DUBAI, 12 July 2005 — Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas told Arab countries hosting Palestinian refugees to give them citizenship, insisting such a move would not compromise their right of return.
“I call upon every Arab government wishing to give citizenship (to Palestinian refugees) to do so. What is wrong with that?” he said in an interview with Dubai Television late Sunday.
But the Palestinian Authority president insisted that obtaining citizenship in a host-country should not compromise the right to return to their homeland of which many Palestinian refugees dream.
“This does not mean resettlement (of refugees). A Palestinian would return to his homeland whenever he is allowed, whether he carried an Arab or non-Arab citizenship,” he said. “A fifth-generation Palestinian living in Chile also wishes to return when allowed ... It is an emotional matter, not related to citizenship,” he added.
The Palestinian leader, who visited Syria and Lebanon last week — both host to hundreds of thousands of refugees, slammed claims that the Arab League had banned naturalization of refugees as “mere excuses”. “There is no decision ... the Arab League only recommended (not to grant citizenship) but this was not a decision,” he said.
This recommendation “goes back to the (early) 1950s”, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians became refugees, following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, he added.
Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are the main hosts of Palestinian refugees, along with those in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Hashemite kingdom, which disengaged from the West Bank in 1988, hosts some 1.7 million Palestinian refugees, most of whom enjoy Jordanian citizenship, while those living in Syria and Lebanon are allowed to hold travel documents only.
Refugees’ right of return is a key stumbling block to Middle East peace as Israel believes the potential influx could lead to Palestinians outnumbering Israelis. Many Palestinians say they would like the right to return though would not necessarily avail themselves of it.
