Ref: 67/2003

Today, 15 May 2003, is the
55^th anniversary of Al-Nakba – the tragic uprooting and
dispossession of the Palestinian people. 
On 15 May 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly
expelled from their homes during large-scale Jewish attacks, using warplanes, tanks
and other weapons. Palestinians were also the victims of massacres committed by
Zionist gangs in Arab towns and villages. 
The Jewish people were brought to Palestine from around the world to
establish a state on the lands of the indigenous Palestinian people, who were
slaughtered and forced to flee to neighboring Arab counties as a result. The
Palestinians were again victimized in 1967 when the remainder of Palestine was
also occupied by Israeli forces.    

This anniversary comes
while the Israeli government continues its war against the
Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories. 
Israeli occupying forces continue to 
kill and dispossess Palestinians, destroy homes and land and carry out
ethnic cleansing in occupied Jerusalem. These acts are reminiscent of al-Nakba,
when grave breaches of human rights were committed against women, children, the
elderly and the disabled. Furthermore, they represent the continued
victimization of the Palestinian people.

Four 55 years, the issue of
the Palestine refugees has not been solved, in spite of United Nations General
Assembly Resolution 194 of 11 December 1948. In light of the international
community’s failure to solve this crisis which has left over 5 million
Palestinians living as stateless refugees, PCHR reminds the international community
of its obligation to enforce international and humanitarian law and put an end
to the needless suffering which has already lasted for more than half a
century. 

The international
community, through the United Nations, is legally and morally responsible for
enforcing international humanitarian law and human rights law, which includes
the inalienable right of Palestinian refugees to return and/or seek
compensation. International humanitarian and human rights law further guarantee
the Palestinian people the right to self-determination and additional civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights.