Page 229 - Contributed Paper Session (CPS) - Volume 1

CPS1284 Rabeh M.
1. Introduction
A massive forced migration has been occurred in several periods during
the recent Israeli-Arab wars. The largest group of Palestinian refugees
originate from more than 500 cities, towns and villages located in Mandate
Palestine during the first war in 1948, while a little number of Palestinians
remain internally displaced and get the Israeli citizenship (Abu Sitta, 2000). The
second largest group of Palestinian refugees were forced displaced during the
second Israeli-Arab war in 1967 originated mainly from the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip. In this period, huge number of the Palestinian refugees displaced
in 1948 to these areas were displaced for a second time, while only few
numbers of Palestinians were internally displaced because of this second war
(IDMC, 2006; UNHCR, 2006). The most recent displacement were the forced
migration of a third largest group of Palestinian refugees that comprise those
displaced from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip since 1967
due to Israel's protracted military occupation (IDMC, 2006; UNHCR, 2006).
The situation of the Palestine refugees was classified by the United Nations
as one of the most protracted cases of forced displacement in the world today
(UNHCR, 2006). Many of camps shelters suffer from unhealthy conditions, lake
of safety, and poor construction of the barracks which creates very high
temperatures in summer and freezing conditions in winter (Hanafi, 2009). In a
survey conducted by Shaml Center (2003), two-thirds of who living in camps
felt that their home was too small for their families, half felt that the camps do
not meet their basic needs, and 57 percent stated that the camps lacked
proper health conditions. Pierre Krähenbühl, Commissioner-General for the
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near
East (UNRWA) addressed for the fourth Committee in the general assembly
1
st
(21 meeting) of the UNRWA in 2015 that the Palestine refugees today feel
further than ever ‘left behind’, and remained among the most marginalized
due to Israel’s ongoing occupation and the absence of sustainable, predictable
funding. He added, “The vulnerability and isolation of the refugees had
intensified, and broader gains in social and economic development across the
region were very much at risk”, and “they remained casualties of the
unresolved conflict that had violated their fundamental human rights for more
than six decades”. In essence, due to the continuing occupation, absence of
sustainable and predictable funding resources for refugee camps, and the
unanticipated resolution for the refugees’ problem in the near future, camps
remain among the most marginalized localities in the Palestinian territories,
among which increasing inequality and marginalisation exist. Therefore, we
expect substantial difference in exist in Palestine between those who are camp
dwellers and those who live in other urban and rural areas in terms of

1 https://www.un.org/press/en/2015/gaspd599.doc.htm

218 | I S I W S C 2 0 1 9