"Doha - Ma'an - The Doha Debates, a public forum for dialogue and freedom of speech in Doha, Qatar, has overwhelmingly voted against Palestinian refugees reneging their right of return to the Palestinian territories.
The question presented to participants at Qatar Foundation’s Doha Debates was, 'Should the Palestinians give up their right to return to their homeland after decades of misery and suffering in refugee camps across the world?'
Presenting the question were two well-known Jewish personalities from Israel and two leading human rights activists from the Palestinian territories. Notably, the two members of each of the sides for and against the motion consisted of one Israeli and one Palestinian.
Speaking for the motion were Bassem Eid, founder and director of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group and Yossi Belin, currently a member of the Israeli Knesset and Chairman of the Meretz, Yachad Party.
Speaking against the motion were Dr Ilan Pappe, an eminent Jewish author and historian and senior lecturer of political science at the Haifa University and Ali Abunimah, son of a Palestinian refugee and co-founder of the Electronic Intifada, an Internet gateway about Palestine and the Palestine-Israel conflict.
Bassam opened the discussion by stating that Palestinians in refugees camps across the world have been living in dire condition and have suffered for 60 years.
He declared, “Having spent 40 years in a refugee camp I have lost all hope and energy to fight. If any Palestinian still maintain that spirit, he is most welcome to continue fighting,” said Bassem.
According to Qatar daily, The Peninsula, the view that dominated the debate was that the right of return is a fundamental right and should be protected.
Dr Pappe pointed out that a huge majority of Palestinian refugees still long to return to their homeland.
Pappe called on the international community to respond to Israel in a similar way to apartheid South Africa in order to end racial discrimination, “The same could happen in Palestine, if there is international pressure on Israel to change its racist policies,” said Pappe.
On the opposite side, arguing for the motion, Yossi Bellin appealed to particpants' pragmatic side, stating that a majority of Jews in Israel will never accept the full return of the Palestinian refugees, which will change the demographic pattern of Israeli society.
Bellin suggested instead that Israel allow a limited return of refugees and provide compensation to those who agree to give up their claim to return. No peace process is going to succeed without a permanent solution to the refugee issue, he added.
Only 18.4 % of the participants voted for the motion that Palestinians renounce their right of return to their land. "
Also see this:
Doha Debates backs Palestinian refugees' right to return
".....Abu Nimah said during his visits to the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan, he found that despite their sufferings, majority of the refugees are still longing to go back to Palestine. Both the speakers called for a solution to the Palestinian issue in the same way the Apartheid system in South Africa was tackled. The racist system in South Africa prolonged for about 300 years but now the Blacks and the Whites live in harmony in the country. "The same could happen in Palestine, if there is international pressure on Israel to change its racist policies," said Pappe.
Both the panelists proposed a one-state solution to the Palestinian issue, where Jews, Muslims and Christians can live in harmony under a joint government....."
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