The Palestinian refugee issue has its origins in the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and the eruption of the Arab-Israeli war that accompanied this. During this period, some three-quarters of a million Palestinians left their homes within what was to become the state of Israel to seek refuge in the (Jordanian controlled) West Bank, the (Egyptian-controlled) Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon and further afield. When Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza in June 1967, a further 300,000 fled these areas for neighboring countries. (Brynan, 1998, p. )Since the declaration of an Israeli state in 1948 and all the Arab-Israeli conflicts that have followed, the Palestinians have gradually lost their grip on what used to be their homeland and are still fighting for it today. As stated above, many fled to neighboring countries for safety, but many stayed within Israel and its Occupied Territories. According to Ewan W. Anderson, (2000, p. 112 ) after the 1967 conflict and the acquisition of more Palestinian land by the Israelis, 1.1 million Arabs fell under Israeli rule in their Occupied Territories (450,000 in the Gaza Strip and 650,000 in the West Bank). Regardless of where the Palestinian people settled, either in Israel’s occupied territories or in neighboring Arab countries; they do not have a proper state and in turn have become the largest group of refugees on the planet (Brynan, unpublished, 1998). The Palestinian population in Israel and its occupied territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip alone number over the 4 million mark (de Blij and Miller, 2000, p.315). Many involved in the peace process today believe the Palestinian refugee crisis is the main problem standing in the way of Arab-Israeli peace. “ Their plight (the Palestinians), moreover, is a profoundly political one, touching the very core of the Arab-Israeli conflict and peace process.” (Brynan, unpublished, 1998)The Arab-Israeli conflict...
