Apr 06 2007
Bearing responsibility for causing the refugee problem
the following appeared in the Jordan Times
Bearing responsibility for causing the refugee problem
Daoud Kuttab
The harsh statement by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he would not allow a single Palestinian refugee to return to Israel did not bother me much. Knowing what I know about the long-term desires of most Palestinians, the actual implementation of the right of return is not as high a Palestinian priority. However, Olmert’s other statement, that Israel bore no responsibility for causing the Palestinian refugee problem, clearly reflects the stance of an Israeli leader not interested in peace.
I strongly believe that the pre-state armed Zionist groups were responsible for the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem. My father George Kuttab and his brother Qostandi fled their neighbourhood of Musrara (in what is now west Jerusalem) after their sister Hoda’s husband, Elias, was killed in front of her and her children.