Odwan: Refugee issue at a critical juncture

[ 31/08/2010 - 01:54 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- MP Atef Odwan, in charge of the Palestinian legislative council's refugees affairs, stressed that the issue of Palestinian refugees is going through a critical juncture today, warning that clear attempts are being made to drop the right of return.

He stressed in a statement on Monday the need to stand boldly in front of these scenarios to thwart the right of return.

Odwan confirmed in his statement that the Palestinian Authority does not want the right of return “because whoever accepts negotiations with [Israel] has no solution but to forfeit this right.”

The consumer culture applied by Fayyad’s illegitimate West Bank government, which feeds on rights, confirms that they follow the Zionist-American agenda, which would not allow the establishment of a sovereign state, but a Palestinian entity that acts as an Israeli security agent, Odwan added.

More than 50 resettlement projects with Arab and Palestinian participation have circulated since 1948, the minister went on to say, noting that those projects addressed in their entirety several crucial issues, such as the final situation of Jerusalem and the refugee problem, and proposed that a solution to the return of refugees problem is to forfeit the right in exchange for compensation.

According to the latest such document published by Hebrew daily Haaretz in late 2007, the cost of solving the refugees' issue is between 55 and 85 billion dollars. The paper also proposes that a portion of refugees will resettle in places where they live now, while receiving financial compensation.

Odwan warned that steps to resettle Palestinian refuges aimed at circumventing the UN decision to offer Palestinian refugees the right to return along with compensation.

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