The National Committee for the Rights of the Internally Displaced Palestinians in Israel

The experience of Palestinians before, during, and after al-Nakba was the result of Zionist conspiracies and policies conducted by the institutions of the occupation and accompanied by massacres and military eviction. The latter led to the creation of the Palestinian refugee question, i. e. the plight of all those Palestinians who, for more than half a century, have lived in the camps of the Diaspora or as forcefully displaced in their homeland. Palestinian refugees continue to sacrifice and fight for their legitimate right to return. Consecutive Israeli governments have stolen refugee properties and homes, destroyed our villages and confiscated our lands by means of discriminatory, ethnic legislation and by denying our right of return to our homeland, which is based on UN resolution 194/III (11-12-1948):

“[The General Assembly] Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes, and live at peace with their neighbors, 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.

Ironically, Israel's admission to the United Nations was conditioned by Israel's adherence to the above-mentioned resolution. Until now, and irrespective of all consecutive UN resolutions addressing this issue, Israel has refused to abide by UN Resolution 194. Israeli governments, rather guided by Zionist ideological and political principles, continue to legitimize their existence built on the remains of others. A study of Professor Israel Shahak (The Destroyed Arab Villages, 1975), among others, shows the depth of the Arab Palestinian catastrophe. It includes a list of 385 destroyed villages (from among the 475 villages existing before 1948).These villages were invaded and destroyed by Israel, a fact for which the Israeli leadership and its allies must be condemned.

2. Displaced in the Homeland

In the course of the Palestinian catastrophe, tens of thousands of Palestinians were displaced inside their homeland. Most of them had fled to neighboring Arab villages, which were not affected by the eviction operations, in order to stay near their villages of origin. Internally displaced were scattered and many families were divided, because they found refuge in more than one village. The majority, however, were concentrated in northern Palestine and in the Galilee. A 1995 study by the Preparatory Committee for the Defense of the Internally Displaced Palestinians in Israel, based on an article by Professor Kaiman, shows that displaced persons of 44 villages (from among the 162 completely destroyed villages in the Galilee and the north) continue to live in this area. While 11 villages and their inhabitants have remained complete, the portion of remaining inhabitants from the other villages is between 1% and 17%. It is common knowledge that Israel continued its ethnic expansion policy directed against Palestinians after the declaration of the state of Israel on 15 May 1948. Since that time, Israel has occupied, destroyed and evacuated several additional villages. While accurate statistics are not available, the current number of internally displaced is estimated to be 250,000 (in the early 1980s, Professor Samouha estimated their number to be 150,000), living in around 80 villages and towns. These people share common memories of their towns and villages of origin, memories which have withstood time and the policies of ethnic discrimination directed against the Palestinian Arab minority.

3. Legislation and Administrative Practices against Internally Displaced and their Villages

Even after the termination of the military confrontation, Israeli governments continued legislative and administrative procedures aimed at confiscating lands and destroyed villages, in order prevent the return of the internally displaced. The Emergency Regulations of the British Mandate, new laws, and unjust regulations - such as the imposition of military closure - were used to prevent the internally displaced and others from entering their lands without prior permission for "security reasons". One of these unjust laws is the 1950 Absentees' Properties Law that defined internally displaced Palestinians as "Present Absentees". According to Atty Tawfiq Jabareen, this law was used after 1948 to transfer Palestinian properties to Jewish hands via an illegal guardian (the Custodian of Absentee Properties) who transferred them to the Israeli Development Authority.

One of the administrative steps taken by Israeli governments was the destruction of the villages of origin, in order to uproot the displaced and to build settlements for Jewish immigrants. The inhabitants of Iqrit and Kufr Bir’am were evacuated in this context. Following a 1951 Supreme Court decision confirming their right to return to their villages, Iqrit and Bir'am were completely destroyed. Israeli authorities have postponed implementation of the Court decision until today.

The manifesto presented by Atty Hanna Nakara to the popular conference in Nazareth (17-2-1979) is still valid. It strongly condemns the Israeli leadership, which, at the beginning of the third millennium, upholds its ethnic policies and denies the internally displaced exercise of their right of return to their villages of origin:

“Tens of thousands of Arab, are still far away from their destroyed villages and stolen lands. There is an army of local refugees from Safouria, al-Mjedil, Ma’loul, Andrew, Hiteen, Namareen, al-Shajara, Arab al-Khsas, Arab al-Baqaara, al-Kabri, al-Mansoura, al-Zeib, al-Bassa, ‘Amka, al-Sheikh Daoud, al-Berwa, al-Damoun, al-Rouwais, al-Khabsia, Iqrit, Kufr Bir’am, Anan, Faradia, Kwaikat, al-Manshiya, Mei’ar, Shou’b, al-Naher, al-Sa’iria, Suhmata, Tarbekha, Um al-Farraj, and others. This army of local refugees was created by the policies of consecutive ethnic governments, existing and working for the eviction of the native people and the planting of a new people.”

4. From Spontaneous towards Organized Action

Eviction by force and weapons, massacres, and exile has been the lot of the internally displaced in the past century. Israeli governments have destroyed their villages and confiscated their lands, in order to prevent their return. All efforts by the internally displaced to resist eviction, since al-Nakba and until today, and to return home have failed, because of arrogant, ethnically-based Israeli policies.

Internally displaced were subject to a repressive Israeli military occupation for some twenty years (1948 - 1965). At that time, they could not visit their villages, not even smell the village air. Most of the internally displaced, even brothers, were unable to meet, and their struggle was obstructed by fierce oppression. Their dream of return, however, remained, despite these long years. They tried their best to return, individually and as committees, desperately, but without success.

In these circumstances, the Committee for the Rights of the Internally Displaced Palestinians in Israel was established in 1992 in an attempt to unify all efforts and to make our issue a common cause, rather than a separate issue of each village, a situation which caused weakness and the loss of momentum in the past.

From the beginning, the Committee realized the special situation of internally displaced Palestinians in Israel:

Despite the national, historic, and geographic ties between the Palestinian people and the internally displaced, we must highlight the uniqueness of the internally displaced who remained in their homeland, a special situation which is shared by all the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel. Internally displaced Palestinians hold Israeli citizenship, a fact which distinguishes us – even on the leside - from all other refugee communities. The Israeli authorities deal with us as Israeli citizens, and according to Israeli laws. At the same time, despite our status as citizens, we are subject to ethnic discrimination. Our rights remain unequal.

The uniqueness of the situation of internally displaced has led to the adoption of special rights and protection by the international community, foremost the United Nations and its institutions. Internally displaced live in a special context, in a historical period in which everybody sings the slogan of the implementation of international law. At the same time, Israeli governments continue to violate our right of return to our homes and holy sites - mosques, churches, and cemeteries - destroyed by the authorities.

The National Committee for the Rights of Internally Displaced re-affirms what was stated in our historical manifesto:

A big responsibility lies on the shoulders of the Palestinian Arab people in general and its political leadership in particular: the issue of the internally displaced must be protected. Our issue symbolizes the core of ethnic discrimination and of the violation of Palestinian national rights. The solution of this issue will strongly impact the establishment of coexistence based on proper parameters and standards.

Raising awareness for the issue of the internally displaced on the local and international level will spread awareness of the historical international responsibility for one of the most critical issues which will never be outdated. As Israel remains unwilling to implement our rights, international institutions and human rights organizations will gather to pressure the international community and all its fora for the implementation of international resolutions and of our return to our destroyed villages.

5. The First Meeting of the Internally Displaced (11-3-1995)

A Preparatory Committee called for a general meeting of the internally displaced at Qasr al-Salam (Shafa 'Amr road, Tamra) on 11-3-1995. More than 280 persons representing 39 destroyed villages attended this meeting which gave birth to the National Committee for the Rights of the Internally Displaced Palestinians in Israel. Consequently, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee adopted our cause (16-3-1995), and re-affirmed our right of return to our destroyed villages.

6. Manifesto - National Committee for the Rights of the Internally Displaced

(First issued in 1992 and reconfirmed in the meeting convened at the Galilee Society, Shafa 'Amr, 19-11-1999)

"As we enter the third millenium, the Palestinian refugee issue created by Zionist conspiracies and occupation institutions has remained unresolved. Fifty-one years after 1948 Nakba, Palestinians still live in exile and displaced in their homeland. Since the establishment of the Israeli state, achieved with the support of international Zionism and imperialist forces, consecutive Israeli governments have rejected our internationally legitimized right of return. These governments have continued to destroy our villages and desecrate our holy sites, and have transformed us from a people with land into a people without land. By means of ethnic legislation, they have confiscated our land, robbed our properties, changed the historical sites of our homeland, and built on the remains of our villages. Our people has struggled, during these long years, against Zionist policies and sacrificed for our legitimate right of return.

The 1991 Madrid Conference excluded reference to UN resolution 194, which emphasizes our right of return, and neglected the existence of the Palestinian Arab minority in the homeland. In response, internally displaced embarked on an initiative, in 1992, to gather and unify our struggle for the right of return to our villages and towns of origin.

A first popular meeting of the internally displaced at Qasr al-Salam/Tamra on 11-3-1995 resulted in the establishment of the National Committee for the Rights of the Internally Displaced Palestinians in Israel mandated “to follow up, and lead the struggle for return”. On 16-3-1995, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee adopted our cause and re-affirmed our right of return to our destroyed villages.

Since the 1993 Oslo Accords and the follow-up agreements, the terms of peace have been defined and spread by Israeli governments and their allies, terms which reject the implementation of collective Arab-Palestinians rights, especially the right of return. We internally displaced stand at the threshold to the third millenium, deeply concerned of a so-called final status solution which will cancel our rights. Aware of what might be cooked behind the scenes, and knowing that Barak's "Nos" will not bring a just peace, we wish to re-affirm the following:

• We the some 250,000 internally displaced, part of the Palestinian Arab minority, citizens of this state, did not fall from the sky. We are not immigrants, but natives in our land. The Israeli government is not allowed - on ethical, moral, legal, and political grounds - to keep us displaced in our homeland, far from our towns and villages of origin. International law and principles protect our natural right of return.

• We warn the Israeli government not to neglect our issue and demand that our file be opened. We demand the cancellation of the Absentees' Property Law which defines us as "Present Absentees", as well as the cancellation of all other laws providing for ethnic discrimination, and to return the displaced to their homes.

• The National Committee demands to maintain the holy sites in all destroyed villages and to protect our historic sites.

• We call upon all political institutions, national parties, and our people to stand on our side.

As part of the entire Arab-Palestinian people, we wish to declare:

• The refugee issue is the heart of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

• The Palestinian refugees' right to return to their homeland and homes is a sacred right whose implementation must be based on UN Resolution 194.

• We warn of the consequences of conspiracies against Palestinian refugee rights, whether conducted openly or behind closed doors. We state with a loud voice that there will be no just solution without a solution of issue of the refugees and the internally displaced."

7. Towards the Return Rally in Support of the Internally Displaced Palestinians' Right of Return

A major question raised in the meeting of local associations and the National Committee (Galilee Society/Shafa ‘Amr, 19-11-1999) was: What is the level of awareness of our rights among the broad internally displaced community in this critical period for the Arab-Palestinian people? Fifty-one years and our issue is still kept hanging by the Zionist circles ruling Israel that destroyed our villages and stole our properties. Israeli governments have had the illusion that the displaced will - with time - forget their lands, but we are still clinging to every inch of it. Several years have passed since the establishment of our organized activities in 1992. We had decided to handle our case alone, especially after the Madrid conference, which excluded the refugees in the homeland, an exclusion which was repeated by the Oslo Accords. We realized from the beginning, that we are walking a difficult road. This road, which will lead us to our right of return, however, remains blocked by the discriminatory ethnic-Zionist policies. Our struggle must confront these discriminatory ethnic policies and face the new immigrants confiscating our lands.

In this climate of discrimination, we succeeded to build local committees and societies which struggle under the umbrella of the National Committee for the Rights of the Internally Displaced Palestinians in Israel. We organized many activities inside the destroyed villages and lectured in schools about our case. Among the most significant activities were the march in the destroyed village of al-Khabsia, and our active participation in the 50th anniversary of al-Nakba on the lands of Safouria in 1998. Some villages started an initiative for children summer camps in the villages of origin, in order to pass our messafrom one generation to the other. Sehmata Theater (written by Hanna 'Ideh and Edward Mast, produced by Hanna 'Ideh and al-Maidan Theater) played a major role in promoting the refugees/displaced issue. The first show was presented on Sehmata land (21-8-1998), against the background of the destroyed houses. This theater was like an ambassador, traveling and performing more than 80 shows. The National Committee for the Rights of the Internally Displaced Palestinians in Israel received recognition by the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee; the local Arab press started to raise our issue, as did some of the Hebrew newspapers and media.

Today, after all these achievements, we are aware of some shortcomings in our work. We thus decided to make a renewed and strong effort in order to expand our local committees and societies in which the displaced are active and to improve their work.

Our internally displaced people remain committed to the right of return, and continue to hold the last will of their grandparents, who died with the dream to return. They have suffered for decades and continue to suffer from violations committed by Israeli governments, which confiscated our land. We are aware of the developments, whether happening in the open or behind the scenes, in the Diaspora and in the refugee camps, and we are aware of the conspiracies against our case. In the meeting on 19-11-2000, the local committees and societies expressed their trust in the National Committee and decided unanimously that the National Committee is the legitimate representative of the internally displaced in Israel. The representatives of our local committees and societies, who are the source of legitimacy for the National Committee, emphasized their support until a just solution - return - is achieved.

The message is clear, because it comes from the native people. We did not come from across the oceans, and we did not fall from the sky. Our people, all national institutions, and all conscious individuals, will support us in our struggle.

Today, on the eve of the "final status solution", we should knock the tank [of Ghassan Kanafani's dying Man Under The Sun] and demand the implementation of UN Resolution 194: the right of return and compensation, because without it, there will never be a just and comprehensive peace.

With great eagerness, the participants adopted the suggestion of the National Committee for the Rights of the Internally Displaced Palestinians in Israel, to conduct our Return Rally in support of the internally displaced and our right of return. The National Committee in its meeting on 12-1-2000 decided to hold the Return Rally in the Sports Center/Nazareth Municipality on Saturday 11-3-2000. To our displaced brothers and sisters,

To our people,
We will not surrender our right of return.

Our displaced child can pronounce the name his/her village or town of origin before s/he learns to talk. Let us be united in one stream and let us raise our voice to be heard by all. Let us be committed to our right to return to our homes.

Youth, adults, men, women, National and democratic forces

All are invited to participate in the Return Rally, and the return of the right to its people!

The National Committee for the Rights of the Internally Displaced in Israel
February 2000

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