 |
 |
 |
Armed conflict and military occupation are the primary causes of Palestinian displacement from and within the West Bank and Gaza Strip. An estimated 100-150,000 Palestinians were displaced during British rule in Palestine due to eviction of tenant farmers from land sold to Zionist colonization associations, punitive house demolitions by British mandate authorities, expulsion of Palestinians opposed to British rule and denationalization under the 1925 Palestine Citizenship Order (Rempel, 2003).
The largest displacement occurred during the civil conflict that erupted in Palestine in late 1947 after the UN recommended that the country be divided into two states, and during the first Israeli-Arab war in 1948-49. It is estimated that a quarter of the refugees were expelled by Israeli forces; more than half fled under military assault. Approximately one-fifth fled out of fear and psychological warfare and one per cent as a result of orders from Arab leaders (Abu Sitta, 2000). Upwards of three-quarters of a million persons were displaced during this period (UNCCP, 1949).
The refugees originated from more than 500 cities, towns and villages located in those areas of Mandate Palestine that became the state of Israel in 1948 (Abu Sitta, 2000). Only 15 per cent of the Palestinian Arab population remained in this area after the cessation of hostilities (Rempel, 2003). Most of the refugees found shelter in the West Bank and Gaza Strip while others found refuge in frontline Arab states including Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Egypt. The small Jewish population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip sought shelter in those areas of Mandate Palestine that became the state of Israel.
The state of Israel decided that displaced Palestinians would not be permitted to return except the few who qualified for family reunification. Israel argued that the fate of the refugees could not be considered separate from a comprehensive solution to the conflict and that security considerations militated against the return of the refugees in the absence of peace between Israel and neighboring Arab states (Morris, 1987). Refugee homes and properties were used to house new Jewish immigrants and build up the economy of the new state (Peretz, 1959; Fischbach, 2003). Displaced Jews, except for small numbers who had been living in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, which were occupied by Arab forces, were able to return.
New legislation (1952 Citizenship Law) effectively denationalized the Palestinian Arab refugees. Due to the fact that they were displaced outside the borders of the state of Israel on or after 14 July 1952 they are legally prevented from resuming domicle in their homes of origin. The same law enables all persons defined as Jews to acquire citizenship under the 1950 Law of Return which only applies to Jews. New land laws enabled the transfer of refugee property to the state and to the Jewish National Fund (JNF). One of the early heads of the JNF estimated this to be more than 85 per cent of the total area of Israel (Fischbach, 2003). Under the 1950 Absentees' Property Law, for example, any person who on the date of partition was a citizen or resident of the Arab states or who was a Palestinian citizen who had left his/her place of residence even if to take refuge within Palestine, is classified as an 'absentee'. Absentee property is vested in the Israeli Custodian of Absentee Property who is authorized to 'sell' the property to the Israeli Development Authority. Refugee property held by the state and the JNF may not be transferred by sale or in any other manner (Boling, 2000-2001; Dajani, 2005; Halabi, 2003; Kedar, 2002).
Between 1948 and 1967, Palestinians who remained within the borders of the state of Israel continued to be displaced. It is estimated that by the mid-1950s the number of Palestinians displaced by Israeli authorities comprised some 15 percent of the total Palestinian population inside Israel. At least 30,000 Palestinians were expelled from Israel between 1949 and 1956 (Rempel, 2003). This included large numbers of Bedouin and internally displaced Palestinians who were forced across the de facto borders of the state of Israel into the West Bank, Gaza Strip and into Syria (Segev, 1986; Masalha, 1997). Israel expropriated over half of the land owned by Palestinian citizens. A 1988 study discovered that 58 per cent of all Palestinians in Israel and 75 per cent of land-owning Palestinians in Israel had land expropriated (Smooha, 1992). Several IDP villages were also destroyed.
The second largest group of refugees were displaced during the 1967 Israeli-Arab war. Approximately 60 per cent of refugees who sought refuge in Jordan fled as a result of military assault by Israeli forces (Dodd & Barakat, 1969). As many as 400,000 Palestinians were displaced/expelled from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Israeli-Arab war. Half of the displaced population were refugees displaced for the first time in 1948 (Takkenberg, 1998).
Few Palestinian villages were depopulated during the 1967 war. Depopulated Palestinian villages include Imwas, Yalu and Beit Nuba in the Latrun salient northwest of Jerusalem, the entire Moroccan quarter inside the Old City of Jerusalem, adjacent to the Western Wall, and the villages of Beit Marsam, Beit Awa, Jiftlik, and al-Burj as well as half the city of Qalqilya. Most of the refugees found shelter in Jordan, with smaller numbers seeking refuge in Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. Displacement affected approximately 35-40 per cent of the Palestinian population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Rempel, 2003).
Only those Palestinians (and their offspring) registered in Israels September 1967 census of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip were considered legal residents of the 1967 OPTs. The administrative measure effectively prevented most Palestinian refugees displaced in 1967 from voluntarily returning to their homes. The International Committee of the Red Cross did facilitate an agreement, however, between Jordan and Israel in August 1967 that established a process for the orderly return of the refugees. Out of more than 35,000 repatriation applications for some 140,000 persons, Israel only approved slightly more than 4,500 allowing less than 20,000 refugees to return to their homes. Israel rejected appeals by the ICRC to extend the time limit to enable the return of all those refugees wishing to do so (ICRC, 1970).
Military orders promulgated in the 1967 OPTs effectively applied many of the same property laws employed inside Israel. Palestinian land was expropriated under military orders dealing with 'abandoned' land, 'state' property, military use, and public purpose, among others (Benvenisti, 1984; Dajani, 2005; Lein, 2002). In the aftermath of the 1967 war Israel acquired immediate control of more than 400 sq. km of land owned by displaced i.e. absentee Palestinians. While expropriated Palestinian property held by the state is not considered inalienable, the use of land acquired under these military orders (i.e., construction of Jewish colonies, including related infrastructure such as 'bypass roads'), suggests de facto permanent acquisition (Bisharat, 1992). JNF acquisitions are considered as the inalienable property of the Jewish people.
Israel's military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip has led to further displacement primarily as a result of policies that aim or result in the alteration of the demographic composition of the 1967 OPTs. Sources of displacement include revocation of residency, denial of family reunification, deportation, land confiscation, and house demolition (Akram & Rempel, 2004). It is estimated that 20,000 Palestinians were displaced annually from the West Bank and Gaza Strip between 1967 and 1986 (Kossaifi, 1996). Expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip came to a halt with the beginning of the Oslo process, however, an amendment to the 1952 Entry into Israel Law authorized the expulsion of those Palestinians who entered the 1967 OPTs 'illegally' or without a permit. Israel began to expel Palestinians again in the context of the second intifada. Demolition of Palestinian homes largely continued during after the signing of the Oslo agreements with the exception of homes in areas which came under PNA jurisdiction. The rate of house demolition increased dramatically in the context of the second intifada with particularly heavy impact on refugee camps (Amnesty, 2004).
|
|
|