Draft Plans for the Problem of Refugees
Prior to the breakout of the 1948 Arab-Israeli
war, several attempts were made to workout more practical solutions for the
problem of refugees. These attempts were made in the wake of mass expulsion and
emigration of great numbers of Palestinians during the period from January 1947
up to March 1948. Following the adoption of the partition of Palestine by the
United Nations in 1947, and in view of the hostile actions perpetrated by the
Zionist terrorist movements against unarmed Palestinian citizens, approximately
30,000 Palestinians were forced to leave during the period from January 1947 up
to March 1948.
An estimated 200,000 to 300,000 refugees left the country
from March 1948 to May 1948 as a result of attacks launched by the Zionist
Hagana and Stern movements, particularly following Deir Yasin massacre where 250
people were massacred. An initiative was taken by some Palestinian villages and
nearby Jewish settlements to declare a state of reconciliation and non
aggression. Representatives of the Palestinian villagers and the Jewish
settlements agreed to refrain from waging wars of any hostile actions against
each other. But the Zionist military movement violated this accord and committed
its brutal massacre against Deir Yasin villagers in addition to the expulsion of
all the inhabitants of Boram village.
The poeple of this village were not
allowed to return home despite a decision issued to this effect by the Israeli
supreme court. All these attemps, either those made at the local or the
political levels, were initiated by Palestinians in an endeavor to satisfy the
Jews and to live together in Palestine. The main objective of these attempts was
to put an end to the Zionist expansionist greed in the region.
The goal of the Zionist movement towards these initiatives, was to establish their own state at the expense of the original inhabitants of Palestine. The Jews refused all the Arab appeals for peaceful coexistence and for a self-autonomy rule in Palestine and Jordan. All the Arab and international attempts sought to convince the Jews to accept self autonomy rule in Palestine, were doomed to failure. The Jews insisted on taking all of Palestine to establish their Jewish state. Nevertheless, the Jews accepted the UN resolutions on the partition of Palestine with some reservations prompted by their own ideology which called for the occupation of all Palestine.
This fact has been confirmed by Joseph Whitz, president of the Zionist
movement in Palestine in 1940. Among these plans was the 1934 “Walchob” proposal
which called for the establishment of a joint Palestinian-Jewish legislative
council. A second plan named the “Pell” project drafted in 1937, also called for
the partition of Palestine into three parts. The third and fourth plans called
“Woodheed” and “Necomb” proposals were suggested in 1938 and 1940 respectively.
They called for the establishment of a Palestinian state in which the other
minorities will be entitled limited authorities at the municipality level. Two
more plans were also drafted by the Anglo-American fact finding committee and
Lord Morrison in 1946. Several attempts were made at the international level,
but were dismantled due to the arrogant Israeli position. Among these was UN
resolution 194, calling for the partition of Palestine between Jews and
Palestinians. This resolution was adopted by the security council at the end of
several visits made to the region by UN envoy count Barnadot.
The UN
resolution guaranteed the right of return for all Palestinians wishing to return
and live in peace with their neighbors. It also secured the right to fair and
equitable compensation for those who preferred to stay abroad. The resolution
charged the reconciliation committee with the task of facilitating the return of
refugees and to provide them with fair compensation.
In view of reports and recommendations released by the International
Reconciliation Committee in Lusan and Paris, the UN Security Council decided to
set up the “Internatioanl Documentation Committee”. The newly established
committee recommended the return of some of the Palestinian refugees and
compensation for the rest. Following its meeting in Paris in 1951, the committee
called upon Israel to accept the return of a limited number of Palestinian
refugees and to compensate the others. But Israel rejected both demands despite
a previous pledge in 1948 to allow the return of 100,000 refugees. After
accepting her as a member of the United Nations organization, Israel dissolved
itself from implementing this resolution.
Working under direct instructions
from the United Nations, secretary-general, Mr. Dag Hamarshield tried to find an
appropriate solution for the problem of Palestinian refugees. After paying
several visits to the area in 1959, the Secretary General pointed out that
Israel is reluctant to implement UN resolutions 181 and 194, particularly the
terms applicable to refugees. He proposed the expansion of rehabilitation
programs for refugees through UNRWA.