OPINION
CONTENTS
The Refugee Dilemma
Needs To Be Resolved
MITCHELL BARD
I
t is still unlikely that the
Palestinian people will
have their state. Despite
the opening of diplomatic con-
tact between the United
States and the PLO, Israel
and the United States will op-
pose a Palestinian state in the
West Bank and Gaza that
would threaten Israel's
security.
And neither Yassir Arafat
nor any other Palestinian
leader has repudiated the pro-
vision in the Palestine
charter that calls for the
destruction of Israel. It is
therefore all the most impor-
tant to address the principal
humanitarian concern of the
Arab-Israeli conflict:
alleviating the plight of the
80,000 Palestinians living in
refugee-s camps.
Of these, 245,000 live in the
squalid, densely populated
To this day, Jordan
is the only Arab
country where
Palestinians can
become citizens.
camps of the Gaza Strip.
Another 210,000 live in Jor-
dan, 75,000 in Syria, and
95,000 in the West Bank.
Perhaps the most victimized
are the 145,000 living in
Lebanon. They have suffered
not only from the Sabra and
Shatilla massacres at the
hands • of Christian
Phalangists, but also from
military attacks by the
Syrians, the Amal militia and
rival Palestinian factions.
The Palestinian refugee
problem dates from the
Arabs' rejection of the U.N.
partition resolution in 1947.
Israel accepted the partition,
which would have left many
areas of Arab control, in-
cluding the Galilee and the
city of Jaffa.
While Jerusalem would
have been placed under inter-
national control, the surroun-
ding areas would have been
part of the Arab state. The
Arabs, however, were unwill-
ing to accept the existence of
a Jewish state in any part of
Palestine, and, when Israel
declared its independence in
May 1948, the armies of
Egypt, Syria, Transjordan,
Lebanon and Iraq invaded
Dr. Mitchell Bard is a foreign
policy analyst in Washington,
D.C.
with the goal of driving the
Jews into the sea.
Between 1947 and 1949,
500,000 to 800,000 Palesti-
nians left their homes. Some
were motivated by panic,
following the attack on the
Arab village of Deir Yassin by
Israeli paramilitary forces in
April 1948. But Palestinians
were also actively encouraged
to leave to make way for the
invading armies.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri
Said, for example, said: "We
will smash the country with
our guns and obliterate every
place the Jews seek shelter.
The Arabs should conduct
their wives and children to
safe areas until the fighting
has died down:'
Unfortunately, Jordan was
the only Arab country to
welcome the Palestinians and
grant them citizenship (to
this day Jordan is the nly
Arab country where Palesti-
nians can become citizens).
During the 19 years that
Egypt controlled the Gaza
Strip, it refused to let the
Palestinians into Egypt or to
permit them to move
elsewhere. Although
demographic figures in-
dicated there was ample room
for settlement in Syria, the
Syrians refused to consider
accepting any refugees expect
those who might refuse
repatriation. Iraq was also ex-
pected to resettle a large
number of refugees but prov-
ed unwilling.
Nor were Arab states any
more receptive to resettling
the second wave of 250,000
refugees (175,000 fleeing for
a second time) after the 1967
war which led to Israeli oc-
cupation of the West Bank
and Gaza Strip.
The Arab states have also
opposed Israeli efforts to move
refugees out of the West Bank
and Gaza camps into new
housing.
So long as the Palestinians
remain refugees they will
continue to grow more bitter,
and new generations will
mature with a motive for
perpetuating the conflict.
Hundreds of thousands of
Palestinians have never
known any life other than
that of occupation. Similarly,
Israelis entering the army
have known Israel only as an
occupying power, a country
denied peace by its neighbors.
It is in the interests of both
the Palestinians and Israelis
that the refugee problem be
resolved.
One possible solution is to
Continued on Page 12
CLOSE-UP
Multi-Colored Tallit
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FOCUS
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NOTEBOOK
First, The Good News
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DANNY SIEGEL
The Jewish community must herald
success and work on problems.
60
SPORTS
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Nice Jewish girls can pump
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COMMENT
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PROFILE
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115
SINGLE LIFE
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DEPARTMENTS
32
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7T
Inside Washington
Life In Israel
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88
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146
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CANDLELIGHTING
105
6:15 p.m.
Friday, October 27, 1989
Sabbath ends Oct. 28 7:16 p.m.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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