Briefing NEWS 13 The other Exodus Sixty years after they fled the frst Arab-Israeli war, Palestinian refugees from: Israel remain the tragic outsiders of the peace process. How many refugees are thoro? Around 47 million, That includes alimost haf ofthe 3.9 milion population of Gaza and the West Bank and compares to the 7.5 million people living in Israel (of whom 5.5 million are Jews). There are so many because, tuniguely under international law, “Palestinian refagees” are not ust those who led the Arabslsraeli wars of 1948 and 1967, bue their descendants too. This is also the obstacle to their “right to return”, recognised by the LUN: If they all wene home, Israel would lose its identity asa Jewish stare Bur the longer the problem lasts, the Jagger it grows. According to UNRWA, the UN organisation which looks after them, the number of Palestinian refuges has doubled inthe past 20 yeas. {Is their future part of the peace talks? No. [tis too contentious. Although there is not much of a peace process to speak of a the moment, the leaders of Istael and the Palestinian territories ae sil supposedly following the “road imap” agreed with the Bush Administration in 2002. The plan set ‘outa series of steps ~ curbing Palestinian violence, dismantling Jewish setlements ~ leading to a two-state solution, but the ‘refugee problem was too fraught even to tall about. And yet its ‘impossible to imagine a lasting peace without it being resolved, So where do all the refugees live? ‘The largest group of refugees, almost 2 million, is in Jordan, where they comprise around a third of the population. Syria and Lebanon both have around 400,000 refugees, while Saudi Arabia has 240,000 and Egypt 70,000. The remainder (1.8 million) live in the Palestinian Territories, where tented camps have evolved into permanent slums with some of highest population densities on earth. In the Beach refugce camp in Gaza, 82,000 people live in half a square kilometre. Although their circumstances vary from country to country, what is unusual about the Palestinian refugees js not only how long they have been in limbo, but also how they have failed to integrate with the populations that took them in. And what accounts for that? While most Arab countries cling to UN Resolution 194 of 1948, which says that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace” should be allowed to do so or receive compensation from Israel, they have ignored their own obligations under international Gaza is home to less than haf of the 4.7 million refugees “The Independent last month, “recalls the treatment of Jews in medieval Europe”. The worst offender is Lebanon, where factional fighting in the camps spilled over to become a key part (of Lebanon's civil war from 1975 to 1990, Lebanese laws bar Palestinians from more than 20 professions, and from voting or owning property. A law ‘of 2001 also prevents Palestinians from passing on any land they may have acquired to thei children. Politicians across Lebanon’ religiously and ethnically mixed population all oppose the nacuralisation ofthe refugees. ‘Are conditions better elsewhere? Yes. Palestinians have better lives in Syria and Jordan, but even, there they suffer constraints. In Syria, where 70% of refugees no longer live in camps, Palestinians run their own businesses and have government jobs; but they cannot vote, buy more than one house or own agricultural land. Jordan, meanwhile, isthe only ‘country to have granted full citizenship to Palestinian refugees, with the vast majority holding dual nationality and contributing to the political and economic life of the nation. Queen Rania of Jordan, fr instance ia Plesinin. But even in Amman the refugees don't feel entirely secure. Earlier chs year, the fovemment vas forced to deny thar it was revoking the Citizenship rights of thousands of Palestinians. Why is the Palestinians’ situation so procarious? ‘They have not been straightforward setders. The awulnes of their plight and the complexity of their polities have made them volatile~ and sometimes threatening ~ guests (see box); nowhere more so than in Jordan, wherein the late 19608, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation under Yasser Arafat fought the army of King Hussein. In the “Black September” of 1970, 3,500 men died asthe wo sides clashed for control ofthe state. The following yeas, Palestinian gunmen killed the Jordanian Prime Minister, \Wasf al Tal, in Cairo, On the other hand, receiving countries have also exploited their Palestinian refugees for cheir own ends. The leadership of Hamas, the Islamist faction which controls the Gaza Strip, for instance, is based in Damascus, and the group is often seen asa proxy for Syria in Gaza and the Wese Bank, So what do the refugees want? ‘The official Palestinian line is that they want to “retuen home" but this remains as politically Improbable asthe alternative ~ A\-Qa’eda in the camps The hopelessness ofthe refugee problem is considered a major source of radicalisation among ‘young unemployed Palestinians in camps across the [Middle East. Disillusionad by the peace process, they are adopting more religiously based, glob ‘ideologies, such as those of Al-a‘eda, who see the ‘wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Arab-leracli confit a al p struggle. Hundreds of Palest while in 2007, the Nahe ‘was all but destroyed after months of fighting between an Al-Oa'eda-inspired mavement called Fatah al-lsiam and the Lebanese army, which cost 1st 500 livas. Increasingly violent and hard-line ‘groups have also sprung up in the Palestinian territories. In August, Hamas Killed 22 members of a ‘new faction called Jund Ansar Allah, which hed accused Hamas of being oo liberal and secular and fare the teritory an “Islamic omirato" lay to “facilitate the assimilation and naturalisation of refugees”. With the notable exception of Jordan, all Arab states with sizeable Palestinian populations have for decades denied them jobs, citizenship rights and access to public services. In the past, keeping the refugees in camps was seen as a shrewd tactic to draw world attention to their plight and put pressure on Israel; but that tactic has now been overtaken by the realities of Poveryy ill health and segregation. ‘mass granting of citizenship and relinquishing the whole idea of going back to Palestine. However, the fact is that most Palestinian refugees have never lived in present-day Israel, and itis not at all clear that they would 180 back if they had the chance. In 2003, a leading Palestinian polster, Khali Shikaki, interviewed 4,500 refugees and found that 90% would noc act on thie “right to return” if they were given it. They would rather stay where they were or live in a Palestinian state. Shikak’s findings ‘were so optimistic - suggesting that the refugee problem could be solved after all~ that they were considered incendiary. His office in Ramallah was attacked and smashed up by rioters. Just how dire is their situation? “The systematic refusal of Arab governments to grant basic human rights to Palestinians who are born and die in their countries," claimed 14 November 2009 THE WEEK