| Palestinian refugees' 'right of return' could result in the demographic elimination of Israel as a 'Jewish state'. Would you be concerned about that? |
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Posted on January 8, 2006
By
Henry Lowi
Early
2002
The below article was written in response to an article that was posted on Jewish Weekly Bulletin regarding Palestinian refugees' Right of Return.
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 19th century. It was an expression of European
colonialism, as Theodor Herzl was the first to acknowledge.
Throughout
the 20th 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.
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