Palestinian Refugees - 1967
In 1967 war, Israel launched air strikes against
Palestinian cities
and towns in Gaza strip and the West Bank, the air raids pushed
thousands of Palestinians to flee their villages and towns to seek
shelter out of the range of Israeli artillery bombardment. The war
resulted in the displacement of more Palestinians. 350,000 people were
forced out by terror, expelled or left from fear. More camps were
constructed to absorb this large number of refugees.
Occupation and the refugee issue in the United Nations
The Security Council and the General Assembly
called on Israel on 14th
June 1967 and 14th July 1967 to facilitate the return of these
refugees. Israel pretended to comply. The Palestinians, having waited
for 20 years in their miserable refugee camps hoping to move world
conscience and trusting in the U.N. to allow them to return to their
homes and restore their legitimate rights in their homeland, found it
all in vain. The U.N. passed resolutions but did not enforce them,
when they conflicted with the wishes of Israel and her guardian the
U.S. world public opinion was deaf to the Palestinian cries while it
was all ears to Zionist propaganda and demands to import 3,000,000
Russian Jews. Israel argued that the return of the Palestinian
refugees will create more security problems for Israel. The Israeli
attitude also applied to all Palestinians who left the country to seek
jobs in the Gulf states, USA or Europe.
The Palestinians, finding all their country under Israeli occupation
and its entire people either expelled or under alien rule, lost faith
in the world community and came to realise that, even in this era of
so-called civilization, International Law and U.N. Charter, might is
right and what is lost by force can be regained only by force. They
intensified, therefore, their resistance by guerrilla attacks against
Israeli military personnel and objectives. The Israelis retaliated by
ruthless bombardment using Phantom jets and napalm against the
defenseless men, women and children in their refugee camps in Jordan,
Lebanon and Syria. The Palestinian resistance was vilified by Zionist
propaganda and their captured members were savagely tortured in
Israeli hands.
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