Palestinian refugees' 'right of return' could result in the demographic elimination of Israel as a 'Jewish state'. Would you be concerned about that?

By Henry Lowi

Early 2002

The issue of the Palestine refugees has emerged again, and is being discussed in your paper. This is a welcome development. The refugee issue is the big piece of unfinished business remaining from the time of the creation of the State of Israel.

The establishment of the State of Israel required the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestine 's aboriginal Arab inhabitants. Through the decades of Arab-Israeli wars, and the various attempts at a "Peace Process", these refugees have been kept on the back burner. Israeli politicians are responsible for this neglect, as are the Arab states.

There is ample historic evidence to show that the flight of the refugees was achieved by an Israeli policy that would now be characterized as "ethnic cleansing". Israeli scholars have been instrumental in studying the history of the creation of the refugee problem, and have published very important works on the subject. I will mention only the work of Benny Morris and Ilan Pappe.

In a well-footnoted paper entitled "The Feasibility of the Right of Return" (June 1997) Salman Abu-Sitta, Ph.D. writes:

"The number of Jews in Palestine grew from 61,000 in 1920 to 604,000 in 1948, of which only 150,000 were born in Palestine . The rest were legal and illegal immigrants, mostly of military age; some were veterans of World War II. In 1948, the Palestinian Arabs were the absolute majority of the population at 1,441,000. The Jewish foreign minority expelled 805,000, or 84% of the Palestinian inhabitants of the land that was conquered by Israel in the 1948 war. The Palestinian refugees lost their homes, property and land in 532 localities."

In modern Israel , there are clearly identifiable landmarks to over 500 Arab towns and villages that stood before the 1947-48 war, and are no longer there. These ruins are a lasting monument to the unfinished business of that war.

Today, the Palestine refugees number approximately 4,600,000.

The plight of the Palestine refugees is well-known. A half-century of life in refugee camps, in Jordan , Syria , Lebanon , as well as in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, has not made the refugees disappear. The Arab states are at fault for the non-integration of the refugees. The Israeli state is at fault for not permitting the refugees to return home.

Much literary, anecdotal, and autobiographical material on the Palestine refugees is available in the English language. A very selective reading list follows:

- To Be an Arab in Israel , Fawzi al Asmar

- The Disinherited: Journal of a Palestinian Exile, Fawaz Turki

- The Yellow Wind, David Grossman

- Men in the Sun, Ghassan Kanafani

- My Home, My Land: A Narrative of the Palestinian Struggle, Abu Iyad with Eric Rouleau

Analytical and historical material is found in the publications referred to above, and in the classic The Arabs in Israel, by Sabri Jiryis.

A very interesting recent survey, entitled "Palestinian Thoughts on the Right of Return" MEMRI Special Report (March 30, 2001) by Yotam Feldner and Aluma Solnik, can be found at

http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sr&ID=SR00401

The undeniable fact is that the Palestine refugees -- those who fled and those who were forcibly removed from their lands and villages -- are not permitted to return. It is clear, from the breakdown of the Camp David talks in the summer of 2000, that the question of the Palestine refugees did not go away, is not going away, and will not go away any time soon.

International legality clearly calls for the return of the Palestine refugees.

The recent diplomatic fiasco has placed the plight of the Palestine refugees front and center. This is no longer an issue to be discussed "later", when there is nothing "more pressing" to deal with. The genie is now out of the bottle, and it can be placed back in the bottle only by a total, historical defeat of the Palestinian struggle (and the Israeli peace forces).

It does not make sense any longer to ignore the fact that the dispossession of the Palestine refugees is the heart of the conflict, that will have to be addressed and solved. We all remember the fedayin attacks on Israel in the 1960s, that led to the 1967 "Six Day War". These fedayin were Palestine refugees. The civil war in Jordan in 1970 centered on the Palestine refugee camps, when they came into conflict with the Jordanian monarchy. The civil war in Lebanon in 1975-76 erupted over a dispute in which poor Lebanese fishermen made common cause with Palestine refugees. We all remember the infamous massacre at the Palestine refugee camp of Tal a-Zaatar, perpetrated by Lebanese fascist Phalangists. The 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the "Peace for Galilee" operation was motivated by the desire of then Israeli Minister of Defence, Ariel Sharon, to destroy the political and military infrastructure of the Palestine refugees in

Lebanon . Tens of thousands of Palestine refugees were killed in this misguided war, as were hundreds of Lebanese and Israelis.

The precarious nature of Palestinian refugee life was horrifically demonstrated in the September 1982 massacre of Palestine refugees in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. That massacre, carried out by Lebanese fascist Phalangist allies of the IDF AFTER the withdrawal of armed PLO fighters from Lebanon , was facilitated and supported by the IDF occupation forces in West Beirut . (The plight of the Palestine refugees was recently highlighted in the BBC Panorama documentary "The Accused" and in the indictment of Ariel Sharon in a Belgian court). Just this past week, Ariel Sharon sent the IDF to destroy the homes of 500 Palestine refugees in the Rafah Camp south of the Gaza Strip.

There is no future for the Palestine refugees in the refugee camps in any of the Arab countries, or in the West Bank or Gaza . In the Arab countries, democratic-minded people must agitate to remove any barriers to the peaceful assimilation of Palestinians into the societies of those countries. This would include full rights of citizenship, political rights, equality rights, etc. This

demand, in the Arab countries, is part of the fight for democratic political life in those countries. In Canada , in the context of our desire to maintain a multi-cultural society that upholds human rights, all enlightened citizens will demand that Canada open its doors to all Palestine refugees seeking to settle in Canada .

However, the fight for democracy, in Arab countries, Canada , and elsewhere, does not, in itself, provide a "solution" to the refugee problem. Most importantly, it does not absolve the State of Israel from its responsibility for the creation of the refugee problem. It does not excuse the State of Israel for forcibly preventing the peaceful return of the refugees to their homes and lands. The refugees؟ demand to recognize their right of return is a just demand and one that is consistent with the demands of Israeli democrats.

The refugees and their offspring should have the option of return. "Return" means return to the places from which they fled or were expelled.

I would be the first to say that no Israeli worker or farmer should be made homeless to accommodate a returning Palestinian family. But the right to return, to the Galilee and the Triangle and Jaffa and Haifa and Lod, must be recognized unequivocally, and the enormous practical challenges (funding, infrastructure, home construction, employment) will have to be faced in practical terms.

Most Jewish Israelis want "peace". But "peace", for most Israelis, means Jewish domination of the Holy Land , and tolerance of the Arab Palestinians only as third-class citizens, as "hewers of wood and drawers of water". Most Jewish Israelis subscribe to a colonialist and elitist view of their relations with the people of the Arab East. Colonialist privilege is a barrier to peace. The elitist, colonialist mentality is a barrier to peace. Democratic education is at the heart of any realistic peace plan. Democratic political struggle is at the heart of any struggle for peace. The only basis for peace between Jews and Arabs is democratic equality for Jews and Arabs. Forcibly preventing a nation of refugees from returning home is fundamentally anti-democratic, untenable, and impractical. It has already led to dozens of wars and skirmishes and caused untold suffering.

In practice, each individual refugee should be given an informed choice. Exercise of the choice must be real and unfettered. Many will choose integration into the countries where the refugee camps are presently located. Many will choose to emigrate and seek integration in one of the wealthy countries of Europe or America . Many will choose repatriation to the lands and towns that they left behind and that are now in Israel . The essence is that the choice must be made freely and without coercion. It must be a real choice. For those choosing return and repatriation, the choice will have to be respected and implemented. This will present a real practical challenge.

No one can foresee how a choice will be made, once it becomes available. Present declarations about future choices are not of much value either. However, it can be safely said that, for the bulk of the refugees, migration to a PA-run bantustan in the West Bank and Gaza holds very little attraction.

If the refugees' return option is to be real, then there is the possibility that return might be chosen on a massive scale. Massive resources will have to be devoted to accommodate the returning refugees: housing, work, infrastructure, etc. The western powers, and the oil states, and the State of Israel will have to finance the massive repatriation project. The State of Israel has accumulated valuable experience in absorbing large population influxes.

The Palestine refugees deserve a real opportunity to rebuild their destroyed lives. If peace is the goal, and if peaceful coexistence is the strategy, then peace and homecoming for the Palestine refugees must be front and center.

You ask about "demographic elimination of Israel as a ؟Jewish state؟". I do not really understand what you mean. I presume that you are not talking about a "genocidal" return of the Palestine refugees. No one advocates that or supports that. You must be referring to some mystical concept of "demographics".

Israel is not a "Jewish state" in the sense that its laws are based on Halacha. They are not. It is not a "Jewish state" in the sense that most Jewish people live there or plan to live there. They do not. It is a "Jewish state" only in the sense that the Jewish ethnic group enjoys privileges that are denied other ethnic groups, and that within the Jewish ethnic group much misery is caused by there being a state monopoly to define "who is a Jew".

Promotion of the Hebrew language (and Yiddish, and Ladino) does not require an ethnically-defined state. Preservation of the lives of Jewish people facing the risk of persecution does not require an ethnically-defined state. Study of the Torah and the Talmud do not require an ethnically-defined state. Permitting the ages-old Jewish genius to flourish in the fields of science, medicine, art, and any other field does not require an ethnically-defined state.

The State of Israel is ethnic nationalism institutionalized and gone wild. With all the limitations of historical analogies, Israel is a "Jewish state" in the sense that racist South Africa was a Boer state and in the sense that Nazi Germany was an Aryan state. In short, there is nothing "Jewish" worth preserving in the "Jewish state".

Anyone familiar with Jewish history knows that locking Jews in demographically "pure" ghettos has never been healthy for the Jews. Those who want to protect the demographic "purity" of the State of Israel are openly in favor of an apartheid-like regime. Israeli peace activists are fighting to break out of their ethnic-nationalist fortress and for a more democratic society. The right of return of the Palestine refugees threatens apartheid, but it does not threaten peace or justice. Return of the Palestine refugees from forced exile would not threaten the legitimate need of the Israeli Jews for personal security. Most importantly, it is the only way to address the root cause of the conflict.

Would you consider yourself a Zionist? If so, how do you differ from the others who call themselves Zionists and have starkly different views from you?

Jewish ethnicity has survived since Biblical times, long before Zionism. Maimonides wasn؟t a Zionist. Rashi wasn؟t a Zionist. Ibn Gevirol wasn؟t a Zionist. Even Albert Einstein wasn؟t a Zionist. Zionism is a very new phenomenon.

Zionism is a political movement that was founded in Europe at the end of the 19^th century. It was an expression of European colonialism, as Theodor Herzl was the first to acknowledge.

Throughout the 20^th century, most Jewish people, in Europe, America , Asia, and Africa , did not subscribe to Zionism. Most saw Zionism as a threat to the political status of Jewish people in their countries of residence. The Zionist parties were in the minority among the political parties supported by Jewish people. In most of the countries of Europe and America , Jews chose to support liberal, democratic, socialist, or communist parties. The focus was on the improvement of the quality of life in those countries. Until after the Second World War, Zionism did not have much appeal in the Jewish communities of America , Asia or Africa . Zionism was widely recognized as a movement that was nurtured from the same roots as anti-semitism, that subscribes to the view that there is no future for the Jews among the peoples of the world. The

Zionist colonization of Turkish Ottoman Palestine, and then British Mandatory Palestine, was spearheaded and supported by a tiny minority of Jews.

Zionism was victorious in Palestine only after the Holocaust of the Second World War, in which the Allied powers, including Canada , were complicit in the destruction of the Jews of Europe. After Europe became virtually Judenrein, the victorious Allies decided to steer Jews to Palestine and to support the Partition of Palestine into 2 mini-states. In the context of de-colonization, the British Empire should have granted independence to Palestine , and permitted its people to exercise their right to national self-determination. Instead, they put in place a new colonialist structure.

Even after the establishment of the State of Israel (well beyond the boundaries of the Partition Plan, and after the expulsion and flight of the Arab refugees) most Jews did not adopt Zionism.

Zionism really did not hold much attraction for most Jews until after the 1967 Six Days War, when the new image of the "super-Jew" found many Jewish adherents. Even now, most Jewish people, given the choice, would not want to become permanent residents of the world؟s only "Jewish State".

Jewish support for Israel , mostly ignorant and uncritical, provides a ready-made basis for ethnic identity. This is a tragedy. Much that is valuable in the Jewish tradition is being abandoned and trampled underfoot.

The State of Israel is the last remaining colonial-settler state. Apartheid South Africa has been replaced by a democratic South Africa . Racist Rhodesia has been replaced by Zimbabwe . Both of the latter countries are experiencing severe problems of the post-colonial era. But very few people in either country would opt to turn the clock back to the period of racist-colonial domination.

The State of Israel is the last vestige of the anachronistic colonial-settler system.

As was the case with Apartheid in South Africa , Zionist racism and colonialism must be combated, and defeated, and a new basis found for democratic political life in the Holy Land . A Jewish "national home" in historic Palestine cannot exist for long as a racist, colonial-settler state. A secular state, with a democratic constitution that upholds equality and human rights, is in the interest of Israeli Jews, and Jews worldwide. It is the only mode of reconciliation with the Palestine Arabs -- those who remained in Israel in 1948, those who became refugees, and those who have been under Israeli military domination since June 1967.

So, to your question: No, I do not consider myself as a Zionist.

I am an IDF veteran of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Some of my best friends died in Sinai in October 1973 in the war to hold onto Egyptian territory that had been seized in June 1967. I am a veteran of the 1982 Peace for Galilee operation, and the struggle of IDF reservists against Ariel Sharon؟s war of aggression against the Palestine refugees. I have participated in the lives, the struggles, and the defeats of peace-seeking Israelis of my generation. The fate of Jewish people anywhere concerns me as my own fate.

Zionism had short-term appeal to many Jews. But its days are numbered. Jewish history will continue, while Zionism will be viewed as a temporary aberration.

While I am not a Zionist, "some of my best friends are Zionists." Many Israelis who consider themselves Zionists are risking their lives to resist Israeli repression of the Palestinian intifada. Critical Zionists have long demanded the removal of the Israeli settler colonies from the West Bank and Gaza , and have advocated the sharing of Jerusalem . Some people who consider themselves Zionists recognize the Palestine refugees؟ right of return.

However, most people who support the right of return realize that this right is incompatible with anti-democratic Zionist domination of Palestine . Many people who are engaged in the practical struggle for peace realize that the goal of the struggle is a new Palestine , with a democratic constitution that upholds human rights, and in which Jews and Arabs will be able to live peacefully on an entirely new basis.

Thousands of Israelis are already fighting for separation of religion from state. Tens of thousands have voted for parties that want to repeal the laws that impose religion on private life, e.g. identity, marriage, divorce, burial. Many call for the abolition of "The Chief Rabbinate". The idea of a "Jewish State" is highly problematic. Clearly, colonial domination by an ethnic minority called "Jewish" cannot be sustained. A growing number of Israelis, Jews and Arabs, have explicitly adopted the idea of "a secular and democratic" state.

From the point of view of so-called realpolitik, do you or anyone really think that institutionalization of ethnic-nationalism is viable or is a long-term solution for ethnically-defined conflicts? Does anyone really believe that "Jewish states", "Islamic states", "Hindu states", "Christian states" will be the characteristic state form for the 21st century?

The Oslo "peace process", and its demise, had confused and confounded many members of the Israeli "Peace Camp". Only recently has this important constituency begun to find its bearings. Several weeks ago, a teach-in was held at Tel Aviv University on the plight of the Palestine refugees. At a public meeting held just last week, at Tzavta Hall in Tel Aviv, prominent Israeli peace activists declared that they must begin gathering material for war crime indictments to be served on members of the Israeli political and military elite.

Israeli peace activists must stand unequivocally for the removal of all the Israeli forces of repression from the West Bank and Gaza , and from all the Palestinian communities in Israel ; and must insist that the Palestine refugees are welcome to return to the places from which they were expelled and fled.

The idea of a "Jewish State" will face a serious challenge. The very idea will have to be superseded by a non-religion-based, non-ethnicity-based concept, that is consistent with modern views of democratic political life. Then and only then will a new window of opportunity be opened for reconciliation and coexistence.

Do you foresee any kind of compromise that would allow peaceful resolution, such as a limited right of return, a final agreement for two states, some kind of financial remuneration ... ? Where do you see areas of possible common cause?

Colonial domination and ethnic cleansing leave no room for compromise. Colonial domination must be overturned, and ethnic cleansing must be reversed. The frank, open recognition of the refugees؟ right of return is the pre-condition for any peaceful resolution. Continued denial of the right of return is a certain recipe for continued war, that will increasingly have the ugly features of a desperate civil war. Once the right of return is openly recognized, the mode of peaceful implementation can be discussed freely and frankly.

A "2-state solution", in which the "Palestinian state" is really a bantustan under Israeli domination, is not a solution to anything. It risks being a huge maximum security prison for the

Palestine refugees. It would represent the institutionalization of a Palestinian-Arab hell alongside a Jewish-Israeli hell. It would not be a step toward peace.

In a December 2001 interview with Le Monde, Ami Ayalon, a professor at Tel Aviv University , and a former Director of the Shabak ("Shin Bet") General Security Services, said the following:

"Let us stop worrying about what our adversaries say and ask what we, ourselves, want. We do not want the return of the refugees. But we can refuse only if Israel acknowledges unambiguously its role in the suffering of the Palestinians and its obligation to help solve the problem. Israel must accept the principle of the right of return and the PLO must commit itself to not question the Jewish identity of our state."

Ami Ayalon is one of the few people, in the upper echelons of the Israeli establishment, who recognize the centrality of the refugees demand for the right to return. That is an important step. The next step is to realize that enabling the refugees to freely choose the option of return, among other options, is a pre-condition to a future reconciliation and coexistence.

Any additional comments you would like me to include?

Jewish people have every reason to see things from the refugees' point of view. Most Canadian Jews are the descendants of refugees from European pogroms and the Holocaust. The first massive aliyah to Israel was of Jewish refugees from the DP camps of Nazi-occupied Europe . Canadian Jews have a history of campaigning to rescue Jews and others from racist persecution. Canadian Jews appreciate the benefits of a multi-cultural society with a democratic constitution that upholds human rights.

The demand of the Palestine refugees to recognize their right to return is, in effect, a plea to acknowledge their humanity and realize their human rights. Jewish people are honor-bound to be in the forefront of the campaign to recognize the right of return. It is not our task now to debate (not to mention - determine) the practical, logistical, and financial arrangements under which the right to return will be implemented. Our task now is to clearly proclaim our commitment to the right of the Palestine refugees to return to their towns and lands. By doing so, we will be clearly stating that we do not identify with a "Jewish State" that is founded on expulsion, discrimination, racism, persecution, and apartheid. We would be taking a stand squarely on moral ground. We would be guided by the moral imperative to "love our neighbor as we love ourselves".

There is a proud Jewish tradition of upholding human rights in opposition to tyranny and oppression. Zionist racism and colonialism trample on that tradition.

The ongoing fight against anti-semitism goes hand in hand with the fight against all forms of racism and apartheid. The struggle for the return of the Palestine refugees is a struggle against a form of racism. It is a just struggle and one that leads ultimately to the security of the Jews who now live in Israel . One day -- let us hope it comes soon ؟ many Palestine refugees will return

home, there will be true reconciliation between Arabs and Jews, and peace will become possible in the Land that was promised to the seed of Abraham.

* Henry is an IDF veteran of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Some of his best friends died in Sinai in October 1973 in the war to hold onto Egyptian territory that had been seized in June 1967. Henry is a veteran of the 1982 Peace for Galilee operation, and the struggle of IDF reservists against Ariel Sharon؟s war of aggression against the Palestine refugees. He has participated in the lives, the struggles, and the defeats of peace-seeking Israelis of his generation. The fate of Jewish people anywhere concerns him as his own fate. Click Here if wish to email Henry.

Related Links

• Palestine Right Of Return: Sacred, Legal, and Possible By Dr. Salman Abu Sitta

• Palestinian Thoughts on the Right of Return, Special Report - PA March 30, 2001, By Yotam Feldner and Aluma Solnik

• http://www.AlternativeNews.org/

• http://www.Cactus48.com/

• http://www.Ariga.com/index.htm