David Bedein suggests Canada play a “heroic” role in turning Palestinian refugee camps into permanent communities, an idea critics says is too simplistic and does not address the refugees’s right to return. Plan Would Entice Palestinian Refugees to Stay in Camps The prime minister’s Parliamentary Secretary hosted this week an advocate of the idea that Canada should play a leading role to permanently settle Palestinian refugees in camps spread throughout the Middle East.

David Bedein, a journalist with the online Israel Resource News Agency, says Canada is ably positioned to urge global policymakers to boost support to improve the squalid conditions in refugee communities in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. His theory is that Palestinian refugees would voluntarily opt to stay put in the camps if their standard of living was greatly enhanced.

The issue of Palestinians’ right of return is a fiercely debated aspect of an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement. Palestinian sympathizers say refugees and their descendants have the legal right to return to their homes, while some Israel supporters believe such a move could swing the demographic makeup of the Jewish state.

Mr. Bedein, who is based in Jerusalem, calls on Canada as chair of the agency’s refugee policy working group, to shore up political support and aid money to implement a “humanitarian solution,” an idea he has presented to the United Nations as well as American and European policymakers.

Mazen Chouaib, Executive Director of the National Council of Canada-Arab Relations in Ottawa, says Middle East peace negotiations must recognize the option of Palestinians to return to their homelands. “No one person can negotiate on the Palestinian right of return. It is an individual right and international law,” he says. Mr. Chouaib calls the new Conservative government “pro-Israel” and points to Mr. Bedein’s visit at the request of Mr. Kenney as proof.

“For Jason Kenney to invite somebody with such a hard position and someone who is a pro-Israel lobbyist is something that sends me a negative signal,” he says.

On Monday, Mr. Bedein privately briefed about two-dozen Conservative, Liberal and NDP politicians on Parliament Hill and met with top officials from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Department of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Bedein declined to provide the names of Parliamentarians attending three “off-the-record” sessions, citing journalistic integrity to protect his contacts.

He did confirm the presence of Conservative MP James Lunney and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Parliamentary Secretary, Jason Kenney, who requested the visit of Mr. Bedein. Mr. Bedein, an Orthodox Jew, says he has an affinity to Mr. Kenney, a practicing Christian, through religion. Mr. Kenney invited Mr. Bedein to Ottawa about one month ago, but they’ve known each other for several years.

Both Canadian politicians were unavailable for interviews this week. However, last week an aide to Mr. Kenney alerted Embassy to the upcoming visit of Mr. Bedein, describing him as an expert on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The UNRWA runs relief and job creation programs, and provides education, health care and other social services.

Palestinian Refugees from Iraq Extra Burden

An estimated 4.3 million Palestinians refugees are scattered in about 59 camps in the Middle East. Many carry legally binding certificates of registration that name the place they fled or were displaced during Arab-Israeli wars in 1948 and 1967.

UNRWA’s Commissioner General Karen Koning AbuZayd last week pleaded with the Quartet ­ the United States, European Union, Russia and United Nations ­ to funnel the agency more aid. Its $471 million budget is facing an almost $130 million shortfall in 2006. “It’s such a depressing time because there have been so many plans and programs on how things should be developed in the Palestinian territories,” says UNRWA spokesman, Johan Eriksson, from Jerusalem. “But at the moment it’s really down to just trying to give emergency aid. And that’s really sad.”

According to Mr. Eriksson, the situation in the camps has become more critical since donor governments, of which Canada was the first, shut off aid to the Palestinian Authority after the election of Hamas, defined a terrorist organization by some Western leaders.

Bill Frelick, Refugee Policy Director of Human Rights Watch, says the Palestinian territories are slipping into a humanitarian disaster.

Compounding the problem is the coming arrival to refugee camps of almost 30,000 Palestinians from Iraq who before the U.S. invasion hadn’t been under the agency’s watch, he says.

Yet, Mr. Frelick admits it’s too simplistic to believe that the issue of Palestinians refugees will be resolved by improving their lot in life.

“The right of return to one’s home and homeland is considered the best choice for refugees when they can return in safety and dignity,” says Mr. Frelick. “I think it’s wishful thinking to say that even if some economic needs are provided for that that will satisfy their need for nationality and identity.”

Mr. Bedein says such basic infrastructure projects as sewage systems, could transform refugee camps from temporary to permanent communities.

“The political process isn’t going to change, but Canada can play a heroic role in the humanitarian aspect of the peace process. Canada can say we don’t want to keep these people in limbo,” says Mr. Bedein. He recommends Canada deploy a task force to survey Palestinians on ways to improve their situation.

Asked if his case was met with a favourable reaction by Canadian political leaders, Mr. Bedein smiles and says “100 per cent.”

Israel’s Ambassador to Canada, Alan Baker, says a decision on the question of Palestinian refugees will be reached through peace talks and, whatever the form, a final decision must be financed by an international fund. “Canada is already part of whatever negotiating will take place on the issue of refugees,” says Mr. Baker.

The Palestine Delegation in Canada did not return calls. Foreign Affairs Canada also did not respond to questions from Embassy as of press time.

This piece ran in the May 17th issue of “Embassy” at:
http://www.embassymag.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=/2006/may/17/return
Sarah McGregor sarah@embassymag.ca

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