shafique wrote:Really? This is news to me. Which Christian or Muslim Palestinian expressed this wish?
Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator.
shafique wrote:But - who are these Jewish refugees? Are you confusing a 'colonial-free' Palestine with a Jewish-free one (i.e. the reverse of my 'jewish only road' rather than 'colonial only road')?
From your favorite newspaper:
Recognising the Jewish 'Nakba'along with 25,000 other Jews expelled by Nasser and forced to sign a document pledging that they would never return. In a final act of spite, the customs officers ransacked her suitcase and even her baby's carrycot.
the neglected rights of (according to indisputable UN figures) 856,000 Jewish refugees
The exodus began 60 years ago when Arab states, hell-bent on crushing the new state of Israel militarily, also turned on their peaceful Jewish communities. Street violence killed over 150 Jews. Within 10 years, more than half the Jews had fled or been expelled, following discriminatory legislation , extortion, arrests, internment and executions.
As the historian Nathan Weinstock has observed, not even the Jews of 1939 Germany had been so thoroughly "ethnically cleansed".
Arab League states drafted a law in November 1947 branding their Jews as enemy aliens
The resolution is about recognition, not restitution, although Jewish losses have been quantified at twice Palestinian losses
shafique wrote:(When I say who are the refugees - I mean, are there actually jewish refugees who want to return to where they were expelled from and if so, have the Palestinians said they won't allow them to return? I just want to make sure this isn't a made-up/ficticious problem -i.e. it's a real issue rather than an excuse to justify your objection to the Arab Peace plan)
This is the correct definition for a refugee:
a refugee is a person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted on account of race, religion, nationality,
membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality,
and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail him/herself of the protection of that country
I know making up things makes live easier for you, but lets stick to the above internationally recognized definition.