The Law of Return for Palestinians?

In 1948, Zionist terrorist militias forcibly evicted or forced into flight out of fear of death over 800,000 Palestinians to establish a Jewish majority in a land demographically and culturally Arab.

refugeesontherunonlychidlrenandwemen IdH5V 19672

Palestinians being forced out.

Shortly after the Nakba [Catastrophe], the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, the United Nations General Assembly - in one of its first act - passed Resolution 194 in December 1948 which stated "that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible."

The Resolution made it clear that the Palestinians have a right-of-return to their homes and every year since then nearly the entire General Assembly has voted to reaffirm that right - with only four nations voting "NO": Israel, United States, Marshall Islands and Micronesia.

Despite that right enshrined in international law, the state of Israel has consistently refused to allow Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return for the stated reason that such a return will end the Jewish majority in Israel "proper" thereby ending the Jewish democracy. In an effort to maintain its settler-colonial state based on ethnic privilege, Israel continues to refuse to allow Palestinians to return their land that they have the legal title to.

Under Israel's Law of Return any Jew in the world - a Jew being defined as someone with at least one Jewish grandparent or a spouse - can fly to Israel and achieve the immediate right to live there and citizenship even if they have no attachment to the land whatsoever. But Palestinians born in, say, Jaffa and who still carry the keys to their homes are prevented from returning. This is clearly a system of cruel, unjust, immoral and racist apartheid. No nation should be based on ethnic exclusiveness and special "rights" for some people while negating the actual rights of the original inhabitants.

But while Israel refuses to recognize the Palestinian right to return due to accepted international law - which Israeli routinely ignores - will it recognize that right under its myopic Law of Return? A new discovery:

Up to 85 percent of Arabs in greater Israel stem from Jewish ancestors, it is estimated.

A do not know how accurate this report is. The source is not the most reliable. The numbers are probably overstated, but many present day Arabs and Muslims do have Jewish ancestry. No surprising since they have lived together for centuries, share the same roots and many Jews converted to Islam. But that isn't my point and the numbers are irrelevant, what is important here is the principle: will Israel allow a Palestinian refugee to live in Israel "proper" under the Law of Return if he can prove Jewish ancestry?

Don't hold your breath.