15 March 2004
Participants of the first seminar of the BADIL Expert Forum on the role of international law in peacemaking and crafting durable solutions for Palestinian refugees, hosted by the University of Gent, Belgium, May 2003 (Photo: BADIL/Tineke D’haese/Oxfam Solidarity)
The direct link between the protection of Palestinian refugee rights and establishment of a lasting peace in Palestine and Israel will be discussed at a conference in Haifa, Israel 26-28 March in the context of the 28th anniversary of Palestinian Land Day.
The Right of Return and Just Peace Conference brings together Israeli Jews, Palestinians, internally displaced Palestinians in Israel, Palestinian and Israeli academics, and supporters of human and civil rights groups in Israel, Palestine and abroad to coordinate their efforts in advancing the rights of Palestinian refugees in general and those inside Israel in particular.
Establishing an umbrella organization to coordinate awareness raising and public education on the issue of Palestinian refugees and internally displaced Palestinians in Israel is one of the aims of the conference.
Organizers see the problem of Palestinian refugees as the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and any attempt to bypass the issue will lead to failure in future attempts to solve the conflict. The Emil Touma Institute for Israeli and Palestinian Studies, Haifa; ADRI, The Association for the Defense of Displaced Persons’ Rights in Israel; Zochrot, an Israeli association for raising Jewish Israeli awareness of the Palestinian Nakba and refugee rights; and Ittijah, the Union of Arab Community Based Associations are sponsoring the three-day meeting.
In addition to lectures, discussions and films, the conference will include a visit to six destroyed Palestinian villages in Israel. BADIL will present a paper to the meeting and chair a panel on Conditions of Palestinian Refugees.
Sessions begin at 20:30 on Friday 26 March at the al-Midan Theatre, 2 Khouri St., Haifa. For further conference information call Conference Coordinator Khawla Zoabi tel. 00972-(04)-8507110.
BADIL Resource Center aims to provide a resource pool of alternative, critical and progressive information on the question of Palestinian refugees in our quest to achieve a just and lasting soluton for exiled Palestinians based on their right of return.
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