Oslo is Dead: Alternative Approaches to Achieve Durable Solutions
Palestinian refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) worldwide suffer from a grave ‘protection gap’, which refers to the lack of protection they are entitled to in accordance to international law. Individual states bear the primary responsibility for protecting the rights of their citizens and those subject to their authority and jurisdiction. In light of Israel’s failure to afford this protection to Palestinian refugees, the international community has an obligation to protect the rights of Palestinians, in particular the right to self-determination and the right of Palestinian refugees and IDPs to reparation (repatriation/return to their homes of origin, property restitution, compensation and non-repetition).
The international community,
through the United Nations, nevertheless, has largely failed to
meet its obligations towards the Palestinian people for reasons
primarily resulting from the lack of political will among powerful
western states. Despite the gravity of the policies and practices
implemented by Israel, which have resulted in the mass forcible
transfer of Palestinians spanning decades, no UN agency or other
authoritative body has been designated as primarily responsible for
their protection or the pursuit of durable solutions. The United
Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP), the agency
that was created for such purpose, has been inoperative for over
six decades, leaving Palestinian refugees de facto without
international protection. The United Nations Relief and Works
Agency (UNRWA) is mandated to provide humanitarian assistance for
Palestinian refugees, which is a necessary intervention and one of
the core pillars of international protection, but it can only be a
temporary measure aimed at alleviating suffering and cannot be
considered a substitute for a comprehensive political solution.
The Oslo Accords marked the beginning of the Oslo peace process in
1993, which aimed at achieving permanent peace between Palestinians
and Israelis and finding a durable solution to the plight of
Palestinian refugees. However, in the several rounds of
negotiations that took place during this process the refugee
question was left off of the table, and refugees were neither given
a chance to participate nor were their rights or the protection gap
addressed. Instead, Palestine witnessed a ‘peace process’
stretching 24 years that brought little positive change in
practice. This could stem from the fact that the resolution of the
refugee issue is the keystone for any successful peace process
seeking a just and durable solution in the Middle East. Thus, from
the moment it was decided to postpone or ignore the refugee
question in the negotiations, the Oslo roadmap was set to fail.
It is in such a context that this issue of al-Majdal magazine comes
to explore a range of different paths Palestinians could follow to
achieve durable solutions to the refugee issue, and more generally,
to the ongoing Israeli policies of forced population transfer,
colonization and apartheid. In March 2015 BADIL surveyed over 3,000
Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan and
Lebanon to examine the perceptions of Palestinian refugees residing
in UNRWA camps regarding the protection they receive and the
protection they are entitled to, including durable
solutions.[1]
BADIL explored how the protection gap affects Palestinian refugees,
with the aim to reinforce advocacy efforts in emphasizing the lack
of an international agency mandated to provide such protection.
When asked about their preferred paths to achieve a durable
solution to the Palestinian refugee issue, the participants marked
the BDS movement, Security Council sanctions and the International
Criminal Court (ICC) as their top choices. It is interesting that
despite the failure and lack of political will among international
duty bearers to take effective measures to address the protection
gap, these results show that the refugees still have significant
expectations of the international community to bring about change
to the current situation.
But when analyzing the potential of international duty bearers to
provide effective protection to Palestinian refugees, there are two
questions that require our attention. First of all, do
international duty-bearers – states, UN agencies – recognize the
existence of the protection gap of Palestinian refugees? And,
secondly, in the cases where such a gap is recognized – whether
fully or partially – what steps have been taken to address it?
These questions are important as in the past years UNRWA has issued
statements highlighting some aspect of the protection gap, such as
the shortage of humanitarian assistance, or the legal
discrimination suffered by Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. The
same is true for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) or some of the host states of Palestinian refugees,
especially now in the context of the ongoing conflict in Syria,
which has highlighted the lack of protection suffered by
Palestinian refugees when trying to flee to neighboring countries.
Nevertheless, what is clear, especially in the light of the ongoing
displacement and lack of protection of Palestinian refugees, is
that no measure has been taken to address these gaps and other gaps
in protection.
Addressing this completely unacceptable and unsustainable state of
affairs therefore represents a matter of great urgency and it can
only be realized through the application of concerted pressure by
the international community through all available channels. These
joint efforts should be based on adopting and supporting
rights-based durable solutions as a long-term strategy; developing
mechanisms and taking effective measures to bring Israel into
compliance with international law; ensuring effective protection of
Palestinian refugees, IDPs and those at risk of forcible transfer
in Palestine and host countries; and including the Palestinian
refugee and IDP communities’ participation and engagement in the
process of identifying protection gaps, ensuring effective
protection, and crafting durable solutions. residential
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It is in connection to this last recommendation that this issue of
al-Majdal starts by analyzing the results of the most recent Survey
carried out by BADIL, in an attempt to bring refugee voices back to
the fore. The magazine begins with an article that provides an
overview of the main paths to solving the refugee issue chosen by
Palestinian refugees living in UNRWA camps. These results offer
unique information about how refugees themselves want to proceed to
close this protection gap and achieve a durable solution to their
plight. The article is followed by five articles that analyze each
one of the main options chosen by refugees. The first article,
written by Bangani Ngeleza and Adri Nieuwhof, focuses on the BDS
movement in South Africa and how it evolved from a minority
grassroots campaign to gaining the support of the international
community. Professor Joseph Schechla writes about the Security
Council, its lack of effectiveness historically to bring about
peace and justice and the problematic of its lack of neutrality
brings for the Palestinian case. Following is an article focused on
another international mechanism, the ICC, written by Dr Valentina
Azarova. The article analyzes the main obstacles Palestinians will
face when bringing their claims to this court. Simon Reynolds
provides a legal analysis on the use of different forms of
resistance by Palestinians and their legitimacy according to
international law. Finally, Jamil Hilal explores the need to build
representative Palestinian institutions, focusing on the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO).
As the results analyzed in this issue show, Palestinian refugees
are demanding that the international community take sound steps to
isolate and pressure Israel to be accountable and ensure
Palestinian refugees the protection they are entitled to. They have
already pointed at some of their preferred channels through which
to realize their rights, which is why this call should be used to
bring about effective measures on the ground and bridge the ongoing
‘protection gap’ suffered by Palestinian refugees. The UN (mainly
through UNRWA and UNHCR), states, and other duty bearers should
make the fulfillment of Palestinian rights and ensuring protection
a priority of the highest order.
[1]
For more details about the questionnaire and results of other
questions, please see the BADIL Survey 2013-2015:
http://www.badil.org/phocadownloadpap/badil-new/publications/survay/Survey2013-2015-en.pdf