BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

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Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (2006-2007)
talks held in Moscow in January 1992. The RWG was accorded a mandate to: (1) improve the living conditions of
Palestinian refugees and displaced persons without prejudicing final status deliberations on the refugee issue; (2) ease and
extend access to family reunification; (3) support the process of achieving a viable and comprehensive solution to the
refugee question. Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the PLO (as of 1993) were members of the RWG, although
Syria and Lebanon soon withdrew from participation in RWG meetings in protest against the intransigent position of
Israel’s (Shamir) government in the Madrid negotiations. 20
Seven main themes concerning the refugee issue were identified by the RWG, and a lead-country (“gavel-holder”) was
assigned to each theme: databases (Norway); family reunification (France); human resources development (US); job
creation and vocational training (US); public health (Italy); child welfare (Sweden); economic and social infrastructure
(EU); and the human dimension (Switzerland). RWG activities were conducted at two levels: plenary sessions were held
to review ongoing work and set priorities for the future; and “inter-sessional” meetings brought together Arab and Israeli
representatives, their extra-regional counterparts, and international experts for closer consideration of specific issues.
Eight plenary sessions were held between 1992 and 1995.
Multilateral talks ground to a halt in 1996, when excavations conducted by Israel’s Likud (Netanyahu) government
near the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in occupied Eastern Jerusalem led to political crisis (the “tunnel crisis”) and armed
conflict between the Palestinian Authority and Israel in the OPT. In 1997, the Arab League called for a boycott of the
multilateral talks, and no plenary sessions have been held since. RWG activities continued at the inter-sessional level
until September 2000. 21 The multilateral process, as well as the broad format of the opening Madrid Peace Conference
in 1991, were designed to meet Arab demand for an international forum for peace efforts, and to enable issues to be
addressed at a regional level. Procedural rules required that the multilateral talks operate by consensus, and that the
chairs of the working groups act as facilitators, rather than exercising procedural power or dictating direction. The
main achievements of the RWG were humanitarian in nature, and included mobilization of some resources for the
improvement of refugee living conditions, data collection and research (primarily on living conditions), as well as support
for improvements, albeit temporary, of Israel’s family reunification procedures. While consensus rule allowed the RWG
to operate for five years, it prevented substantial and wide-ranging talks about all matters related to means of solving
the Palestinian refugee question.
Specific provisions concerning Palestinians refugees of 1948 and 1967 were included in the Treaty of Peace signed between
the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the State of Israel in 1994. Article 8 of the treaty stated that the parties would
resolve the refugee issue in accordance with international law and “in the framework of the Multilateral Working Group”
or “in negotiations, in a framework to be agreed bilaterally or otherwise.” 22 As Jordan ceased to be enemy territory, Israel
amended its 1950 Absentees’ Property Law so that property of Jordanian residents or citizens would no longer be defined
as “absentee property” subject to confiscation under Israeli law. However, the amendment did not apply retroactively
and was carefully worded to preclude claims for housing and property restitution by Palestinian refugees in Jordan and
residents of the OPT.
Official bilateral negotiations concerning a final peace agreement between Israel and the PLO did not begin in earnest
until 2000, as implementation of numerous interim agreements was delayed by Israel because it resisted transferring
some powers to the Palestinian Authority. The first peace summit was convened by the United States at Camp David
in July 2000, but no substantive negotiations were entered into concerning a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue.
While the PLO demanded recognition, in principle, of the right of return as enshrined in international law and affirmed
by UN Resolution 194, Israel was unwilling to engage in negotiations on this basis. Israel also refused to recognize its
moral responsibility for causing the refugee problem. US bridging proposals were general, focused on resettlement rather
than return, and included an offer of financial compensation (which was rejected by the PLO).
The first substantive US proposal was advanced by President Bill Clinton in December 2000. The “Clinton Parameters”
were presented as guidelines for accelerated peace negotiations to be concluded before the end of his presidential term.
With regard to Palestinian refugees, the Parameters stated that “under the two-state solution, the guiding principle