Dear friend of EMET,
We at EMET are partnering with Honest Reporting, and the Jewish NGOs at the UN in New York organized as UNRWA: Stop Teaching Hate, in a campaign to declassify the US State Department report on the Palestinian Refugee population.
The myth - 70 years in the making – of five million Palestinian refugees has been created by a unique definition of refugee status as an inherited characteristic. According to this definition, as applied by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), there are now four generations of Palestinian refugees descended from the approximately 750,000 Palestinians who fled from their homes during and after the 1948 war. These now total over five million people all of whom are counted as refugees, even those who have been resettled.
In every other conflict around the world, refugee populations decrease over time. Only here do the numbers continue to rise – a phenomenon which weaponizes the concept against Israel.
The Palestinian Authority and UNRWA now declare that these five million Palestinians should be granted the “Right of Return” to their homes in what is now the State of Israel, a member of the UN. Clearly this distorted, unfair figure precludes any talk of genuine peace.
Together, we can reshape the narrative to more truly reflect reality.
Estimates suggest the true number of Palestinians displaced in the war who are alive today is about 30,000. In 2012, the US Congress had the State Department conduct a study based on accepted international standards for refugee status to determine the exact figure - but the report was subsequently “classified” effectively burying it. The most realistic estimate could be derived from this report if it were declassified.
Please join us by signing a petition calling on the White House to declassify the report which could energize the peace process by ensuring future negotiations are based on hard facts. As Nikki Haley recently said, ”declassify the report that provides a current estimate of the number of Palestinian refugees who are receiving support. This goes to the heart of speaking hard truths in the name of moving peace forward.” Please consider signing the petition below!
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