PRC
“Palestinian Refugees and the Politics of Peacemaking”
Thu Feb 26 18:04:05 2004
64.140.158.128

“Palestinian Refugees and the Politics of Peacemaking”

PRESS RELEASE: International Crisis Group Recommends Exile:

The influential International Crisis Group (ICG) which sits in Brussels has issued a shocking report on 5th February 2004 advocating the permanent exile of the Palestinian refugees.

The ICG which includes prominent figures from the fields of politics, diplomacy, business and the media is chaired by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. Its current President and Chief Executive is the former Australian Foreign Minister, Gareth Evans.

Since its founding in 1995 the ICG has been providing regular reports and recommendations to senior policy-makers with a view to resolving conflicts around the world.

The PRC strongly believes that its February 2004 report entitled, “Palestinian Refugees and the Politics of Peacemaking” will exacerbate tensions in the region and fuel the continuation of the conflict.

By recommending a settlement of the refugee problem based on “repatriation to a Palestinian state, normalization of status in host countries, relocation to third countries” and “symbolic return to Israel” the ICG is effectually supporting the permanent exile of the Palestinian refugees.

The PRC draws attention to the recommendation of the first UN mediator Count Folke Bernadotte that, “no settlement can be just and complete if recognition is not accorded to the right of the Arab refugee to return to the home from which he has been dislodged…”

We further remind the honorable members of the ICG of UNGA Resolution 3089 [7th December 1973] which declares, “that the enjoyment by the Palestine Arab refugees of their right to return to their homes and property, recognized by the General Assembly in resolution 194 (III) of December 1948, which has been repeatedly reaffirmed by the General Assembly since that date, is indispensable for the achievement of a just settlement of the refugee problem and for the exercise by the people of Palestine of its right to self-determination.”

The PRC calls upon all its supporters and friendly organizations everywhere to write immediately to the President of the ICG (at the address below) expressing your gravest concern with the report and the urgent need for its amendment in accord with the principles of international law and UN resolutions.

END

Mr. Gareth Evans
President and CEO
International Crisis Group (ICG)
Brussels

Fax: 00 32 2 502 50 38

Email: icgbrussels@crisisweb.org

For report see: http://www.crisisweb.org 
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The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) is a Palestinian establishment that is primarily concerned with the problem of the dispersed Palestinians and their struggle to return to their homes. It is, in nature, an academic and media institution that aspires to serve as an information repository and forum of political activity on the Palestinian question and the issue of the return in particular.
Aims:
1. To promote the issue of the right of return both as a humanitarian and political concern.
2. To preserve the Palestinian identity and resist attempts to resettle the dispersed Palestinians.
3. To increase and widen the awareness of the plight of the Palestinians in their places of refuge.
4. To inform the general public in Europe and Britain in particular about the true dimensions of the Palestinian issue.
PRC, Crown House, North Circular Road, London NW10 7PN, U.K.
Tel : ++44 208 4530919 Fax : ++44 208 4530994 E-mail: info@prc.org.uk Website: http://www.prc.org.uk

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"Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience. Therefore [individual citizens] have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring" -- Nuremberg War Crime Tribunal, 1950

Two days before Whitewash Wednesday (also known as the Hutton Report) three times Nobel Peace prize nominee, Kathy Kelly, founder of Chicago based Voices in the Wilderness, in a little noted trial, was sentenced to three months in prison, for silent, and as always, non violent, informed protest outside the notorious School of the Americas, at Fort Benning, Georgia. Ironies abound. The peacemaker jailed, those at Fort Benning which has trained some of the world's most ruthless dictators, military thugs and torturers free to continue to sponsor reigns of terror.
http://www.soaw.org/new/newswire_detail.php?id=413 

• WHAT AMERICANS NEED TO KNOW..Israeli-Palestinian conflict — APFN, Thu Feb 26 18:13