Netanyahu Wants Trump to Reject Diaspora Palestinians’ Right of Return
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
International law affirms the right of return for all people – under Fourth Geneva, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, along with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Everyone has the right to leave and return to their home of origin unobstructed. Since 1948, Israel denied diaspora Palestinians this fundamental right – the world community doing nothing to enforce it.
The 1215 Magna Carta endorsed the principle, stating:
“In future it shall be lawful for any man to leave and return to our kingdom unharmed and without fear, by land or water, preserving his allegiance to us, except in time of war, for some short period, for the common benefit of the realm.”
The 1907 Hague Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on Land states:
“After the conclusion of peace, the repatriation of prisoners of war shall be carried out as quickly as possible.”
Requiring repatriation of prisoners makes it obvious that displaced civilians have the same right.
Other international and single country laws affirm the right of return. According to the UN Human Rights Committee, “(t)he right of a person to enter his or her own country recognizes the special relationship of a person to that country.”
“It includes not only the right to return after having left one’s own country; it may also entitle a person to come to the country for the first time if he or she was born outside the country.”
Israel’s 1948 war of aggression displaced about 800,000 Palestinians, massacring many others. Survivors and descendants are legally entitled to return to historic Palestine.
No one can revoke that fundamental right. Israel got away with it for 70 years because the international community failed to uphold the law.
According to Israeli Hadashot TV news, Netanyahu wants Trump to exclude the right of return from final status issues to be resolved.
He flagrantly violated international law by declaring Jerusalem Israel’s exclusive capital.
Perhaps complying with Netanyahu’s request is the next shoe to drop, making the no-peace/peace process more of a sham than already.
All US administrations since Israel’s creation have been hostile to Palestinian rights, Trump worse than his predecessors by his deplorable actions so far.
He also may suspend aid to Palestinians and close the PLO office in Washington.
He wants them punished for not surrendering entirely to US and Israeli demands. There’s no telling how tough he intends getting ahead.
He’s an enemy of peace and fundamental human rights, exclusively serving privileged interests, along with one-sidedly supporting Israel.
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