PROMINENT
THE RIGHT RETURN FOR
PALESTINIAN REFUGEES TO
THEIR HOMELAND
- Putri Nurul Syafiqah, Nur
Ezziana, Izzah Hazirah,
Siti Nur Aliaa, Hartika, Afiqa
Since the late 19th century,
the Zionist organisation
continuously dream to have a
Jewish homeland in Palestine.
On the last day of the British Mandate
for Palestine, the Israel declaration of
independence had been issued. Then,
the conflict happened in 1948 when
both Israel and Arab claimed the
land in Palestine as theirs. The claim
by the right of the ancestral and war
periodically broke out between them.
As British troops prepared
to withdraw from Palestine,
the conflict continued to
intensify between both the
Jews and Arab.
The British Cabinet
then agreed that the civil
and military authorities in
Palestine must not oppose
the putting in of a Jewish
State or a move in Palestine
from Transjordan in March
1948. While the British were
preparing their withdrawal,
they paid very little attention to the
turmoil to which Palestine had fallen
prey.
On May 14, 1948, Israel’s prime
minister declared the independence of
the state of Israel established on the
land granted to the Jews. Saudi Arabia
sent a formation that fought underneath
the Egyptian command. British trained
forces from Transjordan eventually
intervened within the conflict, however
solely in areas that had been selected as
a part of the Arab state under the United
Nations Partition Plan and therefore the
corpus separatum of Jerusalem.
As we all know, the conflict
between the Arabs and Jews in Israel
has been going around for decades.
Zionism is Israel’s national ideology,
they believe that Jewish people are
above the Arabs (Palestine). Zionism
believes that Jews are a nation that
should receive national rights.
Zionism also explicitly says that
the Jewish character of the Israeli
state means that Jews have privileges
that others do not have. The Jews also
believe that Judaism is a religion and
that they deserve to have their own
place just like how the French people
deserve France or the Chinese people
have China. Judaism is what basically
brought the Jew people to come to
Israel in the first place.
Given that Palestinian Arabs were
by far the majority throughout the
period up to Israel’s establishment
as a Jewish state in 1948, the Zionist
state could only emerge by denying
Palestinian its rights or by becoming
the majority which can be achieved
through immigration or by reducing
SASARAN EDISI 82 129
the number of Palestinians with ethnic
cleansing. This has singlehandedly
caused Palestinian Arabs to be treated
like they are less than a human in their
own country.
PALESTINIAN REFUGEES
ISSUES
The events of the NAKBA 1948
changed Palestinian for generations.
This transformed them
from people who lived peacefully
and comfortably on their
own land to refugees who
struggled every day in
misery in overcrowded
camps.
Meanwhile, Israel
continues to do everything
it can to not abide the
international law and
implement the United
Nations resolution, which
stipulates the rightful return
of all Palestinians to their
homes.
The ethnic cleansing of Palestine
was very well planned and executed
by the Zionist leaders according
to the Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe.
Clear instructions were given to the
Israel military to prevent the return of
Palestinian refugees.
The number of Palestinian refugees
of the 1948 war is estimated to be
between 700,000 and 800,000 and the
number has continued to rise after the
1967 war. Today, the estimated number
of Palestinian refugees has exceeded to
be more than a million.