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BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

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14<br />

Survey of <strong>Palestinian</strong> <strong>Refugee</strong>s <strong>and</strong> Internally Displaced Persons (2006-2007)<br />

<strong>Palestinian</strong> fleeing the Gaza Strip on small fishing boats. <strong>Refugee</strong>s from all over Palestine gathered<br />

in the Gaza Strip in 1948; many tried to continue their journey via two routes: a 200 miles long desert<br />

track through the Sinai to Cairo, <strong>and</strong> the Mediterranean Sea. Both routes were cut off as a result of the<br />

1967 Israeli occupation. © UNRWA Archives.<br />

Following the war, Israel established<br />

a military government, largely to<br />

control the <strong>Palestinian</strong> population<br />

remaining inside Israel <strong>and</strong> prevent<br />

the return of <strong>Palestinian</strong> refugees. 77<br />

Freedom of expression was severely<br />

restricted, <strong>and</strong> <strong>Palestinian</strong>s were<br />

confined to controlled areas;<br />

written permission from the<br />

military comm<strong>and</strong>er was required<br />

<strong>for</strong> those leaving <strong>Palestinian</strong> towns<br />

<strong>and</strong> villages. 78 A special network<br />

of military courts was set up to<br />

ensure compliance with emergency<br />

regulations; military court rulings<br />

could not be appealed <strong>and</strong> could<br />

instruct the “detention, expulsion,<br />

or banishment [from Israel], seizure<br />

<strong>and</strong> control of property <strong>and</strong> l<strong>and</strong>,<br />

or the imposition of fines”. 79 The military government remained in place until 1966. Jewish affairs in the country,<br />

however, were governed by the civilian government.<br />

Israel also adopted new laws to ensure that <strong>Palestinian</strong> refugees would not be able to return <strong>and</strong> repossess their<br />

homes <strong>and</strong> properties. The 1952 Citizenship <strong>and</strong> Entry into Israel Law facilitated the mass denationalization of<br />

<strong>Palestinian</strong> refugees. Because most <strong>Palestinian</strong> refugees were outside the state of Israel on, or after, 14 July 1952,<br />

date at which the Citizenship <strong>and</strong> Entry into Israel Law came into effect, they have been unable to resume<br />

domicile in their homel<strong>and</strong>. 80 In contrast, all Jews are entitled to Israeli citizenship according to the 1950 Law<br />

of Return.<br />

A web of new l<strong>and</strong> laws was adopted to facilitate the expropriation of refugee property <strong>and</strong> its transfer to the<br />

state <strong>and</strong> the Jewish National Fund (JNF). These included emergency regulations <strong>and</strong> laws relating to so-called<br />

ab<strong>and</strong>oned <strong>Palestinian</strong> property. 81 According to the 1960 Basic Law: Israel L<strong>and</strong>s, l<strong>and</strong> expropriated under this<br />

legal regime is held by the state of Israel <strong>and</strong> the JNF as the inalienable property of the Jewish people. The l<strong>and</strong><br />

cannot be sold to non-Jews.<br />

By the mid-1950s, the number of <strong>Palestinian</strong>s expelled by Israeli authorities comprised some 15% of the total<br />

<strong>Palestinian</strong> population inside Israel (approximately 195,000 persons). 82 During this period, Israel expropriated<br />

some 700 km 2 of l<strong>and</strong> from <strong>Palestinian</strong>s who remained within the territory that became the state of Israel. 83<br />

1.5 The 1967 War<br />

During the 1967 war between Israel <strong>and</strong> neighbouring Arab states, more than one-third of the <strong>Palestinian</strong><br />

population of the occupied West Bank, including eastern Jerusalem, <strong>and</strong> the occupied Gaza Strip were displaced.<br />

Half of these had already been displaced once be<strong>for</strong>e during the 1948 war. The 1967 war ended after only six<br />

days.<br />

As in the 1948 war, Israeli military <strong>for</strong>ces attacked numerous civilian areas that had no military significance. 84

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