RESTITUTION Campaign

Petition Update:

Signatures for the Petition for the Palestinian Right to Restitution continue to be collected. English, Arabic, Hebrew, Dutch and German versions are posted on the BADIL website where the petition can be signed. More information about the petition campaign is available in the packet for Campaign for the Defense of Palestinian Refugee Rights.

Restitution: A Basic Human Right

More than fifty years after the holocaust, Jews around the world continue to fight for and receive restitution for material and non-material losses inflicted by the Nazi regime throughout Europe. More than fifty years after the Palestinian people were displaced and dispossessed by an exclusive Jewish state established in Palestine in the aftermath of Nazi atrocities in Europe, Palestinians are still being dispossessed, dispersed, and denied any kind of restitution. Restitution is a universal human right. Persons now fighting for restitution are therefore to be supported.

We, the undersigned, believe that Palestinians, of whom two-thirds are refugees, also have the right of restitution, including the return of the rightful owners to their property as well as restitution for other material and non-material losses. Resolution 194, which recognizes the right of refugees to restitution, has been reaffirmed one hundred and ten times by the United Nations. Further, as recently as November 1998, the UN General Assembly reaffirmed in Resolution 52/644 the principle, based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international law, that Palestinian refugees are entitled to all revenues from their property.

We appeal to all fair-minded people, governments, parliamentarians, human rights groups and particularly Jewish organizations, to recognize, support and call for restitution of Palestinians through the restoration of homes and properties to their rightful owners as well as restitution for other material and non-material losses. While restitution can never fully make amends for all losses, suffering, and crimes against humanity, restitution establishes a precedent, which should prevent the repetition of such catastrophes in the future.