Right of Return

Sometimes being open minded and listening to perspectives that differ from your own can be a trying task. I want to return to the Israeli ministry official and write some more on what he said, which was reinforced by another official and later by and Israeli professor.

The official explained the problem of Palestinian refugees thus (I was taking notes by hand so quotes are direct and the rest is paraphrase):

In 1948 Israel announced its Independence; “we gave our hand in peace [and] since we did not lost, they [refugees] could not come back.” He said that most refugees fled because they were scared, and in some cases the Arab armies told them to leave. In 1967, there was “again a movement of refugees” and the “Arab countries did not want to incorporate the refugees into their populations.” In terms of Israel’s responsibility in dealing with the Palestinian refugee problem, International law doesn’t acknowledge the Right of Return. The refugees who "fled" from areas now in Israel cannot be incorporated into Israel because, the official said, “They will not be loyal Israeli citizens.” (Someone asked, “What if they take an oath?”) The official stated, “This is the Middle East! Would you accept 4 million Al Qaeda supporters in the US?”

Now my turn. Excellent scholarship is available by Israeli and Palestinian historians that deals with 1948. I highly recommend Ilan Pappe’s The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, which documents 1948. Pappe acknowledges poor Palestinian leadership and the Arab armies roles during this time, but he very clearly demonstrates the power differentiation between them and Israeli violence and responsibility. He debunks the very myths the Israeli official was feeding us. 1948 is not, in fact, the story of the besieged Jews, though many Jews in this area at the time believed that, and still they are told that very narrative. Zionist leadership knew better, but they manufactured a narrative that is, to this day, reproduced and believed by many. I encourage you to check out Zochrot, an Israeli organization in Tel Aviv; they literally are redrawing the map of Israel to acknowledge this history.

And finally, the UN repeatedly affirms the Palestinian Right of Return. This is easily researchable. Racism is a dangerous and powerful accusation, but that is indeed what I heard from this official in his closing comments and analogy. There is an obsession with security in Israel, and it stems from a very serious belief that the very existence of Jews is threatened daily and the State of Israel is the only hope for preventing the extinction of the Jewish people. As the official said: “Everything is dependent on security,” but I will remind you that here only one people is allowed to be secure, and it comes at a devastating cost for another people.