Basic collective human rights – self-determination, national independence, territorial integrity, national unity, and sovereignty without outside interference – are essential and universally legitimate.
76 years later, Palestinian return to the homes and lands we were expelled from in 1948 is feasible and, of course, legal. To Palestinians, it is also sacred and inevitable.
Israel resumed the deliberate use of excessive and lethal force against Palestinian protesters in Gaza, killing one and injuring eight
Prominent commentator Peter Beinart writes in NY Times: Jewish people cling to their right of return, but deny Palestinians the right to do the same. The longer justice is delayed, the longer the Palestinian Nakba – and the Jewish moral exile – will continue.
When Americans were asked hypothetically whether, after expulsion from their land, they’d prefer the right of return or an economic development plan, 68% chose return.
A FAIR study finds that major US news outlets rarely mention the Right of Return, although it is a primary part of the Israel/Palestine issue. In the last ten years, only 0.01 percent of coverage of Palestinians or Palestine in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post informs its audience about the right of return or even mentions it at all. When they do mention it, they generally imply that it is not a legitimate, UN-conferred right; or they describe the exercise of that right as an act of aggression/national “suicide” for Israel.
Palestinians have always had just 3 wishes: a capital someday in Jerusalem, a return to the 1967 borders, and the Right of Return. Between Trump and Israel, there’s nothing left to even dream of: the barest minimum is disappearing – food, medicine, the title of “refugee.”
Jared Kushner is ignorant, or apathetic about Middle East peace. After 70 years of resistance, Palestinians have no intention of selling out to “the ultimate deal.”
Even before the protest began, Israeli spokespeople framed it preemptively as a Hamas production, even though it was supported by Gaza civil society organizations and all political parties. Civilian Gazans’ willingness to walk to that fence measures their yearning to express themselves as humans and claim their freedom, even at immediate risk.