"What is important is that individual refugees decide for themselves which option they prefer- a decision must not be imposed upon them."

Visit Palestine: Jericho (which means “City of the Moon” in Arabic) is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world.

The General Delegation of the Palestine Liberation Organization to the U.S. located in Washington DC is the official representative of the PLO in the United States

CORE ISSUES

Refugees and the Right of Return

Palestinian refugees must be given the option to exercise their right of return (as well as receive compensation for their losses arising from their dispossession and displacement) though refugees may prefer other options such as: 

(i) resettlement in third countries, 

(ii) resettlement in a newly independent Palestine (even though they originate from that part of Palestine which became Israel) or 

(iii) normalization of their legal status in the host country where they currently reside. What is important is that individual refugees decide for themselves which option they prefer- a decision must not be imposed upon them.

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UN Resolution 194 from 1948 : The refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible

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Refugees, Borders & Jerusalem

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."Eleanor Roosevelt