Campaign for Palestinian Refugee Rights

Community and International Mobilization

Second Annual Workshop: Coalition for the Palestinian Right of Return: The international umbrella network Coalition for the Palestinian Right of Return successfully concluded its second annual coordinating meeting in Brussels on 30 November 2001. The meeting was organized by BADIL Resource Center (Bethlehem), in cooperation with OXFAM/Belgium and all other participants.
Over the course of four days, the participants evaluated the achievements of the right of return coalition in 2000-2001, discussed agenda and priorities for 2002, developed a joint plan of action, held stocktaking discussions with representatives of European solidarity and human rights organizations, and delved into the mechanics of return and real property restitution with invited guest expert Paul Prettitore, legal advisor to the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia. Four papers were presented outlining prospective future activities.

Reviewing the achievements of the previous year, all participants agreed that the Cyprus meeting (October 2000), as well as information disseminated by BADIL during 2000-2001 gave a push to the formation of new right of return initiatives and the regrouping of existing ones. In general, 2001 witnessed the expansion of the right of return network, which succeeded to develop more efficient lobby strategies with politicians (especially in Europe and in the US). Several right of return conferences were held in Europe, including Denmark, Norway, Germany and France, in order to form a Europe-wide coalition. A conference held in Copenhagen just prior to the Brussels workshop in November elected a Steering Committee for the Palestinian Right of Return Coalition/Europe. In Sweden 18 Palestinian institutions formed a new Coalition of the Palestinian Community residing in the country.

In North America and in the UK, the al-Awda network has provided a new platform for identity and expression since its establishment in the spring 2000. Media and lobby work were evaluated especially positively, along with several large annual demonstrations in support of the right of return in Washington, DC and New York. The al-Awda network also organized the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon (in coordination with the NGO Forum Lebanon). Membership in al-Awda continues to grow (now standing at 1,800 active members). Participants noted that the participation of the NGO Forum Lebanon in the annual coordinating meeting this year was a particularly positive step towards the broadening of coordinated right of return activities in the region.

Participants agreed to maintain the existing structure of the global umbrella network Coalition for the Palestinian Right of Return, which includes all current member organizations. It was agreed that the Coalition should be broadened and strengthened, both within the Palestinian community and also by building networks with solidarity organizations and groups outside the Palestinian community (in a south-south type of international solidarity campaign approach). Additional NGOs, committees and centers working for the right of return will be invited to join the coalition. The participants agreed that the general principles on return, which were part of the Concluding Statement of last year’s workshop (See, www.badil.org/Campaign/principles.htm), remain the unified basis for the Coalition. BADIL will continue to serve as a coordinator for this coalition-broadening work in the year 2002.

Participants also held a one-day stocktaking and planning session with the European Solidarity movement represented by the European Coordinating Committee on Palestine (ECCP), the Belgian-Palestinian Association (ABP), the Flemish Palestine Committee (VPK), Oxfam Solidarity, the French NGO Platform on Palestine, and the Comite Inter-Mouvements Aupres Des Evacues (CIMADE). Following the session, participants attended a public meeting marking the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (29 November), which included a panel on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the inalienable right of return of Palestinian refugees.

At the end of the four-day workshop, the participants recognized the steadfastness and resolve of the ongoing al-Aqsa intifada as part of the struggle of the Palestinian people to achieve their full rights. The participants identified the achievements of the intifada as the strengthened unity of the Palestinian people in their shared determination to achieve three, interrelated goals: (1) to end the Israeli occupation; (2) to establish an independent sovereign Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital; and (3) to implement the Palestinian refugees’ right of return, as spelled out in UN General Assembly Resolution 194.

Ten organizations representing seven different geographical areas attended the Brussels meeting. These included, Committee for the Defense of Palestinian Refugee Rights & Yafa Cultural Center – Palestine; Union of Youth Activity Centers – Refugee Camps, Palestine; National Society for the Rights of the Internally Displaced – 1948 Palestine/Israel; High Committee for the Defense of the Right of Return – Jordan; ‘Aidun Group – Syria; ‘Aidun Group – Lebanon; Forum of NGOs in Lebanon (an umbrella coalition including most major Palestinian NGOs operating in Lebanon) – Lebanon; Palestine Right to Return Coalition (Al-Awda Network) – North America; Al-Awda-Palestine Right to Return Coalition Europe – Europe: and, BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights – Palestine.

** A full text of the Concluding Statement of the Second Coordinating Meeting of the Coalition for the Palestinian Right of Return is reprinted in al-Majdal “Documents” (pages 37-38). Papers and conference proceedings will be published by BADIL in Arabic with an English summary in 2002.

Refugees in Jordan Reaffirm Right of Return: As of mid-November, the Committee for the Defense of the Rights of Palestinian Refugees had collected some 110,000 signatures of refugees residing in Jordan reaffirming their right to return to their homeland in Palestine and compensation for their losses resulting from Israel’s occupation of their homes and lands over the past 50 years. Collection of signatures intensified following remarks by Sari Nusseibeh to the effect that Palestinian refugees would have to relinquish their right to return as part of a final peace deal with Israel. Refugees also reaffirmed their right to return through the creation of an embroidered mural consisting of 1,134, thirty cm2 squares, each representing an existing or destroyed Palestinian town or village. The 100 m2 mural was unveiled during a public ceremony at the Palace of Culture in Amman on December 6 attended by several thousand people. The mural is scheduled to be exhibited in Baghdad, Beirut, Cairo, Damascus, Tunis, United Arab Emirates, and Libya.

Refugees in the Occupied Territories Reaffirm the Right of Return: Palestinian refugees who feel most directly affected by Dr. Sari Nusseibeh's call for Palestinian refugees to cede the right of return have been in the forefront of public protest in Palestine. In a public meeting convened in Balata refugee camp/Nablus in mid-November, refugee community activists were joined by members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and National Council (PNC), in order to formulate steps for an effective public response. The meeting, hosted by Yafa Cultural Center/Balata Camp and BADIL Resource Center, decided to launch a series of activities, which will serve to challenge the political environment that opens the gate to Palestinian individuals who do not reflect the public consensus and official position of the PLO. The Balata camp meeting decided among others, to activate and improve coordination among grass-roots organizations and Palestinian institutions, especially those operating among Palestinian refugees; to hold a series of rights awareness raising activities during the month of Ramadan; to launch a renewed media effort aimed at clarifying the Palestinian consensus on the right of return; to convene a popular refugee conference at the earliest date possible; and, to submit a memorandum of protest to the official Palestinian leadership against the suggestions promoted by Dr. Nusseibeh.