By David Singer, CFP
Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)—Saeb Erekat—has told a political symposium in Jericho that West Bank Arabs would not be allowed to voluntarily leave—virtually holding them captives against their will.
Erekat stated:
“We will not allow resettlement or formation of refugee committees for that aim, while holding on to the settlement of their cause in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions.”
Michael Lynk – the United Nations Human Rights Council’s “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967”had issued a statement on June 28 endorsing the right to freedom of movement—enshrined in Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Erekat’s outrageous threat was not responding to Lynk’s comments—but to leaked reports claiming the United States might be seeking the resettlement of Palestinian refugees in at least five Arab neighboring countries.
If confirmed, West Bank Arabs could well be prepared to voluntarily leave the West Bank in large numbers—especially if offered the opportunity to legally enter other Arab countries and receive financial assistance for rehousing and resettlement there.
President Trump has a massive US$28.7 billion possibly available to aid West Bank Arabs who want to emigrate, being the money he wanted to plough into revitalising the West Bank and Gaza—which both the PLO and Hamas unbelievably rejected.
Given the state of relationships between Israel, the PLO and Hamas—spending that money earmarked for projects within the West Bank and Gaza was a highly questionable exercise that could have seen the destruction of such projects in future conflicts between these three long-time enemies.
Helping those desperate to emigrate who have suffered the perverse decisions of the PLO during the last 25 years is a much more targeted use of the money—guaranteeing a far better outcome for West Bank Arabs and their families.
The 2019 Human Rights Watch Report evidences the toxic nature of the West Bank:
- the PLO arrested activists who criticized their leaders, security forces, or policies, and mistreated and tortured some in their custody.
- The Independent Commission for Human Rights in Palestine (ICHR), a statutory commission charged with monitoring human rights compliance by the Palestinian authorities, received 205 complaints of torture and ill-treatment by West Bank security forces as of October 31, 2018.
- In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israeli security forces fatally shot 27 Palestinians and wounded at least 5,444,
- Attacks by Israeli settlers injured 61 Palestinians and damaged property in 147 incidents.
- Palestinians killed 10 Israelis, including six civilians, and wounded at least 58 in the same period in the West Bank.
Since the 1993 Oslo Accords—95% of the West Bank Arab population has been under total PLO administrative control.
Real growth declined to around 2 percent in 2018—lower than its average in previous years. The 2018 unemployment rate was 17.6 percent. Youth unemployment between ages 15-24 is 29.8 percent.T
The World Bank has concluded that lack of progress towards peace and reconciliation creates an unsustainable economic situation. The PLO has refused to negotiate with Israel since April 2014 and has failed to call elections since 2007.
The only media outlet to report Erekat’s incendiary statement was the Chinese news agency Xinhua.
The remaining media’s failure to report—and the UN Special Rapporteur’s failure to condemn—Erekat’s controversial announcement—are despicable.
Hopefully President Trump will pressure the PLO to reverse its position and offer a window of opportunity for those to leave who wish to do so.
Offering West Bank Arabs a lifeline to a better future elsewhere is long overdue.
Author’s note: The cartoon—commissioned exclusively for this article—is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators—whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog
@ david singer:Israel will not forcefully deport peaceful Arabs who are legal residents. If a war starts however the ground rules change and no one can predict what might happen.
@ greenrobot:
Those Arabs who wish to stay put where they presently reside should have that option. Those who wish to leave should be entitled to do so. The PLO’s restriction of everyone’s inalienable right to freedom of movement in search of a better life is disgraceful.
@ Ted Belman:
Ted: You state:
“Of course everyone should recognize that incentivizing Palestinians to emigrate is a basic plank in the Jordan Option.”
So too is overthrowing the Hashemite regime in Jordan and replacing it with Mudar Zahran. Voluntary emigration of Arabs from Judea and Samaria is a possibility – installing Zahran is pie in the sky as Zahran’s promised coup has gone way past your constantly revised use by date.
A gift from heaven is the possibility that 28 billion is significant enough. I guesstimate 2.5 million people so that is only 10,000 rounding up to 2.8 million. Is this large enough. I think it would take 100 billion (40,000) which is 20 years income to get them to see the “light” . It is a start.
Of course everyone should recognize that incentivizing Palestinians to emigrate is a basic plank in the Jordan Option.
Pal-Arabs have been emigrating from Judea/Samaria for quite a while number is significant numbers. Erekat can not stop them. They are found in Jordan, Gulf-States and the USA.
The PA’s corruption, lack of opportunity and lack of freedom in the PA are reasons for their emigration. With positive incentive’s these numbers would grow much larger according to polls.
Amin snuffed it 16 years ago, guess the cause was consumption.
Why should the peasants be allowed to leave for a better life when the likes of abbarse, erekat, the female bitch from Jerusalem etc will be held to ransom in other arab countries and have to share their stolen wealth with their hosts? Is adi amin still around in arabia? Nothing is ever heard from him, guess he’s under lock and key. No jet, no copter, no days at the camel races. Just meals of hit and run victims.