The Arab world wants them back on their land in Palestine
For sure, I know it. Not that Arab world cares a rat's ass about them as people, but as a club against Israel, they care everything! That is why they were never resettled, unlike every other refugee group of the '40s.
Of course, for the vast majority of them, it was never 'their' land in Palestine to begin with (very few were landowners), but let's omit that. We'll also pass over those whose ancestors never even saw Palestine, or were migrant workers there (did you know that the UN changed the definition of 'refugee' for the Palestinians? they didn't have to come from 'settled' homes, only from two years residence?). I will mention however, that Israel had its hands full accepting 500,000 Jewish refugees from the Arab world.
Israel was certainly willing to accept a number of refugees under the (now defunct) Oslo accords. They accepted 150,000 back in 1999 (the PA brought in members of their own families, mostly). They were willing to negotiate the issue at Camp David. They were not willing to deal with Arafat's insistence for a blanket 'right of return' to Israel for all five million, wherever he gets that number.
Arafat's negotiating stance can be summed up, For starters, give me 100% of my demands, then we'll talk about your further concessions. The Palestinians never made a proposal. To do so would have implied a limit to their demands. |
