The Palestinian refugee question, resulting from the events surrounding the birth of the state of Israel seventy years ago, remains one of the largest and most protracted refugee crises of the post-WWII era. Numbering over six million in the Middle East alone, Palestinian refugees' status varies considerably according to the state or territory 'hosting' them, the UN agency assisting them and political circumstances surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict these refugees are naturally associated with. Despite being foundational to both the experience of the Palestinian refugees and the resolution of their plight, international law is often side-lined in political discussions concerning their fate. This compelling new book, building on the seminal contribution of the first edition (1998), offers a clear and comprehensive analysis of various areas of international law (including refugee law, human rights law, humanitarian law, the law relating to stateless persons, principles related to internally displaced persons, as well as notions of international criminal law), and probes their relevance to the provision of international protection for Palestinian refugees and their quest for durable solutions.

7. Scope of the study

What is the historical framework of the Palestinian refugee crisis and what durable solutions are available? Which human rights instruments are applicable to Palestinian refugees? What is the place of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees within the global refugee framework and what challenges does the Agency face? This book approaches the question of Palestinian refugees from a legal, historical and political perspective to address these and other relevant questions. Seeking to impart an understanding of the place of Palestinian refugees under international law, it explores the rights of Palestinian refugees, including the collective rights of self-determination and state sovereignty and the individual right of return. It discusses the specialized, separate regime established for Palestinian refugees and the relationship of this regime vis-à-vis the UN Refugee Agency and the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

The status of the refugee in international law, and of everyone entitled to protection, has ever been precarious, not least in times of heightened and heated debate: people have always moved in search of safety, and they always will. In this completely revised and updated edition, the authors cast new light on the refugee definition, the meaning of persecution, including with regard to gender and sexual orientation, and the protection due to refugees and those affected by statelessness or disasters. They review the fundamental principle of non-refoulement as a restraint on the conduct of States, even as States themselves seek new ways to prevent the arrival of those in search of refuge. Related principles of protection—non-discrimination, due process, rescue at sea, and solutions— are analysed in light of the actual practice of States, UNHCR, and treaty-monitoring bodies. The authors closely examine relevant international standards, and the role of UNHCR, States, and civil society, in providing protection, contributing to the development of international refugee law, and promoting solutions. New chapters focus on the evolving rules on nationality, statelessness, and displacement due to disasters and climate change. This expanded edition factors in the challenges posed by the movement of people across land and sea in search of refuge, and their interception, reception, and later treatment. The overall aim remains the same as in previous editions: to provide a sound basis for protection in international law, taking full account of State and community interests and recognizing the need to bridge gaps in the regime which now has 100 years of law and practice behind it.

This well-established and widely-respected "Yearbook," is a primary source of information on significant and topical legal issues relating to the Palestinian territories. It provides, in a single annual volume, not only leading articles on topics of major interest to the international legal community, but also key legislation, court decisions, legal cases, treaties, reslolutions, special reports, and other relevant legal material translated from the original Arabic or Hebrew into English. The 11th volume of "The Palestine Yearbook of International Law" is devoted specifically to the question of Palestine refugees and includes: - a comparison of the international legal framework designed to protect refugees with the framework already established for the protection of Palestinian Refugees, - an examination of the various pieces of legislation enacted to 'legally' confiscate Palestinian lands, - raising the question as to how the plight of Palestinian refugees may be addressed in the international legal system, - legal precedents regarding refugees, includiing the Dayton accord and UN Resolutions, -various agreements signed over the course of the past year, - a detailed bibliography of books, monographs and articles, - a comprehensive index. This new volume, as with its predecessors, will be an invaluable source of reference and record on the complex legal issues relating to the Palestinian territories, and will be of prime interest to legal practitioners, researchers, scholars and anyone involved in law, politics, human rights or international relations who has an interest in this region.

In international law, the refugee definition enshrined in Article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol is central. Yet, seven decades on, the meaning of its key terms are widely seen as unclear. The Refugee Definition in International Law asks whether we must continue to accept this or whether a systematic legal analysis can shed new light on this important term. The volume addresses several framework questions concerning approaches to definition, interpretation, ordering, and the interrelationship between the definition's different elements. Each element is then analysed in turn, applying Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties rules in systematic fashion. Each chapter evaluates the main disputes that have arisen and seeks to distil basic propositions that are widely agreed, as well as certain suggested propositions for resolving ongoing debates. In the final chapter, the basic propositions are assembled to demonstrate that in fact there is now more clarity about the definition than many think and that considerable progress has been made toward achieving a working definition.

Encompassing history, politics, and political culture, Bowker grapples with fundamental issues of Palestinian identity in the context of the peace process.

The main goal of this book is to record as much of the Palestinian refugees' political history as possible. The author is becoming increasingly aware of the ebb and flow of general interest in the refugee issue and the strong possibility of subsuming that chapter in the larger Palestinian story. As the PLO itself moved further and further away from the refugee constituency, it became necessary to examine and define the impact of the refugee issue on the larger Palestinian political picture, for indeed, as it turned out, they were always a tremendous influence on the course of Palestinian and Arab history. Although they lost their leadership positions within the PLO, as the latter became increasingly elitist and bureaucratic, the powerless refugees apparently never lost the means to influence the course of Palestinian history. This book relies heavily on early State Department dispatches, Israeli Foreign Office correspondence, early accounts of the stirrings of a refugee movement in Jordan and declarations, statements and studies of the Badil Research Centre and some right of return groups. Also investigated is much of the known literature to emerge from the secretive Oslo negotiations and the reverberations produced by their deliberations throughout the Palestinian diaspora. The resilience of the refugee question should never be questioned or declared until one of two things happened: either the obliteration or dispersal of concentrated refugee communities became a reality or the Palestinian refugees accepted a resolution of some kind or another.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has long been intertwined with, and has had a profound influence on, the principles of modern international law. Placing a rights-based approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the centre of discussions over its peaceful resolution, this book provides detailed consideration of international law and its application to political issues. Through the lens of international law and justice, the book debunks the myth that law is not useful to its resolution, illustrating through both theory and practice how international law points the way to a just and durable solution to the conflict in the Middle East. Contributions from leading scholars in their respective fields give an in-depth analysis of key issues that have been marginalized in most mainstream discussions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Palestinian refugees Jerusalem security legal and political frameworks the future of Palestine. Written in a style highly accessible to the non-specialist, this book is an important addition to the existing literature on the subject. The findings of this book will not only be of interest to students and scholars of Middle Eastern politics, International Law, International Relations and conflict resolution, but will be an invaluable resource for human rights researchers, NGO employees, and embassy personnel, policy staffers and negotiators.

This book provides a comparative examination of a number of different refugee return situations in order to identify pre-requisites for an effective and durable Palestinian repatriation programme. It contains contributions from members of the UN and other NGOs as well as academics.