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Israel-Palestine
Refugees Left Out of Palestinian Vote
2005-01-10
Yehya Shatarat punched his fist into his hand as he watched satellite television pictures of Palestinians in the West Bank voting for a successor to the late Yasser Arafat. "Mahmoud Abbas is definitely the winner and he will destroy us completely because he sold out the Palestinian cause to Israel and America a long time ago," said the 28-year-old refugee, referring to the Palestinian who is expected to easily win the presidential race. Abbas fulfilled Shatarat's prediction, with exit polls showing him winning handily.

Shatarat wasn't the only one in the camps scattered across the Middle East who expressed frustration at having no say in choosing the leaders who will sit down with Israel to decide the fate of Palestinian refugees. Israel flatly rejects allowing hundreds of thousands of refugees and their descendants to return to homes abandoned in the 1948 and 1967 Middle East wars, saying that would destroy the country as a Jewish majority state. A future settlement is likely to be a combination of financial compensation for those barred from returning and resettlement in the West Bank, Gaza or in the West.
Posted by:Fred

#11  "I'm sure that at least some would prefer to give up the Palestinian label, but it isn't an option."

Well it is if you move out of the $%!7 hole that is the middle east. I would have been figuring out my plan of leaving really fast. Those to stupid to do that deserve what pain they suffer. There is zero chance the state of Isreal is going to let any of them back in ever.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2005-01-10 9:09:23 PM  

#10  There's no if's, and's, or buttheads about it. When the Arabs rejected Partition and fled Israel to make way for the Arab reconquest, they lost all claim to the land or "citizenship" they fled.
"Right of Return" my ass. Israel was created as a state for Jews; Jordan for Arabs. If Jordan doesn't want them they can rot as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by: Asedwich   2005-01-10 8:16:34 PM  

#9  Carry on then, mojo! Yeah, its dreary and cold here in the Midwest, and they are talking about more floods later in the week. California is getting an early taste of life after the globe warms up, and .com is experiencing the first signs of the next ice age out there in Vegas.

And then the Paleo idiots refuse to learn, despite gentle instruction. I guess I'm in a butthead mood, now, too.
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-01-10 2:52:25 PM  

#8  Sea, good point.
Posted by: 2b   2005-01-10 2:03:11 PM  

#7  2b, WTOP is just an aggregator of wire service stories, it prolly originated from rooters et al.
Posted by: Seafarious   2005-01-10 1:52:43 PM  

#6  Yeah, I know, TW. I was just being a butt-head.

It seems like the day for it, somehow...
Posted by: mojo   2005-01-10 1:30:21 PM  

#5  Mojo, after 1948, the Arabs who fled the new Israel were not given permanent refugee status or citizenship in their countries of refuge. Those who weren't forced into UN refugee camps were allowed only temporary housing until their triumphant return. Unfortunately, there has been no return, so these people (and their many decendents) are still in legal limbo. I'm sure that at least some would prefer to give up the Palestinian label, but it isn't an option.
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-01-10 1:01:14 PM  

#4  I digressed above. I wanted to make the point that the new Palestinian caveat has been established. It is that the elections were not legitimate because not enough people voted...voter disenfranchisment etc. Thus Abbas has no mandate.

Thus, still no leader who can speak for the Palestinian People(TM). Only the high preists in the MSM can do that.
Posted by: 2b   2005-01-10 11:33:33 AM  

#3  man...I guessed wrong! I was sure this would be the BBC or NPR. But it was WTOP. Oh well...I guess I was still darn close.

The use of one quote and the phrase "Shatarat wasn't the only one" to imply that one quote out of millions speaks for all, is just so BBC/NPR. But I guess I should have known it wasn't BBC. There weren't any sound effects or smells written in.
Posted by: 2b   2005-01-10 11:20:08 AM  

#2  Born in Syria, never been to Gaza or the WB in his life, obviously a "Palestinian" citizen...
Posted by: mojo   2005-01-10 10:54:46 AM  

#1  WTOP.

"A future settlement is likely to be a combination of financial compensation for those barred from returning and resettlement in the West Bank, Gaza or in the West."

Or NOT. Make this shit up as you go or just spout from the Paleo Dogma™ Manual? Wankers.
Posted by: .com   2005-01-10 3:22:53 AM  

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