Palestinian right of return

The claimed right of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to homes lost during displacement, especially during the 1948 war and its aftermath. Its legal basis, scope, and implementation remain disputed.

1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight: The mass displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 war and the creation of Israel. This displacement created the refugee population whose return is claimed.
International law and the Arab–Israeli conflict: The body of international legal rules and arguments applied to disputes between Israel and Arab states and Palestinians. Competing legal arguments about return draw on this broader framework.
Right of return: A claimed legal or political entitlement to return to one’s country or former home after displacement. The Palestinian claim is a specific and contested instance of this broader principle.
UNRWA: The United Nations agency established in 1949 to provide assistance and protection to Palestine refugees. Its registration system records a major refugee population but does not decide the legal right to return.
Nakba: The Palestinian term for the 1948 mass displacement and dispossession associated with Israel’s establishment. The right of return is central to Palestinian accounts of the Nakba and its continuing effects.
United Nations General Assembly: The UN’s main deliberative body, composed of representatives of all member states. Resolution 194 is a General Assembly resolution, whose legal force differs from a binding Security Council decision.
Compensation: Money or other redress provided for loss, injury, or damage. Resolution 194 pairs compensation with return, but the remedies are not treated by all parties as interchangeable.
Palestinian diaspora: Palestinians and their descendants living outside Palestine and Israel. The claim links dispersed communities to homes and places of origin.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194: A 1948 UN resolution addressing refugees and other issues arising from the Palestine conflict. Paragraph 11 is the principal international text cited in support of return or compensation.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A 1948 UN declaration setting out fundamental human rights, including a right to leave and return to one’s country. Advocates connect its return provision to the claim, while disputing how it applies to refugees’ descendants and homes.

Linked from 24 pages