law and engineering. They are not allowed to own property. Unlike other foreigners in Lebanon, they are denied access to the Lebanese healthcare system. The Lebanese government refused to grant them work permits or permission to own land. The number of restrictions have been mounting since 1990. In June 2005, however, the government of Lebanon removed work restrictions from all Lebanese-born Palestinians, enabling them to apply for work permits and work in the private sector.

Israeli Settlement:

Israeli Settlements are communities built by and for Israeli Jews in areas that Israel captured following the 1967 Six-Day War. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Golan Heights. Settlements formerly existed in the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip but were abandoned as part of Israeli withdrawal from these areas.

All Israeli settlements in areas captured during the Six-Day War are considered illegal by the United Nations Security Council resolutions 452 and 465, by the majority of the UN member states, by the Secretary General of the United Nations, by the International Court of Justice, and by the World Council of Churches. The illegality of the Israeli settlements is based on the view that the areas captured during the Six-Day War are occupied territories; the Geneva Conventions prohibit the settlement of such territories by the occupying power. The creation of Settlements is prohibited by the Road Map for Peace plan introduced by the United Nations, European Union, United States, and Russia in 2003. Even so Israel has continued to expand its settlements in the West Bank which as of 2006 count with about 250,000 settlers.

Although the Israeli policies toward these settlements have ranged from active promotion to removal by force, their continued existence and status is since the 1970s one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The settler population and the Israeli mode of administration of the areas are as follows:

• The West Bank, under Israeli military administration with partial control of some areas by the Palestinian National Authority; currently 250,000 Israeli settlers.
• East Jerusalem, annexed by Israel and incorporated within the municipal borders of Jerusalem currently 180,000 Israeli settlers.