The Palestinian refugee issue: a Palestinian perspective

Palestinians form the largest and one of the oldest refugee and stateless communities in the world. This paper gives a personal overview of the Palestinian refugee issue from a Palestinian perspective. It explores how the refugee issue evolved and came to be at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The author considers how statelessness has shaped the experience of Palestinian refugees for the last 60 years.

The paper then examines the politics of Palestinians’ return to their homeland and the debate within the Palestinian movement between those who uphold international law with little attention to political realities and those who adopt a more realistic and pragmatic approach when it comes to the implementation of international law. The paper examines the moral dilemma of negotiating the refugee issue, the difficulties that still hinder a political settlement and the possibility of finding a durable solution. The main points raised within the paper include:

• the quest of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes is not only a legal and oral right but has become a major part of Palestinian identity and symbolises Palestinian historical narratives
• at the core of the inter-Palestinian debate is the dynamic between the two  objectives of achieving statehood and the resolution of the refugee issue 
• a peace agreement should widen the options for the refugees and address all  aspects of the refugee issue including the rights of repatriation to Israel, return to  a Palestinian state, compensation, and equality and full citizenship rights in  countries where refugees choose to remain
• a comprehensive peace agreement must include the regional aspects of the refugee issue and all regional actors.