There is another way. This problem can and must be solved. All peace processes in the Middle East have included elaborate declarations for rehabilitation programs for the refugees but all have delayed the development and implementation of such programs until the end of the process. This process remains stuck today and the Palestinian refugees, Israel, the Arab countries and the Western world remain unresolved.
From a Political Solution to a Humanitarian Solution
The ongoing suffering of the refugees nurtured the birth of Palestinian nationalism. Generations in refugee camps have galvanized the national consciousness and the desire to destroy Israel. Instead of resolving their suffering and dealing with the root of the problem, Israel and the international community chose to cultivate the Palestinian national consciousness and to advance the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Everyone believes that the refugee problem will be resolved when this state is created.
This policy is a profound failure. It has not resulted in peace, but rather in war. There has been no improvement in the status of the Palestinian refugees whatsoever. UNRWA continues to act under the Palestinian Authority, the refugees continue to live in camps, and Palestinian citizenship carries no value whatsoever.
Once again the refugees are being abandoned. Great sums of money have been invested not in their rehabilitation, but rather in the building up of the Palestinian Authority. The PA is a proterrorist, corrupt authority that has not brought any benefit to the Palestinians themselves, and has transformed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into an endless cycle of bloodshed.
To eliminate despair, we must change course before it is too late. We must begin now by solving the refugee problem.
How do we solve the refugee problem?
Refugee problems are solvable. The international community has amassed broad and diverse experience in doing so. In recent decades, millions of people from Asia, Africa and Europe have exited their refugee status and undergone rehabilitation. The Palestinian refugee problem is no different than any of these other refugee issues.
In order to rehabilitate refugees, there are three principle avenues upon which we can operate:
(a) rehabilitation in a temporary country of refuge; (b) rehabilitation within a third country
(c) return to the homeland.
The State of Israel, as a Jewish State cannot allow itself to absorb these refugees. The Palestinian refugees are large in number at this point and they carry a deep hostility towards Zionism and the State of Israel. This makes the third avenue unviable, which leaves us with the first two avenues to choose from.
Rehabilitation in a temporary country of refuge
The refugees from 1948 found shelter in four major destinations: Jordan, Lebanon, Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. The best absorption took place in Jordan. As opposed to the other Arab countries, the Jordanian monarchy received some of the refugees as citizens. These former refugees integrated into society, the economy and even the Jordanian government. Within the framework of a comprehensive rehabilitation program and appropriate economic incentives for the refugees and the monarchy, we can reasonably assume that most of the refugees living within Jordan will choose to remain there as citizens and continue to rehabilitate their lives. The rehabilitation process will energize the economy in the monarchy and will strengthen regional economic initiatives such as the "Valley of Peace" (Emek Hashalom).
In Lebanon, we are witnesses to the painful, ongoing process of the refugee problem, for those who have not become Lebanese citizens. Sixty years after arriving in this country, the time has come for the international community and the Arab world to demand that Lebanon take part in finding a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, and cease discrimination against its Palestinian brethren. Here too, the rehabilitative process and its accompanying compensation will help in the rehabilitation of Lebanon and act as a stabilizing force for the country. It is possible that due to the many different sects and power struggles in Lebanon, that not all of the refugees currently living in Lebanon will be able to enjoy full rehabilitation. In such a scenario, the refugees will have to seek viable alternatives for settling outside of Lebanon. Very few Palestinian refugees fled to Syria. They now comprise less than 3% of the population. There is no reason that the Syrian government should prevent full rehabilitation and absorb them as citizens into the country.
The rehabilitation of the refugees in Judea and Samaria (The West Bank) presents a much more complex problem. The refugee camps in Judea and Samaria have been transformed over the years into terrorist nests and this population has become the most hostile to Israel. Were it not for the presence of the Israel Defense Forces, Hamas militias would be ruling Judea and Samaria today leaving Israel's population centers particularly vulnerable. It is in Israel's interest to reduce the number of Palestinian refugees that will be rehabilitated in this region. It is also in the interest of the moderate Arab states and the Western world to weaken the Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas axis and to strengthen the moderate regimes of Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. The majority of the Palestinian refugees living in Judea and Samaria, and particularly those residing in the refugee camps (about 1/3 of the refugees in Judea and Samaria), cannot be rehabilitated here. We must find another solution for them.
The possibility of rehabilitation in the Gaza Strip is dependent on removing most of the refugees from the strip. The area has become very dangerous due to the concentration of refugees who carry the deciding weight of the population. There is no viable future for the Gaza Strip without dramatically reducing the population there. Extremist elements there are causing the Gaza Strip to become a magnet for every possible disaster scenario that can take place in the Middle East.