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.