Educating about Palestinian refugees: an important, emotional and neglected issue

Successful event about Palestinian refugees in Ottawa!A group of 45 human rights activists in Ottawa attended an educational event about the Palestinian refugees on Oct 3, 2013. One of the participants said in their feedback form: “I learned more than expected!”. The very successful meeting was organized by the National Education committee on Israel Palestine (NECIP) which works under the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations (NCCAR).

Peter Larson, NCCAR Board member and chairperson of NECIP, said in introductory remarks that the group decided to organize this event because: “The issue of the Palestinian refugees is arguably:

o The most important issue for the Palestinians
o The most emotional issue, and, paradoxically,
o The one that gets the least attention.”

Peter Larson

The program included a recorded video presentation by Dr. Salman Abu Sitta, a Palestinian researcher, which provided historical background about the issue. After that, three members of the Palestinian-Canadian community in Ottawa shared the personal stories of their families.

At the end, every attendee participated in a group discussion to talk about: ”How can education and awareness among Canadians about the Palestinian refugees issue be improved?”

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The results of a survey conducted by the organizers showed that the majority of the participants believe that human rights activists should get the Palestinian refugee issue onto the table in their respective organizations because “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

If you would like to read more about Palestinian refugees, please see information and references below.

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Mayssam speaking about Palestinian refugee families in Lebanon

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Palestinian Refugees: A Few Facts to Remember

700,000 Palestinian refugees were forced to leave their homes in 1948 by Zionist military militias to create a “Jewish State” – Israel.

5,000,000 Palestinian refugees live now in different countries, including 1.5 million who live in 58 camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, West Bank and Gaza.

194 is the number of the UN General Assembly resolution that states “ the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.”

13 is the number of the Article in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that says: “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”

UNWRA – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees responds to the basic needs of the Palestinian refugees in camps. It provides education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure.

Palestinian Refugees: References

Web:

United Nations Relief and Works Agency: http://www.unrwa.org/

Zochrot – Israeli NGO: http://zochrot.org/en

Dr. Salman Abu Sitta, Right of Return Conference, University of Boston, Apr 6-7, 2013: http://www.plands.org/videos/010.html

BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights: http://www.badil.org/en/publications

Andrei Marmor, “Entitlement to Land and The Right of Return: An Embarrassing Challenge for Liberal Zionism,” USC Public Policy Research Paper No. 03-17. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=424622

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD, “Palestinian Refugees Right to Return and Repatriation”
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/ref-qumsiyeh.html

Daniel Haboucha, “Danny Ayalon and the Jewish refugee fallacy”, Oct 1, 2012
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/danny-ayalon-and-the-jewish-refugee-fallacy/

Books & Articles:

Dr. Ilan Pappe, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Oneworld Publications; Reprint edition (September 7, 2007)

Dr. Lex Takkenberg, The Status of Palestinian Refugees in International Law, Oxford University Press, USA (June 25, 1998)

Mallison, W. T., & Mallison, S. V. (1980). The right of return. Journal of Palestine Studies, 9(3), 125-136.

John Quigley, “Displaced Palestinians and the Right of Return,” Harvard International Law Journal 39 (1998): 193-98.

Posted on October 25, 2013