Do Israeli Rights Conflict with the Palestinian Right of Return? Identifying the Possible Legal Arguments (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Right of the Palestinian Refugees to Return to their Homes in Theory and in Practice
International Conference on Palestinian Refugees, Conditions and Recent Developments, 2009
This paper examines possible strategies to bridge the gap between theory and practice. The discussion is based on a review of more than a dozen major studies on the Palestinian right of return published over the past three decades. The first section of the paper summarizes the legal debate on the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and places of origin inside Israel and identifies specific areas of disagreement. Section two describes recent efforts to resolve the Palestinian refugee question in light of these disagreements and then examines the gap between theory and practice. The third section of the paper draws upon the discussion in sections one and two and suggests a number of possible strategies to bridge the gap between theory and practice in crafting durable solutions for Palestinian refugees.
Past the Point of No Return?: The Palestinian Right of Return in International Human Rights Law
2005
This article examines the interpretive ambiguity and political obfuscation surrounding the Palestinian right of return in international human rights law. As a bitterly contested site of discourse, it is a topic that penetrates both the Israeli and Palestinian social narratives. Historically, the right of return debate is intrinsically linked to the complexity of the Palestinian refugee crisis, and the conflict over its creation - the right of return is the lung through which the Israeli-Palestinian struggle breathes. In the legal arena, the right of return's treatment in the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, international treaty obligations and customary law warrants close scholarly attention. The Palestinians as non-nationals, and as a group of mass displaced persons, face unique challenges under human rights instruments. In the wake of Oslo, and more recently with Israel's disengagement from Gaza, the right of return continues to be at the forefront of po...
REFUGEES’ ‘RIGHT OF RETURN’ TO THEIR HOMELAND, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO PALESTINIAN REFUGEES.
Master's Thesis , 2019
Refugees confront fear, distress, devastating despair, and sometimes misleading optimism because of their vulnerability. However, all refugees are entitled to return to the homelands from which they have fled because of persecution or fear of it. Conventions and provisions of international law stipulate repatriation and/or compensation as sustainable solutions for refugees. This paper introduces the definition of refugees and their Right of Return, and the reasons that prompted the creation of this legally binding, unconditional, and inalienable right and the rule of law in affirming it. The paper will provide a summary survey of how this right has been applied in practice. The second section of the paper considers the Right of Return as applied to refugees resulting from the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, which began more than seventy years ago. The current legal basis of the right of Palestinian refugees as ‘individuals’ to return to their homeland, has been affirmed in many United Nations Resolutions, whether issued by the General Assembly or by the Security Council. The Palestinian Right of Return has never ceased to exist, but this right has been neglected and denied by Israeli practices and policies, destroying the prospect of a viable peace in Palestine. For almost seventy-one years, it has proved impossible to offer a sustainable solution to the Palestinian refugee problem. The main obstacle has been the denial and refusal by the Israeli government of the obligations it has as a Member Stateof the UN, under many UN Resolutions, to facilitate and allow the Right of Return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland. Some of Israel’s laws have compromised the possibility of refugee return. These include the Israeli Law of Return and its Law of Nationality. Despite the UN Resolutions, the UN has been ineffective in defending Palestinian refugees’ rights. Palestinian refugees continue to suffer miserable circumstances despite successful UN interventions in other refugee situations. Notwithstanding this selective access to justice, Palestinian refugees have not abandoned their right to return, as illustrated recently by the Great March of Return at the armistice line between Israel and the Gaza Strip. The paper concludes with a consideration of the failure of international law to protect the inalienable right of Palestinian refugees more than seventy years after the beginning of the ethnic cleansing which led to the Palestinian refugee problem. Keywords: Palestine, Israel, Ethnic Cleansing, Refugees, Right of Return, United Nations.
The Palestinian Refugees, International Law, and the Peace Process
Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees
The article reviews recent Israel-Palestinian negotiations on the issue of the Palestinian refugees. It examines legal aspects of the major issues that were involved in the negotiations including who was responsible for the plight of the refugees, the definition of who is a refugee, the existence of a right of return, and the question of restitution and compensation. The article reaches the conclusion that, in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict, no legal “right of return” exists, implementation of such a right would be impracticable and UN General Assembly Resolution 194 does not impose such a right. The article shows, however, that despite deep differences on legal positions, the parties have endeavoured to draft language that will enable them to proceed with a practical solution.
The Palestinian Right of Return and the Justice of Zionism
Theoretical Inquiries in Law, 2004
Supporters of a Palestinian right of return assume that Israeli Jews bear responsibility for both the past and present suffering of the Palestinian refugees. Accordingly, the Palestinian claim for return is a demand to realize this responsibility (inter alia) by way of the return of the refugees to their places of origin or to uninhabited regions in the Land of Israel/Palestine. The purpose of this article is to examine the responsibility of the Israeli Jews for the Palestinian return of the refugees in light of the question of the justice of Zionism. Part I presents various approaches rejecting or affirming Zionism. The subsequent parts investigate the implications of the disparities between these approaches rejecting/affirming Zionism and Zionism's actual history as it unfolded in terms of Jewish responsibility for the Palestinian plight and the question of Palestinian return. I argue that some of the approaches to Zionism are irrelevant to the dispute over the Palestinian right of return as it is understood within the framework of Israeli internal discourse and the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. However my main point is that those approaches rejecting! affirming Zionism that are relevant, though they may vary in their implications for the scope of Jewish responsibility for Palestinian suffering, nevertheless lead to very similar conclusions with respect to discharging that responsibility by way of Palestinian repatriation. * I am grateful to Eyal Benvenisti, David Enoch, and Andrei Marmor for their many important comments on an earlier draft of this article.
This article examines the legal consequences of the acquisition of a new nationality for the right of return of Palestinian refugees. The article argues that since the right of return is independent of the refugee status, the cessation of the latter should not necessarily abrogate the former. By examining the underpinnings of the right of return to one’s own country, especially the link between the individual and her territory, this article argues that this link is somehow weakened in a situation of naturalization in a different country. However, this weakening of the link should not automatically lead to the deprivation of rights. The circumstances that lead refugees to leave their country of origin, the circumstances preventing their return, and the decisions made by the individuals in view of their available options should be examined.