Many politicians find it easy to say that the Palestinian refugees case can be easily solved; compensation or a partial return to the West Bank would be [singlepic id=285 w=320 h=240 float=right] enough. Most of those politicians whether Palestinian or other did not pay a visit to one of the Palestinian refugees camps to see the real situation of these people.

The Palestinian refugees were forced to leave their homes and lands at the time the Israeli state was established in 1948 and later when Israel occupied the whole land of Palestine in 1967. There are more than 400000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon alone. Their homes are camps that were made by the United Nations after they were expelled from their homeland. Eventhough the International law recognizes the right of these refugees to return to their homes, the International community continues to ignore this fact.

Israel’s refusal is firm once the possibility of returning these refugees is suggested. The Israeli refusal represents a huge and direct violation of many International legal points that include the UN general assembly resolution 194, 3236 and 52/62. Not only that the Israeli refusal violates these resolutions but it also violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the 4th Geneva Convention.
Not only that these refugees are living under injustice and denial from returning to their homes, but they also face a systematic discrimination in Lebanon in which they are denied right of work and society security and are not given health services as demanded for humans. Palestinians in Lebanon are not allowed to work in law, medicine, journalism, and pharmacy. This obliges the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon to work illegally and earn low salaries for their great efforts only to make sure that they find break in the end of the day. The discrimination is not only in work matters but also in education and freedom of movement. [singlepic id=284 w=320 h=240 float=right]

The PLO is doing much less than what it is supposed to do in order to support the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who are living in one of the worst situations around the world. Not only that they are not supported but their right to return to their lands is sometimes used as a play card in political procedures by claiming that a compromise in this matter would assure a development in other final cases such as the borders and Jerusalem. Unfortunately until today nothing came out of the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians until today because of the Israeli refusal of any kind of compromise regarding Jerusalem, the 1967 borders, the refugees and the Palestinian prisoners. Eventhough those cases came as a result of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands in 1948 and 1967, Israeli governments continue to refuse any kind of compromise or applying of the International Law and UN resolutions that states clearly that the Israeli continuous occupation is a violation of many laws and human rights.

The injustice towards these people must be ended by giving them their rights back. Why does the world consider other people victims of fascism and racism and makes everything possible to support them while these thousands of Palestinian refugees are denied their rights in everything? What is the difference between them and those who passed through other tragedies in the history? And isn’t it the top of racism and discrimination when these people were obliged to leave their houses in order to give their lands and houses to another people that is consider the survivor of the greatest holocaust in history?

It is easy to close our eyes and to ignore the situation of these thousands of men, women and children that passed through massacres such as Sabra and Shatila, live under hard conditions, denied their right in their land and continue to live without any of the human rights that a democratic and free world should assure for them but history will judge those who were in charge of these people situation.

The Palestinian people inside the occupied Palestinian lands and also those who were expelled have proved since the beginning of their Nakbah that they are determined to achieve their goals and earn their freedom. Eventhough they are the last people who is left under occupation and continues to suffer until today from discrimination, racism, apartheid and denial of rights, they are sure that one day they will get their freedom and see the justice that was denied from them. [singlepic id=283 w=320 h=240 float=right]

Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad

A Palestinian-Arab living in East Jerusalem, Ziad graduated from College Des Freres in Jerusalem in 2003. Ziad finished his major in International Relations and English Literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ziad is a former President of the Watan student movement at the university. He is interested in Middle Eastern political issues and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Founder of the Middle East Post and MEL (Middle East Future Leadership Network), he represents Palestinian youth at several international conferences.

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