BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

Politics and the Question of Palestinian Refugees and IDPs
22 “Recognizing the massive human problems caused to both Parties by the conflict in the Middle East, as well as the contribution
made by them towards the alleviation of human suffering, the Parties will seek to further alleviate those problems arising on a
bilateral level. Recognizing that the above human problems caused by the conflict in the Middle East cannot be fully resolved
on the bilateral level, the Parties will seek to resolve them in appropriate forums, in accordance with international law, including
the following: In the case of refugees, (1) In the framework of the Multilateral Working Group on Refugees; (2) In negotiations,
in a framework to be agreed, bilateral or otherwise, in conjunction with and at the same time as the permanent status negotiations
pertaining to the Territory referred to in Article 3 of this Treaty.” Article 8, para. 1(b), Treaty of Peace between the Hashemite
Kingdom of Jordan and the State of Israel, 26 October 1994.
23 The Clinton Parameters, 23 December 2000, refugee section.
24 The Clinton Parameters, 23 December 2000, refugee section.
25 The Clinton Parameters, 23 December 2000, refugee section.
26 The Clinton Parameters, 23 December 2000, refugee section.
27 PLO Negotiations Affairs Unit, “Remarks and Questions from the Palestinian Negotiating Team Regarding the United States
Proposal”, 1 January 2001.
28 “Recognition of the right of return and the provision of choice to refugees is a pre-requisite for the closure of the conflict. The
Palestinians are prepared to think flexibly and creatively about the mechanisms for implementing the right of return. In many
discussions with Israel, mechanisms for implementing this right in such a way so as to end the refugee status and refugee problem,
as well as to otherwise accommodate Israeli concerns, have been identified and elaborated in some detail. The United States
proposal fails to make reference to any of these advances and refers back to earlier Israeli negotiating positions. In addition, the
United States proposal fails to provide any assurance that refugees’ rights to restitution and compensation will be fulfilled.” PLO
Negotiations Affairs Unit, “Remarks and Questions from the Palestinian Negotiating Team Regarding the United States Proposal”,
1 January 2001.
29 Palestinian Proposal on Palestinian Refugees, 22 January 2001. Reprinted as an annex to Principles and Mechanisms for Durable
Solutions for Palestinian Refugees: The Taba Proposals, Occasional Bulletin No. 10. Bethlehem: BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian
Residency and Refugee Rights, 2001.
30 Private response to Proposal on Palestinian Refugees, “Non-Paper”, Taba, 23 January 2001.
31 The full text of the EU “non-paper” concerning refugees (as published in Ha’aretz) was reprinted in al-Majdal, Issue 13 (March
2002) and is available at: www.badil.org/Publications/Press/2002/press224-02.htm
32 Camp David Accords, 17 September 1978, Section A, para (e).
33 Camp David Accords, 17 September 1978, Section A. West Bank, para. (f).
34 Commission on Human Rights Resolution No. 2 (XXXVI), 14 February 1980.
35 “The two parties will invite the Governments of Jordan and Egypt to participate in establishing further liaison and co-operation
arrangements between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian representatives, on the one hand, and the Governments of
Jordan and Egypt, on the other hand, to promote co-operation between them. These arrangements will include the constitution
of a Continuing Committee that will decide by agreement on the modalities of admission of persons displaced from the West
Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967, together with necessary measures to prevent disruption and disorder. Other matters of common
concern will be dealt with by this Committee.” Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, 13 September
1993, Article XII.
36 Treaty of Peace between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the State of Israel, 26 October 1994, Article 8, para. 2.
37 “Pursuant to Article XII of the Declaration of Principles, the two Parties shall invite the Governments of Jordan and Egypt to
participate in establishing further liaison and co-operation arrangements between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian
representatives on the one hand, and the Governments of Jordan and Egypt on the other hand, to promote co-operation between
them. These arrangements shall include the constitution of a Continuing Committee.” Agreement on the Gaza Strip and Jericho
Area, May 1994, Article XVI, paras. 1, 2 and 4.
38 See Rex Brynen, “Addressing the Palestinian Refugee Issue: A Brief Overview,” background paper prepared for a meeting of the
Refugee Co-ordination Forum, Berlin, April 2007, p. 3.
39 See Rex Brynen, “Addressing the Palestinian Refugee Issue,” p. 3.
40 The 1968 National Charter of the PLO, for example, affirms the right of all Palestinians to return to their homeland. The Charter
is reprinted in Documents on Palestine: From the Pre-Ottoman/Ottoman Period to the Prelude of the Madrid Middle East Peace
Conference. Vol. II. Jerusalem: PASSIA, 1997, pp. 213–15. On the eve of final status negotiations under the Oslo process, the
PLO Department of Refugee Affairs affirmed that a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue “w[ould] be defined as the Israeli
acceptance of the Palestinian refugees’ right of return to their homes and to receive compensation, as outlined in UN General Assembly
Resolution 194 and subsequently relevant UN resolutions.” Reprinted in The Palestinian Refugees, FACTFILE. Jerusalem:
PLO Department of Refugee Affairs, 2000, p. 18.
41 For a useful overview of rights-based approaches, see William Schabas and Peter Fitzmaurice, Respect, Protect and Fulfil: A Human
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