Press Releases

Coalition rejects bartering away right of return

BADIL Resource Center
13 November 2003
For Immediate Release


 

The right of return is non-negotiable and cannot be bartered away, says the 16-member Palestine Right of Return Coalition.  In a statement issued in London after its fourth annual meeting, 5-10 November, the Coalition rejected the recent Geneva Understandings as only an extension of earlier initiatives that distort the significance of Palestinian rights that are recognized under international law.

 

The Coalition pledged to continue its efforts in support of a unified national voice on the refugee question and in building a strong community base to articulate legitimate Palestinian claims.  To do so, it agreed on the following in the upcoming year:

 

  • actively continue advocacy work for protection of Palestinian refugees according to international conventions, treaties and commonly applied standards.

  • encourage participation in various anniversaries and events marking Palestinian history (e.g. Nakba Day, Land Day);

  • raise the issue of Palestinian refugees in Iraq in order to pressure UNHCR to help alleviate their suffering;

  • call on the Lebanese Government to endow Palestinian refugees in Lebanon with civil rights according to international conventions and resolutions of the League of Arab States.

 

It also called on UNRWA’s donors to fulfill their funding obligations to the Agency since UNRWA embodies the moral and political responsibility for the creation of the Palestinian refugee question.

 

The Coalition reviewed its work over the past year and decided on several institutional changes to strengthen its capacity to defend Palestinian rights.  They include the establishment of a nine-person executive with three members from Palestine and one each from Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the United States and Canada.  The ninth member is BADIL acting as secretariat for the Coalition’s Executive Office.

 

The Right of Return Coalition’s 16 member organizations represent Palestinians living in refugee host countries, in the occupied territories, in Israel as internally displaced persons and in exile abroad.

 

The full final statement from the London meeting is available in both Arabic and English on BADIL’s Web Site www.badil.org.
 


For further information contact: BADIL, P.O. Box 728, Bethlehem
Tel/Fax: 970-2-274-7346 or [email protected] Web site: www.badil.org