BADIL 2003 – 2004 Expert Forum for the

Promotion of a Rights-Based Approach to the Palestinian Refugee Question

 Program

Rights-Based Durable Solutions for Palestinian Refugees:

Ways Forward

Hosted by the Emil Touma Institute for Palestinian and Israeli Studies
and the Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced (ADRID)
Haifa, 1 - 4July 2004

The fourth and last BADIL Expert Seminar aims to ‘bring issues back home,’ i.e. to sum-up debate and findings of the previous seminars held abroad, and to engage the maximum number of local actors (Palestinian, Jewish) in discussion and formulation of recommendations for follow-up.

Assumption

An alternative model for just and durable peace between Jewish Israeli society and the Palestinian people must be built on recognition of Israeli responsibility for the forced displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people, recognition of the basic human rights including the right of return, and implementation of remedies (return, housing and property restitution, compensation) in accordance with international law and best practice. Civil society, including Jewish-Israeli civil society, can play a key role in building and promoting such a rights-based approach, if concrete and practical initiatives are developed and implemented in a systematic fashion.

Expected Outcome

* Clarification of principles and concrete initiatives for the promotion of rights-based durable solutions for Palestinian refugees in Palestine/Israel;
* Identification of actors and agenda for follow-up.

Presentations and Discussions

Thursday, 1 July

Arrival participants, Haifa

19:00 Informal reception at the ETI

Friday, 2 July

09:30 –13:00 Closed Session-1: Stocktaking and Legal Analysis
* 2003-4 BADIL Expert Forum: Preliminary Summary of Findings (Ingrid Jaradat Gassner and Terry Rempel)
* State Responsibility of Israel and Individual Responsibility of Perpetrators under International Law to Remedy Violations against 1948 Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (Gail J. Boling)
* Individual and Collective Rights of Jewish Israelis and Israel under International Law (Michael Kagan)
* Discussion and Summary of Conclusions

14:00 – 18:00 Closed Session-2: Models of Transitional Justice and Participatory Process – Tools for moving forward in the case of Palestine-Israel?
* Transitional Justice Models and their Applicability to the Zionist-Palestinian Conflict and the Palestinian Refugee Issue (Jessica Nevo)
* Public Participation in Peace Processes: Comparative Experience and Relevant Principles (Celia McKeon)
* Discussion and Summary of Conclusions

Saturday, 3 July

09:30 – 13:00 Closed Session-3: Civil Society Initiatives, Experiences and Perspectives
* From Exclusion to Participation of the Palestinian Exile (Karma Nabulsi)
* 1991 – 2004: The Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced in Israel, Achievements and Challenges (Suheil Miari)
* 2002 – 2004: The Experience of Zochrot (Eitan Bronstein)
* Bir’im and Bar’am, a Community-based Initiative for Justice and Reconciliation?  (Einat Luzati, Shlomit Kafri, Nahida Zahra)
* The Role of Israel Sanctions and Boycott (Ilan Pappe)

14:00 – 17:00 Closed Session-4:

Lessons Learned and Ways Forward to Rights-based Solutions for Palestinian Refugees: Summary and Recommendations

Sunday, 4 July: Optional Program (organized by ADRID)

10:00 – 15:00: Morning field visit to al-Bassa, a 1948 depopulated Palestinian village in the Galilee; followed by a lunch meeting in the Tamra garden restaurant for discussion of concrete follow-up on civil society initiatives in Palestine/Israel.

15:00 Return to the hotel in Haifa.

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