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 The
search for durable solutions for Palestinian refugees and
displaced persons since the beginning of negotiations between
Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the
early 1990s has been dominated by a political approach which
considers international law and relevant United Nations
resolutions as ‘impractical’ and an obstacle to a rapid negotiated
solution of the Palestinian refugee issue.
The
seminar aimed to clarify and create
awareness about the role and value of international law and human
rights in peacemaking and crafting durable solutions for refugees.
Participants addressed the following questions:
Are international law and human rights important in peacemaking
and the durability of solutions? What principles are essential?
What are lessons learned from other experiences of peace making
and crafting durable solutions for refugees? How are these lessons
applicable to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and durable
solutions for Palestinian refugees?
The
Ghent Seminar was hosted by the Faculty of Political and Social
Sciences, University of Ghent and sponsored by the Swiss Federal
Department of Foreign Affairs (PD IV), Stichting Vluchteling/Netherlands,
ICCO/Netherlands, Oxfam Solidarity/Belgium, the Flemish Palestine
Solidarity Committee and the APRODEV NGO Network.
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