BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

Assistance
According to LASC Resolution 325, League members agreed to co-operate with UNRWA in the discharge of
Agency responsibilities, “provided that every state should declare its reservations to the said Agency in respect
of the final settlement of the Palestinian problem and the right of refugees to return to their homes and to be
compensated for their funds and properties.” 16
The LAS emphasizes the importance of continued support for UNRWA, until the refugee issue is resolved on
the basis of UN Resolution 194(III) as a sign of international responsibility for the Palestinian refugee case.
In 1987, LAS Resolution 4645 called upon Arab states to increase their contributions to UNRWA’s general
budget to 1981 levels (7.73%). 17
The Arab League and member states have not encouraged a role for UNHCR in assisting Palestinian refugees
in UNRWA area of operations, mainly due to concern that UNHCR involvement might result in a drop of
international donor support for UNRWA, and for political reasons.
3.1.3. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
The PLO Department of Refugee Affairs is responsible for assistance to Palestinian refugees in all areas of exile.
Assistance includes employment through “Samed” – PLO economic enterprises and factories, PLO-run medical
facilities, popular committees, unions, pensions, and study grants.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society, for instance, was established in 1969 by the Palestinian National Council
(PNC) of the PLO as a military-medical association to provide assistance to Palestinian resistance fighters. In
2006, the Palestinian Red Crescent operated 70 hospitals, 300 clinics, and tens of health and social welfare
centres in the OPT, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iraq.
However, the level of PLO assistance has been susceptible to political developments in host countries. In
Lebanon, for example, the expulsion of the PLO in 1982 led to a significant reduction in assistance to Palestinian
refugees, eventually leading to the establishment of NGOs to fill the assistance gap. Since the creation of the
Palestinian Authority, the PLO’s capacity to provide assistance to Palestinian refugees in host countries has
further diminished.
3.1.4. Assistance in/by Israel
Assistance to IDPs in Israel
More than quarter of a million internally displaced Palestinians (IDPs) reside in Israel, which is also the country
of origin for the majority of Palestinian refugees. The government of Israel assumed responsibility for internally
displaced Palestinians when UNRWA transferred their files to the Israeli government in 1952. 18 Israel has since
ceased to recognize displaced Palestinians as IDPs, and does not provide them with special assistance. Palestinian
IDPs have access to public services on a par with other Palestinian citizens of Israel, who, as a group, experience
institutional discrimination and a lower level of services compared to Jewish citizens. No international agency
is currently responsible for Palestinian IDPs in Israel.
After the Nakba and until 1966, Palestinians in Israel lived under military rule (see Chapter One) and
received government services, such as education and health care. Israel’s Refugee Rehabilitation Authority
(RRA) operated primarily in official and semi-official “shelter villages” in the early 1950s, and supervised
housing construction in these villages. 19 The goal of the RRA was to impose a durable solution on IDPs, i.e.,
involuntary local integration or resettlement, through housing assistance programmes. However, the number
of IDPs handled by the RRA was small. It resettled 204 families (1,020 persons) in Israel, and transferred
1,489 persons outside the borders of Israel. 20 Services were conditional upon cancellation of IDP claims to
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