What is the right of return for Palestinian refugees?

The Palestinian right of return is the political position or principle that Palestinian refugees, both first-generation refugees (c. 30,000 to 50,000 people still alive as of 2012) and their descendants (c.

How many Palestinian refugees exist?

Today there are more than 7 million Palestinian refugees scattered around the world. The reality of Palestinian forced displacement is at the core of the Palestinian experience and the Palestinian refugee issue is at the heart of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Where do the Palestinian refugees go?

Palestinian refugees live in four main locations — Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Jordan. Today, one in four people is a refugee in Lebanon, and the country houses over 1 million Syrians and 450,000 Palestinians. Many Palestinian refugees have lived in Lebanon for generations in the country’s 12 camps.

What is the Palestinian refugee crisis?

Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war (1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War (1967 Palestinian exodus).

Why are Palestinian refugees in Syria?

Due to the civil war in Syria that commenced in 2011, many Palestinians in Syria have been displaced, either within Syria itself or they have fled the country. According to UNRWA, more than half a million Palestinians resided in refugee camps in Syria before the war started.

What is the status of the Palestinian refugees?

The status of the refugees, and in particular whether Israel will allow them the right to return to their homes, or compensate them, are key issues in the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The events of 1948 are commemorated by Palestinians both in the Palestinian territories and elsewhere on 15 May, a date known as Nakba Day .

Why were Palestinians who were displaced in 1948 not allowed to return?

The Palestinians who were displaced in 1948 were not allowed to return to the places from which they were displaced because their presence was seen as a threat to the maintenance of a sustainable Jewish demographic majority in the new state.

How does the Israel-Palestine conflict affect society?

Within Israeli and Palestinian society, the conflict generates a wide variety of views and opinions. This highlights the deep divisions which exist not only between Israelis and Palestinians, but also within each society.

How many Palestinians were expelled from Israel before the war?

About 250,000–300,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled before the Israeli Declaration of Independence in May 1948, a fact which was named as a casus belli for the entry of the Arab League into the country, sparking the 1948 Arab–Israeli War .