Why International Law Matters for Palestinian Refugees? Roadmap or Roadblock (Issue No.18, Summer 2003)

University of Ghent, Belgium, 22 – 23 May 2003
Session One, Day One:
‘The Role of International Law and Human Rights, Overview and Lessons Learned from Comparative Experience’
Session Two, Day One:
‘Past and Current Diplomatic Approaches to Crafting Durable Solutions for Palestinian Refugees’
Session Three, Day Two:
‘Law and Politics, How to Put Legal Principles into Action?’
  List of Participants
Note: This document does not include summaries of the public presentations given by Susan Akram and As’ad Abdul Rahman in the university auditorium in the evening of 22 May 2003.
This seminar was sponsored by: the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (PD IV), Stichting Vluchteling/Netherlands, ICCO/Netherlands, Oxfam Solidarity/Belgium, the Flemish Palestine Solidarity Committee and the APRODEV NGO Network.

One of the often neglected groups of internally displaced persons in the Middle East is internally displaced Palestinians. The problem of internal displacement has become increasingly more severe due to Israeli military policies to suppress the second Palestinian intifada that began in September 2000. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), an estimated 56,000 Palestinians were forced to change residence during the first 7 months of the second Palestinian intifada due to the proximity of their homes to Israeli military checkpoints and Israeli colonies (i.e., settlements). The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates at as of the end of 2002 some 80,000 Palestinians had been rendered homeless due to the destruction of their homes by Israeli military forces.

The Role of International and Local Aid during the second Intifada
Excerpts from a Report Prepared by the Graduate Institute of Development Studies (IUED), University of Geneva

In March 2003, the Graduate Institute of Development Studies at the University of Geneva, published its 5th report on the Role of International and Local Aid during the second Intifada. The 156-page report includes information on the socio-economic conditions of Palestinians in the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories, food, health and education, women and children, assistance, UNRWA, and the impact of aid and Palestinians’ perceptions.

Campaign for the Defense of Palestinian Refugee Rights

2003 Year of al-Nakba Awareness and al-Awda Activism
(1) Palestinian Land Day, 30 March 2003

The commemoration of Palestinian Land Day this year coincided with the ongoing Israeli reoccupation and military siege of Palestinian cities, villages, and refugee camps in the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories and the US-UK led war against Iraq. The so-called ‘preemptive war’ provided yet another example of the double standard that governs US-UK foreign policy in the region. Both the United States and the UK have emphasized the importance of upholding Security Council resolutions and international law in the months since the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1441. UN resolutions affirming the right of Palestinian refugees and IDPs to return and repossess their properties meanwhile remain unimplemented.

In continuation of efforts at engaging the Jewish-Israeli public in new awareness an debate, Zochrot, Neve Shalom-Wahat al Salam and the Association of the Palestinian Villages of Yalu, Imwas and Beit Nuba marked the anniversary of Palestinian displacement and dispossession in 1967 (al-Naksa) with two events under the title,

“Let’s Have the Courage to Get to Know and Share the Pain of our Collective Memory, in order to Set the Basis for Better Neighborly Relations, Cooperation, Reconciliation and Peace.”

Highlights of the 2003 Nakba Memorial Events in Palestine

Other than last year when all efforts at public organizing for the annual Nakba memorial in the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories were paralyzed by Israel’s massive April-May military re-conquest, the 55th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba in May 2003 was characterized by active grass-roots organizing in defiance of the ongoing Israeli military presence in Palestinian refugee camps, towns and villages.In the absence of official memorials in the occupied West Bank – a result of the destruction of the Palestinian Authority’s infrastructure – the 2003 Nakba commemorations were almost entirely carried by Palestinian community organizations on both sides of the ‘Green Line.’ A growing number of Jewish-Israeli participants at Palestinian memorial events, and creative efforts by some Jewish-Israeli initiatives to find new and compassionate ways of remembering the Palestinian Nakba at the sidelines of Israel’s independence celebrations, gave additional significance and depth to this year’s Nakba commemorations and the demand for recognition and implementation of Palestinian refugees’ right of return.

 Update on Bedouin in the Naqab

 On 2 April the ILA sprayed crops belonging to the villages of Umm Batin, east of Omer; al-Mekiman, south of Laqiyya; A’ojan, west of Laqiyya; A’araqeeb, south of Rahat; and Sa’wa and Umm Heran, both east of Hura. The total amount of land sprayed with toxic chemicals was 2,000 dunums. 
 A plan to remove the Beoduin from their lands was inserted into the government’s “Emergency Economic Plan.” Some 56 million NIS are budgeted for the implementation of a transfer program called “The Removal of the Intruders Law.” The program will create a military and judicial system to expedite the transfer of 70,000 Bedouins from ‘unrecognized villages’ into 7 ‘legal’ settlements. According to the Mossawa Center, some 12.5 million NIS will go to the Green Patrol (an environmental paramilitary group), 15.5 million NIS for the creation of a new police unit, and part of the 27 million to the ILA will go towards airplanes most likely to monitor Bedouin development and agriculture. (Mossawa Center, 4 April 2003)

 The Sabra and Shatila Case in Belgium: A Guide for the Perplexed

Is the war crimes case against Ariel Sharon, Amos Yaron, and other Israelis and Lebanese still being pursued in Belgium’s courts?(¹) Or have dramatic legal decisions coupled with blunt political pressures rendered the case lodged by 23 survivors of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre an interesting though failed attempt at obtaining international justice?  If the Belgian Supreme Court found in favor of the plaintiffs’ motion on 12 February 2003 to overturn a lower court’s ruling halting the case, why did world news headlines proclaim the following day that “the case against Ariel Sharon has been thrown out by Belgium’s highest court”?(²) If investigations have already been launched by Belgium’s judiciary to determine how and why more than one thousand innocent Palestinian and Lebanese civilians met such gruesome deaths 21 years ago, why did Ariel Sharon’s government return its ambassador to Belgium with an official statement expressing Israel’s satisfaction that the Belgian authorities had finally halted a “cynical attempt” to politicize and exploit its courts? And why did Sharon and Yaron, a few weeks later, withdraw from all judicial proceedings after two years of legal battles?

UNRWA Launches Micro-Finance and Micro-enterprise Programs in Syria - Implications for Durable Solutions

On 1 June 2003, UNRWA launched its Micro-Finance and Microenterprise Programme in Syria. The program will begin in Yarmouk camp, an unofficial camp in Syria and home to the largest concentration (112,500) of Palestinian refugees in Syria. Eligible Palestinian and Syrian recipients will receive millions of dollars in loans for thousands of small businesses.

The program targets Palestinian refugees and the urban
poor in Syria, and is expected to issue 1,500 loans during its first year of operations, 3,320 in the second year, and by the third year outreach should achieve a sustainable level of 3,360 loans, valued at some US$ 4 million annually. The loan aims to improve the quality of life of small
business owners and microentrepreneurs, sustain jobs, decrease unemployment, reduce poverty, empower women and open up new income-generating opportunities.

 Resources on Refugees

New BADIL Publications
Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Palestinians 2002. This new publication by BADIL provides basic historical and current information on Palestinian refugees and internally displaced persons. The Survey includes 6 chapters covering the historical circumstances of Palestinian displacement, population, legal status, socio-economic profile, international protection and assistance, and durable solutions. The Survey will be published annually by BADIL Resource Center. Available in English and Arabic. [ADD PAGE NUMBERS] For orders contact, [email protected]

15/5/1948 BEN GURION PROCLAIMS THE NOT DECLARATION OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
STATE OF ISRAEL

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First, I wish to apologize for having invited you to attend this ceremony here  yesterday, 14/5/1948, in vain. I have decided yesterday in the last minute not to  read out the document that was prepared for the event. In our view the said  document could have been used as a basis for violent usurpation by the Jewish  collective of the territory where over one million Palestinians have lived for  over many hundreds and thousands of years.

Ibrahim Abdul Nour Abu Shallouf 18 Rafah - Gaza
Mahmoud Nafeth Shaath 24 Rafah - Gaza
Wisam Abdul Kareem Al-Shaer 24 Rafah - Gaza
Walid Tawfiq Al-Liddawi 19 Rafah - Gaza
Jihad Aziz Abdul Raouf Nazzal 14
Amro Matar 14 Ramallah
Khaled Ali Sanaqrah 33 Nablus
Iyad Mohammed Eliyyan 26 Jabalia camp - Gaza
Iyad Mohammed Eliyyan 13 Al-Masdar village - Gaza
Marwan Abu Jiyab 24 Al-Masdar village – Gaza
Bader Abdul Ra'oof Yaseen 23 Salfeet
Taleb Joum'a Badriyeh 17 Gaza
Sa'd al-'Arabeed 33 Gaza
Ashraf Halabi 28 Gaza
Omar Nassar 20 Gaza
Anas Kahloot 12 Jabalya Camp – Gaza
Imad al-Hindi 19 Jabalya Camp – Gaza
Hassan Masharqa 35 Jabalya Camp - Gaza
Ahmad Abu al-Qumsan 16 Jabalya Camp - Gaza
Ramez Talmas 27 Jabalya Camp - Gaza
Abdul Mun'im Najim Beit Hanoun - Gaza
Mahmoud Saqer al-Zatmeh 47 Rafah - Gaza
Fadi Alawneh 22 Azmout village - Nablus
Ghaseb al-Hawareen 21 Thahriyeh town - Hebron
Fadi Totah 18 Gaza
Muhammad Isma'eel 11 Hebron
Mazen Freitekh 29 Nablus
Muhamd Younis 18 Jabalia camp - Gaza
Abdul Hameed Abu al-'Aish 29 Rafah
Hassan Manasrah 35 Bani Na'eem - Hebron
Nahed al-Nawjha 32 Gaza
Mahmoud Abu Kosh 15 Gaza
Muhammad al-Hamayed 20 Gaza

Nazeeh Darwazeh 44 Nablus
Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hamaydeh 15 Rafah - Gaza
Ibrahim al-Masri 28 Rafah - Gaza
Hussein Mohammed Zannoun 22 Rafah - Gaza
Sa'di Juma' Abu Hadayed 25 Rafah - Gaza
Rahman Zuhdi Abed 16 Azzoun village - Qalqilia
Mohammed Ajjawi 22 Jenin (20 April 2003) 

24/4/03 Faker Izzat Arar 18 Qarawa Bani Zeid - Ramallah Israeli troops opened fire at the students during the break. 
24/4/03 Osama Hamadallah Shareef 24 Qarawa Bani Zeid - Ramallah Israeli troops opened fire at the students during the break.

 29/4/03 Nidal Mohammed Odeh Salameh 35 Khan Yunis - Gaza assassinated by Israeli US-made Apache helicopters, a leading figure in the PFLP, while he was heading to his workplace in Khan Yunis District.

29/4/03 Mahmoud Salah 31 Khader village - Bethlehem died in an armed clash with the Israeli troops. 1848 29/4/03 Anan Jawareesh 26 Bet Jala - Bethlehem died in an armed clash with the Israeli troops.

1/5/03 Abdullah Farajallah al-Omrani 17 Gaza killed during an Israeli force incursion into Shujayyia Quarter east of Gaza City. 1850 1/5/03 Mohammed Kamal Abu Zreineh 30 Gaza killed during an Israeli force incursion into Shujayyia Quarter east of Gaza City.

1/5/03 Amir Ahmad Ayyad 2 Gaza killed during an Israeli force incursion into Shujayyia Quarter east of Gaza City.

 1/5/03 Baker Mheisen 40 Gaza killed during an Israeli force incursion into Shujayyia Quarter east of Gaza City.

1/5/03 Ahmad Ramadan al-Tatar 13 Gaza killed during an Israeli force incursion into Shujayyia Quarter east of Gaza City.

1/5/03 Mohammed al-Dahdoud 13 Gaza killed during an Israeli force incursion into Shujayyia Quarter east of Gaza City.

1/5/03 Naser Omar Hallas 36 Gaza killed during an Israeli force incursion into Shujayyia Quarter east of Gaza City.

1/5/03 Shihteh Mohammed al-Gharabli 36 Gaza died after suffering a heart attack, during the Israeli force incursion into Shujayyia Quarter east of Gaza City.

1/5/03 Rami Khader Saed 27 Gaza killed during an Israeli force incursion into Shujayyia Quarter east of Gaza City.

1/5/03 Yousef Khaled Abu Hein 30 Gaza killed during an Israeli force incursion into Shujayyia Quarter east of Gaza City.

1/5/03 Mahmoud Khaled Abu Hein 33 Gaza killed during an Israeli force incursion into Shujayyia Quarter east of Gaza City.

1/5/03 Ayman Khaled Abu Hein 29 Gaza killed during an Israeli force incursion into Shujayyia Quarter east of Gaza City.

4/5/03 Zahi Majdi Hijazi 14 Dahyeit al-Kibrit - Nablus died when the Israeli troops opened fire at him near the entrance of Balatah Camp during clashes.

7/5/03 Amin Fadel al-Manzalawi 28 Askar Camp - Nablus an activist in Islamic Jihad Movement, was killed in an explosion caused by the Israeli troops in the home which he rented in the village of Zawata.

7/5/03 Ayman Izziddin Hoji 20 Tulkarem died and two other persons were injured when a military jeep hit the car they were driving.

7/5/03 Ahmad Isam Joudeh 18 Jabalia - Gaza died after he was hit by the Israeli army bullets east of Bet Hanoun.

7/5/03 Eliyyan al-Bashiti 18 months Khan Yunis - Gaza died when he received a bullet in the head when the Israeli army opened fire randomly from Moraj Settlement at the homes of the citizens in the Austrian Quarter.

8/5/03 Mohammed Atta al-Shaer 20 Khan Yunis - Gaza was killed during an Israeli shelling that targeted they western camp in Khan Yunis city.

8/5/03 Ikram Qdeih 23 Khan Yunis - Gaza died after sustaining wounds she received nine days ago.

8/5/03 Zaher al-Sholi 40 Khan Yunis - Gaza killed by the Israeli troops when an Israeli sniper opened fire at him and his brother.

8/5/03 Abdul Kareem Afaneh 22 Khan Yunis - Gaza died when the Israeli troops opened fire at the residents in Tal Sultan Quarter in Rafah.

8/5/03 Ahmad Hamshari 13 Khan Yunis - Gaza died yesterday after sustaining wounds he received in his head on March 1, 2003 during clashes between soldiers and Palestinian youths

11/5/03 Mohammed Abu Irmaneh 19 Khan Yunis - Gaza received more than 10 bullets in various parts of his body .

11/5/03 Saleem al-Arja 20 Rafah - Gaza Aqsa Martyrs Brigades member, died after he received several bullets in various parts of his body, and he kept bleeding on the ground until he died and the ambulances were not allowed to approach him.

11/5/03 Saleem al-Arja 20 Rafah - Gaza Aqsa Martyrs Brigades member, died after he received several bullets in various parts of his body, and he kept bleeding on the ground until he died and the ambulances were not allowed to approach him.

11/5/03 Hasan Ahmad al-Astal 18 Khan Yunis - Gaza a famrer died by Israeli bullets.

11/5/03 Zuhdi Yasin 63 Tulkarem died after sustaining wound he received last year when the Israeli troops invaded the city.

14/5/03 Dyia' Ghawadrah 14 Tulkarem died by bullets of the Israeli troops during an incursion in the Jenin city and the camp.

14/5/03 Taysir Shihab 22 Nablus killed when the Israeli troops invaded the city and besieged homed in the old city while citizens confronted them.

15/5/03 Mohammed Nabil Za'anin 12 Bet Hanoun - Gaza killed during the Israeli incursion in Bet Hanoun.

15/5/03 Zuheir Khaled Abu Jarad 13 Bet Hanoun - Gaza killed during the Israeli incursion in Bet Hanoun. 1880 15/5/03 Nidal Karim 22 Tufah - Gaza killed during the Israeli incursion in Bet Hanoun.

15/5/03 Khalil Mohammed Qarmout 33 Bet Lahia - Gaza killed during the Israeli incursion in Bet Hanoun.

15/5/03 Abdul Qader Abu Kas 16 Shujayyia - Gaza killed during the Israeli incursion in Bet Hanoun.

17/5/03 Khaled Ibrahim al-Ziq 22 Shujayyia - Gaza died by bullets of the Israeli army at a juncture between Bet Lahia and Bet Hanoun, north of Gaza.

18/5/03 Khaled Ziad Naser 13 Bet Hanoun - Gaza died after he received a direct hit from an Israeli sniper who was stationed at the roofs of homes in Bet Hanoun which is under complete military reoccupation and which is completely isolated from the rest of the Gaza Strip cities.

18/5/03 Ali Abu Namous 26 Khan Yunis - Gaza died when the Israeli army opened fire at the citizens while they were leaving the al-Shafei Mosque in the western camp of Khan Yunis.

18/5/03 Mustafa Issa Nazzal 65 Arranah village - Jenin died after he suffered a severe heart attack when an Israeli patrol jeep tracked him down.

19/5/03 Suleiman Mahmoud al-Nabaheen 23 Der al-Balah - Gaza died when the Israeli army opened fire at him near Kfar Darom Settlement east of Der al-Balah.

21/5/03 Rasmiyye Hamdallah Shareef Arar 38 Qarawa Bani Zeid - Ramallah a mother of seven children, killed by Israeli troops bullets which attacked the village.

21/5/03 Ramez Ayed Khalil Arar 18 Qarawa Bani Zeid - Ramallah a student at the 12th grade, killed by Israeli troops bullets when attacking the village of Qarawa Bani Zeid - Ramallah.

24/5/03 Hamdi Abed Rabbo Abu Khousa 28 Bureij Camp - Gaza killed by Israeli troops in a mysterious conditions.

24/5/03 Ghassan Mohammed Abu Sharkh 25 Jablia Camp - Gaza killed by Israeli troops east of Bet Hanoun.

26/5/03 Nithar Fathi Arar 11 Qarawa Bani Zeid - Ramallah killed by Israeli troops bullets during the clashes took place.

27/5/03 Nasim Amin Mahmoud Awad 16 Tulkarem killed by Israeli troops bullets during the incursion in Tulkarem.

27/5/03 Kamal Nawahdah 14 Jenin died after sustaining wounds he received last week by Israeli troops bullet.

28/5/03 Mahmoud Zayed al-Isawi 32 Hebron member of the Presidential Guard Force 17 killed by Israeli troops bullet.

28/5/03 Mohammed Shaher Tmeizi 20 Hebron member in the Criminal Investigation Unit in Hebron killed by bullets of the Israeli troops.

29/5/03 Saed Fahmawi 22 Jenin killed by bullets of the Israeli troops.

29/5/03 Mohammed Jad al-Qidra 25 khan Yunis - Gaza killed by bullets of the Israeli troops.

29/5/03 Mohammed Abed Abu Sbitan 20 Der al-Balah - Gaza killed by bullets of the Israeli troops.

1/6/03 Mahmoud Abu Amrah 23 Rafah - Gaza killed by bullets of the Israeli occupation troops near Kisofim Settlement in Rafah.