Palestinian refugees face hard choices

By Kesava Menon

AMMAN, DEC. 28. For the large number of Palestinian refugees in Jordan, this Eid is going to be a memorable one and not for the most positive of reasons.

Although the negotiations with Israel are going through last minute glitches as both sides try hard to achieve the best possible results for themselves, it is reasonably clear that this is the final stage. Palestinian refugees in this country and other parts of the world will soon have to decide whether they should cling on to a dream which will probably soon become an impossible one or assess how they can make the best of the bargain that will be made.

Since they were ousted from their ancestral villages in 1948, many Palestinian refugees have placed faith in the international guarantees that they would be allowed to return. During the past seven years during which they have been negotiating with Israel, as per the format of the Oslo agreements, officials of the Palestinian Authority have insisted that the right (of the refugees) to return is a non-compromisable principle. The officials had probably realised early on that this objective would be very difficult to achieve if not impossible. Yet, they continued to emphasise the immutability of the principle if for no other reason than to buttress their demands on the other issues in contention.

After the latest round of negotiations in Washington, and the drafting of bridging proposals by the U.S. administration, it appears that the Palestinian Authority is being asked to trade off the right to return in exchange for full sovereignty over Arab East Jerusalem. Israel had so far taken the position that they would concede neither the right to return nor full sovereignty over East Jerusalem to the Palestinians. Now they are prepared to hand over full sovereignty in East Jerusalem provided the Palestinian Authority drops its demand on the right to return.

A few proposals have been added on to make it easier for the Palestinian Authority to swallow the idea of forsaking the right to return. There is talk of an Israeli apology for the ethnic cleansing they carried out in 1948 and a hefty monetary compensation. Israel is also likely to drop its traditional objection to the prospect of refugees returning to the occupied Palestinian territories. But there are very serious problems still to be resolved.

Countries which had accepted the refugees in 1948 are not willing to let them settle permanently. The Palestinians have found it relatively easier to assimilate themselves into the Jordanian society. In fact, the Hashemite monarchy in this country has made some effort to incorporate the Palestinians into a composite Jordanian identity. But Syria, and especially Lebanon, are not prepared to absorb the Palestinians as full- fledged citizens. Theoretically, these refugees may now be able to shift themselves to the West Bank and Gaza Strip but a whole lot of attendant issues have to be settled prior to that - how will water resources be re-allocated between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to cater for the expected influx; who is going to foot the bill for compensation to the refugees etc.

From what the Palestinian chief negotiator, Mr. Saeeb Erekat, has disclosed, it appears that the Authority is seeking clarifications on all these issues. But there is an unmistakable feeling that the Authority has realised that a major compromise on the right to return is the price they will have to pay for a final agreement. Israel is adamant that it cannot concede the right to return since an influx of Palestinians would inevitably transform the Jewish character of their state. This point of view appears to have the strong backing of the U.S. administration.

For the Palestinian Authority, the problem is double- fold. They have to ensure that in compromising on the right to return, they get such compensation in monetary and other terms that re- settlement of the refugees in Palestine or elsewhere is viable. They then have to sell the deal to their people who have

not really been prepared for it. For the Palestinian refugees who have been dreaming of returning to their ancestral homes this is one of the most emotionally distressing moments of their lives.

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