Compromise is possible on Palestinian right of return

Palestinian citizens of Israel pass photos of Palestinian refugees in the march of return to the village of Lubya

Akiva Eldar writes in Al Monitor, “In his taped video message for the May 14 inauguration of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, President Donald Trump said, “The United States remains fully committed to facilitating a lasting peace agreement.” His declaration did not console members of the shrinking Israeli peace camp. Several days later, the Associated Press reported that the Trump administration plans to present its Israeli-Palestinian peace plan in June. The news did not generate much excitement among residents of the Palestinian refugee camps in the region.”

“The recent Palestinian protests along Gaza’s border with Israel, dubbed the “Great March of Return,” focused public attention once more on the seemingly intractable problem of the Palestinians uprooted by Israel’s founding in 1948. No plan purporting to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and definitely not one Trump has hailed as the “ultimate deal,” can ignore the volatile issue.”…

“Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also said in a 2012 interview on Israel’s Channel 2 that despite being a refugee from the Galilee town of Safed, he does not expect to return there. “Palestine now for me is the ’67 borders — alongside the state of Israel,” he said. Three comprehensive polls conducted in the first half of 2003 among 4,500 families living in refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza indicate that most refugees favor Abbas’ position. Only 10% want to return to Israel, compared with 72% who would rather live in a Palestinian state or receive monetary compensation. The results were met with harsh criticism by radical Palestinian factions opposed to any compromise on the right of return. They even threatened the head of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, Khalil Shikaki, with violence.”

Palestinian refugees – mother and child on road from Jerusalem

“After deliberating on a petition by Greek Cypriot refugees, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in March 2010 that claiming a certain land or property as “home” is insufficient to establish a right. An overwhelming majority of the 17 judges agreed that given that 35 years had passed since the petitioners lost their property when Turkey invaded northern Cyprus in 1974, and the local population had changed, the claimants were entitled to compensation in cash, but not necessarily in land. The judges warned that rectifying an old injustice could result in a new injustice.” (more…)