Chapter One: The Problem

Refugees from the War of Independence

Leading up to the War of Independence, the British left the area under their mandate, and the sate of Israel was born. A war erupted between the country's Jewish and Arab population.
The Arab population was joined by armies from surrounding Arab countries and a full-scale war erupted.

Despite the fact that the country was formally designated by the Mandate to be a "national home for the Jewish People", the Jews in the Yishuv accepted the Partition Plan. This plan detailed that the land would be divided into a Jewish State and an Arab State. The Arabs rejected the division and attacked the young State. During the fighting, a large number of the indigenous Arab population left their homes voluntarily with the expectation of returning later accompanied by the victorious Arab armies. Israel succeeded in forming a sovereign country and the Arabs that fled became refugees.

Population Exchanges

This was how the "Palestinian Refugee Problem" was born. Some 600,000 people who fled in the throes of war were unable to return to their homes. They were without citizenship, without shelter, and without defense. These new refugees were housed in temporary camps in the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria, in Egypt, Syria and in Lebanon waiting for "the next round" where the Arab countries would humiliate the 'Zionist entity'. They retained their identity based on the village or city from which they came.

In actuality, the refugee problem was a result of a broader process known as a population exchange. The State of Israel became a sanctuary for hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees. In addition to the remnant of European Jewry who survived the Holocaust and came to Israel, the young State also absorbed some 600,000 Jews who were expelled from Arab lands. Most of these Jews owned substantial assets and property in the Arab lands where they resided. Many escaped with only the clothes on their backs and came to Israel as poor refugees.
A major population exchange took place at this time in the Middle East. Jewish refugees from Arab lands found refuge in Israel, while Arab refugees from the land of Israel fled to Arab lands.

The Legacy of the Refugees

The State of Israel transformed the Jewish refugees into citizens and integrated them into every aspect of life. Great sums of money from Jews around the world were invested in the absorption and rehabilitation of new immigrants who came streaming to the little country.

The Arab countries choose not to make their refugees into citizens or try to rehabilitate them in any way. These countries could not be reconciled with the establishment of the State of Israel and with the consequences of the War of Independence. Rather, they chose to conduct themselves as if Israel were just a temporary inconvenience. They told themselves that Israel would be destroyed one day soon and that the refugees would not be their responsibility. The distressful situation of these refugees never touched their hearts. In fact, the Arab countries used the suffering of the refugees as a political weapon and continue to do so after many decades.

Palestinian terrorist organizations followed in the paths of the Arab countries. They exploited the refugee situation for personal gain, preferring the political struggle over the welfare of their brethren.

Many years have passed since the refugee situation was created. The number of refugees has not dwindled, nor has their status as refugees been changed. Rather, their numbers have grown to include successive generations.

A refugee is defined as someone who has been forced to flee from his home. Children of refugees hold no special status. Refugee populations are supposed to shrink in size as the international community works to integrate them into new countries. This is true everywhere except in Israel.

It is important to note that since the War of Independence, tens if not hundreds of refugee situations have been created throughout the world. Each of these circumstances has been settled within a short period of time. Many refugees have returned to their homes, thanks to UNHCR and a number of UN refugee aid organizations.

Others became citizens in the countries where they found temporary refuge and others began new lives in third countries that were willing to absorb them. By this process, the number of refugees around the world has steadily declined over the years, depending on the level of success of the international aid organizations.

This is how the international community has handled millions of refugees from wars in Africa, Yugoslavia and Southeast Asia. In recent years millions of refugees from Iraq who were absorbed by other Middle Eastern countries, Europe and the Americas.

Unfortunately, the Palestinian refugees from the War of Independence have not been provided with equal treatment from UN relief organizations. They have not been rehabilitated, educated or assisted. Rather, UNRWA has facilitated the perpetuation of their suffering.

The UN also knows how to resolve refugee problems. A publicity poster from the UN agency for refugees. designed to encourage a pleasant integration in welfare countries, 1997