With the establishment of the State of Israel, hundreds of thousands of Arabs were displaced and since then have remained homeless. The Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and Gaza are not their homes, but rather temporary stations.
The question that remains open is not whether they will return to their homes. They will not return to their homes, just as Jews will not return to Poland, Iraq or Morocco. The question is how to rehabilitate and resettle them in spite of the fact that they have been uprooted from their homes.
When it becomes clear that this is indeed the question, the answers become quite apparent.
Amazingly, this question has hardly been asked.
Overview
The Palestinian refugee problem was born sixty years ago during the War of Independence. As opposed to the other refugee problems created at that time, this one remains unresolved to this day. In fact, it has taken on gigantic dimensions as Arab countries have perpetuated the refugee situation as a tool to de-legitimize the State of Israel.
With the establishment of the State of Israel, hundreds of thousands of Arabs were displaced and since then have remained homeless. The Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and Gaza are not their homes, but rather temporary stations.
The question that remains open is not whether they will return to their homes. They will not return to their homes, just as Jews will not return to Poland, Iraq or Morocco. The question is how to rehabilitate and resettle them in spite of the fact that they have been uprooted from their homes.
Amazingly, this question has hardly been asked. For many years, Israel preferred to ignore the refugee problem in the hope that in time, it would resolve itself. Successive governments have chosen to stick their heads in the sand when faced with the looming fear of the refugee issue.
Needless to say, this policy has been ineffective. The refugee problem has grown in size and in effect, it has given birth to terror and Palestinian nationalism. Despite everything, Israel decided to legitimize Palestinian nationalism as part of the "two states" solution. Israel's choice to recognize Palestinian nationalism has brought her to endure countless terrorist attacks and a diplomatic process where Israel is constantly pushed to capitulate on issues that cost lives. This will to capitulate has lead to tragedies that continually repeat themselves.
Israel must disentangle itself from this trap and examine new avenues that deal with the root of the problem. If Israel can succeed in overcoming its fear of directly dealing with the refugee problem and assertively adopt a clear initiative that deals head on with this issue, then Israel will be able to neutralize a very substantive part of the explosive material in its conflict with the Palestinians. We must radically change our way of thinking about the matter and boldly deal with the issue of the refugees from a long-term perspective.
This initiative is the first step.