PLO Department for Refugee Affairs demands right of return
Headline: “On International Refugee Day – Al-Agha: The Palestinian refugee will not give up his right of return and will not agree to settling [in the country where he is located]”
“The PLO Department for Refugee Affairs demanded that the UN act to put an end to the suffering of the Palestinian refugees and implement [UN] resolution 194 that it published before ’67, which determines that the refugees will return to their lands from which they were uprooted in 1948. PLO Executive Committee member and Head of the Department for Refugee Affairs Zakariya Al-Agha stated on the occasion of International Refugee Day, which took place yesterday [June 20, 2015]: ‘The refugees adhere to their cause, even though 67 years have passed. They adhere to their just right to return to their land, and expect that the international community will put an end to the historic injustice.’ …
Al-Agha emphasized that the leadership and the PLO adhere to their principled and consistent position regarding the resolution of the refugee problem by implementing resolution 194, which determines that the refugees will return to their lands from which they were uprooted in 1948, and opposes settling [the refugees in the countries where they are located].”
UN resolution 194 (Chapter 11, Dec. 11, 1948) states that "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, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return." Palestinian leaders argue this means that all Arabs who left Israel during the war (hundreds of thousands) and their descendants (a few million) have a "right of return" to Israel. Israel argues that the resolution only calls for a limited return and only under certain conditions, especially focusing on the words "wishing to return... and live at peace with their neighbors."
“The PLO Department for Refugee Affairs demanded that the UN act to put an end to the suffering of the Palestinian refugees and implement [UN] resolution 194 that it published before ’67, which determines that the refugees will return to their lands from which they were uprooted in 1948. PLO Executive Committee member and Head of the Department for Refugee Affairs Zakariya Al-Agha stated on the occasion of International Refugee Day, which took place yesterday [June 20, 2015]: ‘The refugees adhere to their cause, even though 67 years have passed. They adhere to their just right to return to their land, and expect that the international community will put an end to the historic injustice.’ …
Al-Agha emphasized that the leadership and the PLO adhere to their principled and consistent position regarding the resolution of the refugee problem by implementing resolution 194, which determines that the refugees will return to their lands from which they were uprooted in 1948, and opposes settling [the refugees in the countries where they are located].”
UN resolution 194 (Chapter 11, Dec. 11, 1948) states that "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, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return." Palestinian leaders argue this means that all Arabs who left Israel during the war (hundreds of thousands) and their descendants (a few million) have a "right of return" to Israel. Israel argues that the resolution only calls for a limited return and only under certain conditions, especially focusing on the words "wishing to return... and live at peace with their neighbors."