"Return" Right? Wrong

Eli Hertz sheds some light on UN Resolution 194 and notes that it was

Paragraph 11, which alone addressed the issue of refugees and compensation for those whose property was lost or damaged. Contrary to Arab claims, it did not guarantee a Right of Return and certainly did not guarantee an unconditional Right of Return - that is the right of Palestinian Arab refugees to return to Israel. Nor did it specifically mention Arab refugees, thereby indicating that the resolution was aimed at all refugees, both Jewish and Arab. Instead, Resolution 194 recommended that refugees be allowed to return to their homeland if they met two important conditions:

1. That they be willing to live in peace with their neighbors

2. That the return takes place "at the earliest practicable date"

The resolution also recommended that for those who did not wish to return, "Compensation should be paid for the property ... and for loss of or damage to property" by the "governments or authorities responsible."

Although Arab leaders point to Resolution 194 as proof that Arab refugees have a right to return or be compensated, Israel is not even mentioned in the resolution. The fact that plural wording also is used - "governments or authorities" - suggests that, contrary to Arab claims, the burden of compensation does not fall solely upon one side of the conflict. Because seven Arab armies invaded Israel, Israel was not responsible for creating the refugee problem. When hundreds of thousands of Arab Jews, under threat of death, attack and other forms of persecution, were forced to flee Arab communities, the State of Israel absorbed the overwhelming majority of them into the then-fledgling nation.

One point I wish to add.

The Arabs get preferential treatment. Ever heard of UNHCR?
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

This is what it does:

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country.

If you go to their sub-site on "Occupied Palestinian Territory" you'll see that in the Statistical box, the number of refugees "Residing in Occupied Palestinian Territory" is...0. Yep. Zero. Naught. Efes.
And how many in the category of "Originating from Occupied Palestinian Territory"? 340,016.

Really?

Well, we'll solve that problem for you. Go here.

That's right (no pun intended), the Pals. have their own agency: the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Please pay attention, the term is "Palestine refugees", as in the original resolutions (here and here). Not "Palestinian".

Jews were also included in the assistance program until in the early 1950s, Israel told the UN that 'we can take care of our own, they are not refugees if living in Israel'. See my previous post on this.

But the Arabs, despite that they are living in the areas of the former Mandate of Palestine keep up their refugee status.