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The Politics
of Denial - Israel and the Palestinian Refugee
Problem
by Nur
Masalha
The 1948
war ended in the expulsion of hundreds of
thousands of Palestinians from their villages
and homes. Israeli settlers moved in to
occupy their land and the Palestinian refugees
found themselves in refugee camps, or in
neighbouring Arab countries. Today there
are nearly four million Palestinian refugees
-- and they want the right to go home. Their
problem is the greatest and most enduring
refugee problem in the world.
Since 1948
Israeli refugee policy has become a classic
case of denial: the denial that Zionist
"transfer committees" had operated
between 1937 and 1948; denial of any wrong-doing
or any historical injustice; denial of the
"right of return"; denial of restitution
of property and compensation; and indeed
denial of any moral responsibility or culpability
for the creation of the refugee problem.
The aim of
this book is to analyse Israeli policies
towards the Palestinian refugees as they
evolved from the 1948 catastrophe (or nakba)
to the present. It is the first volume to
look in detail at Israeli law and policy
surrounding the refugee question. Drawing
on extensive primary sources and previously
classified archive material, Masalha discusses
the 1948 exodus; Israeli resettlement schemes
since 1948; Israeli approaches to compensation
and restitution of property; Israeli refugee
policies towards the internally displaced
('present absentees'); and Israeli refugee
policies during the Madrid and Oslo negotiations.
Masalha asks
what rights Palestinians possess under international
law? How can a refugee population be compensated,
and will they ever be able to return to
their homes? Masalha questions the official
Israeli position that the only solution
to the problem is resettlement of the refugees
in Arab states or elsewhere. This book is
a valuable resource for anyone interested
in the subject that lies at the heart of
the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
About the
Author
Nur Masalha
was born in Galilee (in occupied Palestine)
in 1957. He studied at the Hebrew University
in Jerusalem and at the University of London
and is a Senior Lecturer at St Mary's College
(in England). In addition to publishing
several books, Nur Masalha is also Director
of Holy Land Research Project, and Associate
Editor of Holy Land Studies: A Multidisciplinary
Journal.
Related Links
PalestineRemembered.com
- The Home of all ethnically cleansed Palestinians
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