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A Right of Return Primer by Ali Hattar
translated from the Arabic by Adib S Kawar
revised by Mary Rizzo
A referential drafting extracted from the Human Rights Covenants and human principles and the laws related to it based on the basis that Palestinian Arabs should have the same human rights as the rest of the peoples of the world. Also included in English are excerpts from relevant Covenants.
1- The Right of Return is the right for individuals and groups to return at any time to their land and homeland and the original and historical place of residence in which they actually used to live at the time the incidents took place which resulted in their leaving it, without considering their absence temporally for work, study and tourism as a diminutive of this residence.
2- The Right of Return is a natural right. Not only that, it is also a right that is human, absolute, unconditional, individual and collective, material and moral, regional and national, inheritable (even for those who were born in the diaspora=Ashatat) to all their children. It is irrevocable and cannot be relinquished nor can anyone be delegated to represent another in relinquishing this right or negotiating it, nor can it be exchanged for compensation. It is indivisible, there shall be no distortion and disguising of it or shall it be limited to particular time or date. It also depends on personal proprietorship that doesn’t terminate by occupation, and should not be subjugated to restrictions that deteriorate or contradict with what is stated in covenants of international human rights and/or human and international laws. It also not cannot be diminished or distorted under the motto of the right of self determination.
3- It is a right for individuals and/or a collective right for those persons or their relatives expelled or dislodged from their places of residence, or who have been displaced or left their land and homes by forceful driving away, or who voluntarily left their homes under threat, or who ran away due to oppression and massacres from their homeland to other places inside it, or who were outside their place of residence at the time of the war that resulted in leaving their land and its occupation and confiscating it by others or delivering it to others occurred. And in the case of repeated dislodging inside their land, the Right of Return means to original place of residence before the first displacement.
4- And in case of appropriating any land from any country with the aim of occupying or confiscating it, this land is considered the property of all the inhabitants of the mother country totally and without appropriating. As it is not permissible to occupy the land of others by force, and it will be the property of all its citizens of the mother country from which this piece of land was appropriated, the right of ownership of the appropriated land and the right to return to it.
5- It is not by any means permissible to exploit the sufferings that the owners of the Right of Return, to obtain the approval of an individual to abandon his Right of Return due to his lack of aptitude, he himself, to deny his children from the right to inherit the land and identity, it is not permissible to condemn them in advance to vagabondage, or to remain without identity or homeland, because the ownership of the land is communal for all its citizens presently and in the future.
6- As per all the above, the Palestinian Authority, neither the Arab summit meetings, nor any international conferences, are fit to represent the owners of the Right of Return in any projects or agreements to abandon their rights.
7- It is also not permissible for any Arab or non-Arab state or any international organization to hold agreements or take decisions, by the force of which to settle any of the owners of the Right of Return on its land or other’s lands or to displace them to distant lands from their original place of residence, to make place for those who settled (colonized) their land and build a state on it.
8- It is not permissible forthe international community to abandon the rights of any human community, or to deal with it or its members using double standards, and to sacrifice its rights to others, whatever the excuses and reasons are, such as practicality, security requirements or the presence of a formidable force on this land, and it is not permissible for him to record a precedence in history allowing for the first time to bestow legality for an aggression by gangs and colonizing groups against weak peoples, and it is not permissible the aggression to become legal natural entity the basis of power instead on the basis of legality and morality.
9- As for the matter of financial compensation that is suggested every now and then, in various international conspiratorial projects suggested a replacement of the Right of Return as a price for settling them away from their original place of residence. These financial compensations can be acceptable under what was stated above, except for the owners of the Right of Return, and all the above mentioned parties in place of years of displacement and suffering, to which they were exposed by the international community by its consent to displace them by establishing an illegal entity on their land, and in place of using their homeland, exploiting it for tens of years by invading colonizing groups that occupied their homeland. It is not for accepting their settlement or for surrendering their Right of Return to their original place of residence, and should be paid to them after their return to their original place of residence to help them to return to their natural lives.
10- There is nothing in this document, and it should not be understood from anything in it, that it permits any state, organization, body or person to participate in any activity that shall result in depriving the owners of the Right of Return from enjoying it fully and fully obtaining their entitlements as per the laws, covenants and the principles of human rights followed at the time and before writing this covenant.
Explanation and comments
The natural and human right is the right of man and natural groups and it grew and developed its society in a certain region during the development of the natural history, which is a right that man gains because he is a human, as he is naturally social and his sociability is tied with the place assemblage, allowing him to leave and return to his family and community without restrictions.
The absolute and unstipulated right, is a right without stipulations, inherited and not granted, without deficit and not regulated by laws.
Communal right is a right for the community as it is an individual right, which is due to man being social by nature.
Material and moral right is the right of land, home and homeland ownership, as it is the right of the ownership of the moral identity connected to with the belonging to the homeland and the community, and the ownership of the homeland does not require the availability of documents and deeds to prove it. This right is extended to the right of residence around holy places, visiting them and holding complete, unlimited rituals with full freedom. In Islam, in particular there are clear texts that give special importance to the homeland and religion, as it is considered to fight man in his religion and expel him from his homeland the peak of oppression that couldn’t be accepted or which we cannot be silent about.
The regional and national right is a result of that the victorious international community in the First World War and the Western force of invasion to the Arab region (called colonialism). It appropriated Palestine from greater Syria and the whole Arab homeland in preparation to hand it over to the Zionist invaders, in the San Remo conference, which is the conference that decided on executing the Sykes Picot Agreement between France and the United Kingdom, when Palestine was taken from the Arab homeland and given to gangs and groups that came from all over the world, to establish in it through invasion, colonialism, displacement and replacement – illegal and immoral colonization, and to produce a permanent danger against regional and national security in the Arab region. This is a breach to all legal conventions that enforces on colonialists to return the land to its owners completely and without deduction. All of this means that the owners of Palestine are not simply its direct inhabitants, but they are the inhabitants the Arab homeland from which Palestine was appropriated, they have in it all the rights of any French citizens from northern France in the lands of southern France, which is his homeland, and he has the right to claim it if it was exposed to occupation. This is only an example and not in general. This the national right that is added to the regional right.
Everybody should be reminded of the massacres and oppression that Zionist gangs had committed in the land that came to be called the state of “Israel”, in violation of United Nations laws and any other moral legitimacy. In order to expel the Arab people from Palestine, (for Example the Deir Yassin massacre).
The international legitimacy covenants imposed by the victors in the Second World War, such as the Declaration of Human Rights, and the 4th Vienna agreements 1949 and the international laws related to the cause, and the clear and direct texts that endorse this right of all the above mentioned owners of the Right of Return to their original place of residence or that which was a part of their regional or national homeland, and it is not permissible to exempt any human being from this right whatever the are the excuses such as the presence of a formidable force on this land, and reaching a state of stability in the diaspora (Al-Shatat) and other excuses.
To return the Right of Return to some of its owners while settling others in any place in the Arab homeland or outside it, in addition to being an actual infringement of their human rights among which is the Right of Return, this shall expose them under threat of sedition and the danger of fighting each other and individual and collective killing that would deprive them of security. That is one of the important axis in the international charter of human rights. The massacres of Sabra and Shatilla as well as the Black September incidents, and what Arab Iraqi groups under occupation were exposed to; the Sudan incidents of Sudan and Kosovo as well as in many African states all form striking proof on this. And it is not the right of anybody to expose human groups to these dangers; so it is not possible to accept any guarantees to provide protection to any group, because security should be natural and impulsive and not under any artificial protection, which could be wiped out by a political decision at any time.
All the human race should recognize that it cannot enjoy stability and security now and in the future, just while abandoning the rights of some of its members whether individuals or groups, and sacrificing them to others, dealing with them with double standards under any excuses or reasons, which applies to dropping the Right of Return, which creates a precedent in human history, by which it shall bestow legitimacy for the first time to aggression committed by colonizing gangs and groups against the weaker peoples and give it the right to change after the aggression into a legal entity, relying on the power of the force of arms and terror instead of legality and morality.
Selective supportive texts from some covenants and state laws:
Texts from the International Covenant of Human Rights, as adopted and published as per the decision of the United Nations General Assembly 217A (D-3) dated Dec. 10th 1948
Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 13
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their country.
Article 15
1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 17
1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Article 30
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
Excerpts from Resolution 194 of the United Nations dated 11/12/1948
The resolution: Resolves 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
The same resolution also resolves: “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 doesn’t specify who these neighbors are!!!) It is clear that this part of the resolution contradicts with human rights upon which the above-mentioned covenant states, which results in settling groups outside their homeland: thus their offspring shall not be able to inherit it, and separates them from their communities, as well as exploits their sufferings to impose on them to accept compensation, it also imposes other Arabs the right of proprietorship of what was occupied and separated from their homelands by force and conspiracy, and permanently threatening their security.
Agreements and documents on which the author relied upon in our understanding of Human Rights:
The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment of Punishment,
The Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War,
The Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons,
The Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness,
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Human rights set out in the Declaration
The following reproduces the articles of the Declaration which set out the specific human rights that are recognized in the Declaration.[17]
Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11
1. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
Article 12
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Article 13
3. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
4. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their country.
Article 14
1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 15
3. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
4. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 16
1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 17
3. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
4. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21
1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of their country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
2. Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in their country.
3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Article 22
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23
1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25
1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26
1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
Article 27
1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
Article 28
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Article 29
1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 30
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
| General Assembly |
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| A/RES/194 (III) 11 December 1948 |
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194 (III). Palestine — Progress Report of the
United Nations Mediator
The General Assembly,
Having considered further the situation in Palestine,
1. Expresses its deep appreciation of the progress achieved through the good offices of the late United Nations Mediator in promoting a peaceful adjustment of the future situation of Palestine, for which cause he sacrificed his life; and
Extends its thanks to the Acting Mediator and his staff for their continued efforts and devotion to duty in Palestine;
2. Establishes a Conciliation Commission consisting of three States members of the United Nations which shall have the following functions:
(a) To assume, in so far as it considers necessary in existing circumstances, the functions given to the United Nations Mediator on Palestine by resolution 186 (S-2) of the General Assembly of 14 May 1948;
(b) To carry out the specific functions and directives given to it by the present resolution and such additional functions and directives as may be given to it by the General Assembly or by the Security Council;
(c) To undertake, upon the request of the Security Council, any of the functions now assigned to the United Nations Mediator on Palestine or to the United Nations Truce Commission by resolutions of the Security Council; upon such request to the Conciliation Commission by the Security Council with respect to all the remaining functions of the United Nations Mediator on Palestine under Security Council resolutions, the office of the Mediator shall be terminated;
3. Decides that a Committee of the Assembly, consisting of China, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, shall present, before the end of the first part of the present session of the General Assembly, for the approval of the Assembly, a proposal concerning the names of the three States which will constitute the Conciliation Commission;
4. Requests the Commission to begin its functions at once, with a view to the establishment of contact between the parties themselves and the Commission at the earliest possible date;
5. Calls upon the Governments and authorities concerned to extend the scope of the negotiations provided for in the Security Council’s resolution of 16 November 1948 1/ and to seek agreement by negotiations conducted either with the Conciliation Commission or directly, with a view to the final settlement of all questions outstanding between them;
6. Instructs the Conciliation Commission to take steps to assist the Governments and authorities concerned to achieve a final settlement of all questions outstanding between them;
7. Resolves that the Holy Places – including Nazareth – religious buildings and sites in Palestine should be protected and free access to them assured, in accordance with existing rights and historical practice; that arrangements to this end should be under effective United Nations supervision; that the United Nations Conciliation Commission, in presenting to the fourth regular session of the General Assembly its detailed proposals for a permanent international regime for the territory of Jerusalem, should include recommendations concerning the Holy Places in that territory; that with regard to the Holy Places in the rest of Palestine the Commission should call upon the political authorities of the areas concerned to give appropriate formal guarantees as to the protection of the Holy Places and access to them; and that these undertakings should be presented to the General Assembly for approval;
8. Resolves that, in view of its association with three world religions, the Jerusalem area, including the present municipality of Jerusalem plus the surrounding villages and towns, the most eastern of which shall be Abu Dis; the most southern, Bethlehem; the most western, Ein Karim (including also the built-up area of Motsa); and the most northern, Shu’fat, should be accorded special and separate treatment from the rest of Palestine and should be placed under effective United Nations control;
Requests the Security Council to take further steps to ensure the demilitarization of Jerusalem at the earliest possible date;
Instructs the Conciliation Commission to present to the fourth regular session of the General Assembly detailed proposals for a permanent international regime for the Jerusalem area which will provide for the maximum local autonomy for distinctive groups consistent with the special international status of the Jerusalem area;
The Conciliation Commission is authorized to appoint a United Nations representative, who shall co-operate with the local authorities with respect to the interim administration of the Jerusalem area;
9. Resolves that, pending agreement on more detailed arrangements among the Governments and authorities concerned, the freest possible access to Jerusalem by road, rail or air should be accorded to all inhabitants of Palestine;
Instructs the Conciliation Commission to report immediately to the Security Council, for appropriate action by that organ, any attempt by any party to impede such access;
10. Instructs the Conciliation Commission to seek arrangements among the Governments and authorities concerned which will facilitate the economic development of the area, including arrangements for access to ports and airfields and the use of transportation and communication facilities;
11. Resolves 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;
Instructs the Conciliation Commission to facilitate the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and the payment of compensation, and to maintain close relations with the Director of the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees and, through him, with the appropriate organs and agencies of the United Nations;
12. Authorizes the Conciliation Commission to appoint such subsidiary bodies and to employ such technical experts, acting under its authority, as it may find necessary for the effective discharge of its functions and responsibilities under the present resolution;
The Conciliation Commission will have its official headquarters at Jerusalem. The authorities responsible for maintaining order in Jerusalem will be responsible for taking all measures necessary to ensure the security of the Commission. The Secretary-General will provide a limited number of guards to the protection of the staff and premises of the Commission;
13. Instructs the Conciliation Commission to render progress reports periodically to the Secretary-General for transmission to the Security Council and to the Members of the United Nations;
14. Calls upon all Governments and authorities concerned to co-operate with the Conciliation Commission and to take all possible steps to assist in the implementation of the present resolution;
15. Requests the Secretary-General to provide the necessary staff and facilities and to make appropriate arrangements to provide the necessary funds required in carrying out the terms of the present resolution.
* * *
At the 186th plenary meeting on 11 December 1948, a committee of the Assembly consisting of the five States designated in paragraph 3 of the above resolution proposed that the following three States should constitute the Conciliation Commission:
France, Turkey, United States of America.
The proposal of the Committee having been adopted by the General Assembly at the same meeting, the Conciliation Commission is therefore composed of the above-mentioned three States.
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1/ See Official Records of the Security Council, Third Year, No. 126.
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