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| Senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi (MaanImages/File) |
Ashrawi urges world to address Palestinian refugee situation
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi on
Wednesday called on the international community to hold Israel to
account for the situation of Palestinian refugees."Our refugees' only hope of return is through international law and intervention to bring about a just solution," Ashrawi said in a statement marking World Refugee Day.
The lawmaker called on the Middle East Quartet and world powers to "hold Israel accountable for the creation and continuation of the tragic refugee situation, and to demand that Israel abide by international law which calls for the right of return and reparations."
She continued: "Close to six million Palestinians have individual stories to tell, one for each of our refugees. And their collective narrative forms the basis for any resolution based on United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194."
Passed towards the end of the 1948 war between Israel and its Arab neighbors, Resolution 194 called for the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes. Israel consented to the resolution, but has since rejected any proposals for the repatriation of Palestinian refugees in Israel.
Ashrawi singled out the United States in particular, where lawmakers in the Senate Appropriations Committee are attempting to redefine refugees in order to exclude descendants of those who were expelled in previous generations.
"This must be seen for what it is, a cynical and cruel manipulation of human suffering to relieve Israel of its moral and legal responsibility to the Palestinian people as outlined in the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees," the lawmaker said.
The 1951 Geneva Convention outlined the rights of refugees and their host countries’ responsibilities.
"Israel must not go unchallenged in its attempts to portray our people's loss as anything other than a violent mass expulsion," Ashrawi added.
World Refugee Day was established by the United Nations to raise awareness about the situation of refugees.
PLO Official says Israel is Accountable for Refugee Problem
RAMALLAH, June 20,
2012 (WAFA) - PLO Executive Committee member and lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi
Wednesday said Israel should be held accountable for creating and the
continuation of the Palestinian refugee problem.
She said in a
statement marking World Refugee Day that while the United Nations was
asking the world to honor and to support the millions of men, women and
children who have been driven from their homes and many from their
homelands by violence, Israel and its supporters in the United States
Congress are working to deny the Palestinian refugees their rights.
“Our refugees' only hope of return is through international law and intervention to bring about a just solution,” she said.
The international
community should “hold Israel accountable for the creation and
continuation of the tragic refugee situation, and to demand that Israel
abide by international law which calls for the right of return and
reparations,” said Ashrawi.
“Israel’s failure to
fulfill its obligations under the law is obstructing the prospects for
peace and the possibility of sustaining stability in the region and
beyond,” she stressed.
“Moreover, the
international community must stand against attempts to distort the
status of Palestinian refugees, as the US Senate Appropriations
Committee is trying to do by attempting to re-define refugees by
disputing the rights of descendants of those brutally expelled more than
60 years ago,” she said.
“This must be seen for
what it is, a cynical and cruel manipulation of human suffering to
relieve Israel of its moral and legal responsibility to the Palestinian
people as outlined in the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status
of Refugees,” said Ashrawi.
“Israel must not go
unchallenged in its attempts to portray our people's loss as anything
other than a violent mass expulsion. Whether under occupation or in
exile, the Palestinian people deserve their freedom, dignity,
self-determination, and a just conclusion of their plight,” concluded
Ashrawi.
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