UN committee: Israel should let Palestinians return to their land

[bemildred]

A United Nations committee has called on Israel to allow Palestinian refugees to return to their property and land in Israel and to ensure that the bodies responsible for distributing property, such as the Jewish National Fund, not discriminate against the Arab population.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination made the recommendation in its concluding observations released Friday, in response to a report Israel submitted on the matter. Representatives of a number of human rights groups appeared before the committee, including Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, which presented objections to the official Israeli position.

The report recommends that Israel scrutinize its policy in a number of areas. Among them, it recommends that "the state party ensure that the definition of Israel as a Jewish nation state does not result in any systematic distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent or national or ethnic origin." The committee also said it "would welcome receiving more information on how Israel envisions the development of the national identity of all its citizens."

The committee's deliberations were made in the framework of overseeing the implementation by various countries of the provisions of the UN's International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. Israel has been a signatory to the convention since the late 1970s, and should submit a report every two years. However, it has not done so for nine years.

Haaretz

[regnaD kciN]

1. The Israeli government's likely reaction...

:rofl:

[Violet_Crumble]

2. I couldn't work out if they're talking about an unlimited right of return or not...

If they're talking about the original refugees and internally displaced Israeli-Arabs, then I think it's logical and needs to be done. But if they're talking about an unlimited right of return for all refugees, then that pretty much kills off a two-state solution, as it's incompatable with that...

[Tom Joad]

4. I support international law, and i think that Israel should finally implement

what is required, which is allowing return for all Palestinians and their families who have been displaced, without exception.

The right of refugees to return is not only sacred and legal but also possible. Demographic studies show that 80% of Israelis live in 15 percent of the land and that the remaining 20% live on 85% of the land that belongs to the refugees. Further, of the 20%, 18% live in Palestinian cities while the remaining 2% live in kibbutzim and moshavs. By contrast, more than 6,000 refugees live per square kilometer in the Gaza Strip, while over the barbed wire their lands are practically empty. Ninety seven percent of the entire refugee population currently lives within 100 km of their homes. Fifty percent live within 40 km. While many live within sight of their homes.

• The inalienable rights of refugees are not negotiable. International law considers agreements between an occupier and the occupied to be null and void if they deprive civilians of recognized human rights including the rights to repatriation and restitution.
http://www.al-awda.org/facts.html

[Solo_in_MD]

5. How about the other middle east nations allowing Jews to return or own land in PA areas?

[Violet_Crumble]

8. Another Look Over There Moment n/t

[Violet_Crumble]

7. It's a tough one...

If Israel had done the right thing from the start and allowed the return of Palestinians to their homes soon after the ceasefire, there wouldn't be any of these problems now. The part of me that believes in fairness and justice thinks that the only fair thing to do is to allow all refugees to return. The part of me that knows how important it is to find a resolution to the conflict that's fair for both Israelis and Palestinians knows that an unlimited right of return would result in something that neither Palestinians nor Israelis want. Wanting an unlimited right of return as well as unlimited return of refugees to Israel is a bit of a having yr cake and eating it sort of thing....

[breakaleg]

10. I've seen numbers that suggest that even if they do have full right of return, the numbers will not

be near as drastic as people fear.

[Tom Joad]

13. Israel already has an unlimited "right of Return" but not for those

who were forced into exile, but for anyone with a Jewish identity, or claiming a Jewish identity, to come to that land. Even if their families have no actual historic ties to the land.

[Fredda Weinberg]

12. If you mean what you claim, then the solution must be negotiated

According to current UN resolutions. The issue isn't territory occupied in '67, it goes back to the '48 borders.

[sabbat hunter]

14. why are palestinians

the only refugee group in which refugee status is inherited?

do do what is suggested in your post would destroy israel.

[bemildred]

9. I couldn't either.

A bit long on theory and a bit short on "how"? Most of the original parties are dead now; it's fine to consider what principle says, but the real problem is how to allow people presently living to have decent lives, and it's a pretty mess we have on our hands ...

I am not a fan of ethnicly defined states, although one can point to a few that seem to be working OK. In this case I think as long as long as you have ethnic polarization, you are going to have conflict, so you will have to do something about that if you want some sort of peaceful resolution, but it's not going to be quick or easy.

[Tom Joad]

3. The purpose of the Jewish National Fund is to make sure that land goes

exclusively to Jewish people. It owns much of the land in Israel.

[breakaleg]

6. Just one more thing to add to the long list that Israel will ignore. nt

[pelsar]

11. of course we'll ignore itl......

commiting nation suicide isnt on the agenda... (well not ours anyway)

well actually i did get a chuckle out of it...anybody who know anything about the conflict and is the least be interested in ending it, knows that such proclamations only help keep it going, by giving the less informed or the hopelessly naive a bit more energy to stay in their fantasy land.