After more than 50 years of UN Resolutions, deals and talks, one question stands out: Whence the Palestinian right of return?

Analysis

THE MARGINALIZATION OF PALESTINIAN RIGHTS

The primacy assigned to geo-politics over international law in the so-called peace process has resulted in the marginalization of Palestinian rights, particularly refugee rights, said Dr. Naseer Aruri during a briefing to the Washington, DC chapter of Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition. International law does provide a principled framework for a durable resolution of the Palestine-Israel conflict, however the peace process did not, he said during the briefing, which was held at the Palestine Center to honor the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on Nov. 29. Instead, the issue must be placed within the larger context of old-fashioned imperialism and settler colonialism.

Aruri explained that from the 1969 Rogers plan to the 2003 Geneva Initiative, the diplomatic emphasis has always been on what is "possible" and "practical" - that is, what Israel will accept - rather than on what is just and legal by international standards.

Putting geo-politics over international law is the name of the game, which has eroded the earlier consensus built around Article III of UN General Assembly Resolution 194 (Dec. 11, 1948), plus numerous resolutions affirming the rights of the Palestinian people to sovereignty, international protection, and the freedom to struggle for independence by all necessary means, including armed struggle, as was seen during the 1960's and 70's.

The issue of refugees has been marginalized over the better part of the past 50 years, despite the fact that Israel's admission to the United Nations was contingent upon protection for and repatriation of Palestinian refugees, as outlined in Article 11 of Resolution 194. Resolution 273 on May 11, 1949 made Israel's admission to the UN conditional on its unambiguous commitment to respect "unreservedly" UN resolutions pertaining to the Arab-Israeli conflict, including Resolution 194. Twenty-five years later, Resolution 3236 of Nov. 22, 1974 reasserted the "inalienable right of the Palestinians to return to their homes and property from which they have been displaced and uprooted." Resolution 52/62 reaffirmed that principle, saying in 1997 that the "Palestine Arab refugees are entitled to their property and to the income derived there from, in conformity with the principles of justice and equity."

Aruri contends that while the grounding of Palestinian rights in international humanitarian law - especially refugee rights - is self-evident, such rights have been marginalized by three factors at least: the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) unwitting complicity due to its focus on sovereignty and its own rise to power, Israel's rejectionism and distortion of UN resolutions for its own purposes, and a peace process that domesticated Israel's occupation and allowed it to continue unchecked despite Palestinian concessions.

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