Badil Documents

 1. Complete text of the EU’s ‘non-paper’, section 3 (Refugees)
"Non-papers were exchanged, which were regarded as a good basis for the talks. Both sides stated that the issue of the Palestinian refugees is central to the Israeli-Palestinian relations and that a comprehensive and just solution is essential to creating a lasting and morally scrupulous peace. Both sides agreed to adopt the principles and references which could facilitate the adoption of an agreement.
Both sides suggested, as a basis, that the parties should agree that a just settlement of the refugee problem in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 242 must lead to the implementation of UN General Assembly Resolution 194.

3.1 Narrative:
The Israeli side put forward a suggested joint narrative for the tragedy of the Palestinian refugees. The Palestinian side discussed the proposed narrative and there was much progress, although no agreement was reached in an attempt to develop a historical narrative in the general text.

 3.2 Return, repatriation, relocation and rehabilitation:
Both sides engaged in a discussion of the practicalities of resolving the refugee issue. The Palestinian side reiterated that the Palestinian refugees should have the right of return to their homes in accordance with the interpretation of UNGAR 194.

The Israeli side expressed its understanding that the wish to return as per wording of UNGAR 194 shall be implemented with the framework of one of the following programs:
a) Return and Repatriation
1. to Israel
2. to Israel swapped territory
3. to the Palestinian state
b) Rehabilitation and Relocation
1. Rehabilitation in host country
2. Relocation to third country
Preference in all these programs shall be accorded to the Palestinian refugee problem in Lebanon.

The Palestinian side stressed that the above shall be subject to the individual free choice of the refugees, and shall not prejudice their right to return to their homes in accordance with its interpretation of UNGAR 194.

The Israeli side, informally, suggested a three-track 15 year absorption program, which was discussed but not agreed upon. The first track referred to the absorption to Israel. No numbers were agreed upon, but with an non-paper referring to 25,000 in the first three years of this program (40,000 in the first five years of this program did not appear in the non-paper but was raised verbally). The second track referred to the absorption of Palestinian refugees into the Israeli territory, that shall be transferred to Palestinian sovereignty, and the third track referring to the absorption of refugees in the context of a family reunification scheme.

The Palestinian side did not present a number, but stated that negotiations could not start without an Israeli opening position. It maintained that Israel's acceptance of the return of refugees should not prejudice existing programs within Israel such as family reunification.

3.3 Compensation
Both sides agreed to the establishment of an International Commission and an International Fund as a mechanism for dealing with compensation in all its aspects. Both sides agreed that "small sum" compensation shall be paid to the refugees in the "fast track" procedure, claims of compensation for property losses below a certain amount shall be subject to "fast track" procedures.

There was also progress on Israeli compensation for material losses, land and assets expropriated, including agreement on a payment from an Israeli lump sum or proper amount to be agreed upon that would feed into the International Fund. According to the Israeli side the calculation of this payment would be based on a macro-economic survey to evaluate the assets in order to reach a fair value. The Palestinian side, however, said that this sum would be calculated on the records of the UNCCP, the Custodian for Absentee Property and other relevant data with a multiplier to reach a fair value.

3.4 UNRWA:
Both sides agreed that UNRWA should be phased out in accordance with an agreed timetable of five years, as a targeted period. The Palestinian side added a possible adjustment of that period to make sure that this will be subject to the implementation of the other aspects of the agreement dealing with refugees, and with termination of Palestinian refugee status in the various locations.

3.5 Former Jewish refugees:
The Israeli side requested that the issue of compensation to former Jewish refugees from Arab countries be recognized, while accepting that it was not a Palestinian responsibility or a bilateral issue. The Palestinian side maintained that this is not a subject for a bilateral Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement.

3.6 Restitution:
THE PALESTINIAN SIDE RAISED THE ISSUE OF RESTITUTION OF REFUGEE PROPERTY. THE ISRAELI SIDE REJECTED THIS (emphasis added by BADIL);

3.7 End of Claims:
The issue of the end of claims was discussed, and it was suggested that the implementation of the agreement shall constitute a complete and final implementation of UNGAR 194 and therefore ends all claims."

2. Open Letter to the Arab Summit Submitted by the Global Palestine Right of Return Coalition

Arab Civil Forum, Beirut (14 – 26 March 2002)

Submitted by the Global Palestine Right-of-Return Coalition, 26-3-2002

To their Highnesses and Excellencies,
The Arab Kings, Presidents, and Emirs,

The Arab summit is being held in Beirut in circumstances that are exceedingly delicate and dangerous for the central Arab cause, the Palestinian cause. It has become clear, as a result of preliminary discussions at the Arab and international levels, that Crown Prince Abdullah’s initiative is being considered the focal point of the Beirut summit. We would have preferred that the focus of the summit might be the support of the brave Palestinian uprising (intifada) by financial, material, political, and diplomatic means. Such support would have provided it with the means to eliminate the occupation from the entire Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 and to establish a sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Such support would have given rise to a new geopolitical reality to compel Israel and the United States to recognize the Palestinian people’s national rights of return and self-determination, rather than submerge the Palestinian uprising in a new round of futile negotiations.

We the undersigned civil associations and committees concerned with the right of return, located in Palestine, the Arab host countries, and various countries of the diaspora, take the opportunity of the convening of the Arab summit to reiterate a set of principles related to the right of return. These principles should hold no matter how the initiative of Prince Abdullah treats the Palestinian refugee issue, once the summit has adopted the initiative and transformed it into an Arab initiative.

The following are the most important of these principles:

Adherence to the unity of the refugee issue, in accordance with the principle of the unity of the land and people, and an absolute refusal to allow the refugee issue to be fragmented under any pretext whatsoever.
The right of our people to return to their homes and their property is a sacred historical right based on the principles of justice, in addition to its being based on the principles of international law and the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, notably UNGA resolution 194. This resolution affirms the right of the refugees to return to the homes from which they were expelled in 1948, and to compensation for the injustice they have suffered since the Palestinian catastrophe (nakba) of 1948. Return and compensation are constant and complementary rights in accordance with international law.

Any discussion of compensation as an alternative to return constitutes an intentional misrepresentation of UNGA resolution 194, and aims to promote attempts to resettle, absorb, and disperse Palestinian refugees. Furthermore, such a misrepresentation seeks to dissolve the refugee issue and to close the door on return once and for all. The same purpose is served by discussions of a return to a “national homeland,” in other words, to the projected Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The right of return is not merely based on UNGA resolution 194; it is also based on our national principles and our historic right to Palestine. It is therefore an inalienable right that cannot be bargained away by any party. Thus, we affirm our opposition to all recent moves that have aimed at dissolution of this right by restricting it to a specific geographical region, or by subjecting it to the security needs and demographic interests of the Zionist colonial project in its current and future phases.

Affirmation of the Arab dimension of the right of return and the necessity of providing a favorable Arab environment for it, at both the official and popular levels, especially in the countries hosting the refugees. In this context, we applaud the Syrian and Lebanese positions and all Arab positions that reject resettlement and adhere to UNGA resolution 194. We also call on the Lebanese authorities to grant Palestinian refugees their civil rights, which would alleviate their social and psychological suffering. A distinction must be made between the granting of civil rights and resettlement, since any increase in the suffering of the refugees actually facilitates schemes for resettlement and forced emigration, which are directly opposed to the right of return.
Pressure must be brought to bear on the international community to provide international protection for the Palestinian people from the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation. Moreover, temporary international protection as guaranteed by the international refugee system must be provided for Palestinian refugees and their camps, as is the case with other refugee communities in the world. The mandate of UNRWA does not include political and legal protection for Palestinian refugees, as guaranteed by the international refugee system. Such protection must be provided until Palestinian refugees are able to return to their homes, villages, and property.

Your Highnesses and Excellencies,

The meaning of return in the Palestinian consciousness is the very opposite of the catastrophe (nakba), refuge, and exile. The dream of return continues to dominate the imagination of Palestinians generation after generation; it is embodied in their songs, proverbs, poems, and folktales. After your venerable summit is over and you return to your homes and nations, the Palestinian refugees will remain in their miserable camps, while the ruins of their towns and villages languish in obscurity, marked by prickly pears and ruined stone arches, after over half a century of occupation. When will the resolutions of your summits constitute a real bridge for the return to Palestine? Until that time, the refugees will continue to wait for the day, and will not abandon their dreams, their stones, and their brave resistance to the Zionist threat, in defense of all of us at once.

Glory to the intifada.
We shall return.

Signatories:

Aidun Group-Lebanon; Aidun Group-Syria; Al-Awda Association (Syria); Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced in Israel/1948 Palestine; BADIL Resource Center (Palestine); Block “Determined to Return” – Ain al Hilweh Camp (Lebanon); Center for Social Progress “Generations” (Lebanon); Children’s and Youth Club-Shatila Camp (Lebanon); Committee for the Defense of the Right of Return (Syria); Committee for the Defense of Palestinian Refugee Rights (Palestine); Committee of National Activities-Ain al Hilweh camp (Lebanon); 194 Group (Syria, Lebanon); High Committee for the Defense of the Right of Return (“Sana’oud”) in the Nablus District (Palestine);

High Committee for the Defense of the Right of Return and all local branches in Jordan (Jordan); High Coordinating Committee for the Disabled in the Palestinian Refugee Camps-West Bank (Palestine); Land Committees for the Defense of the Right of Return and Support of the Intifada (Syria); Palestine Right-of-Return Coalition-Europe; Palestine Right of Return Coalition-North America; Palestinian NGO Forum (Lebanon); Palestinian NGO Network/PNGO (Palestine); Palestinian Return Forum (Syria); Popular Committees in the Palestinian Refugee Camps-West Bank (Palestine); Popular Committees in the Palestinian Refugee Camps-Gaza Strip (Palestine); Society for Social Development-Ain al Hilweh camp (Lebanon); Union of Sports and Culture-al Bidawi, Nahr al-Bared, Burj al-Shemali, Ba’lbek camps (Lebanon); Union of Women Centers in the Palestinian Refugee Camps-West Bank (Palestine); Union of Youth Activity Centers-Palestine Refugee Camps (Palestine); Yafa Cultural Center (Palestine).