re Susan Kerin
Reader comment on item: [UNRWA:] The Refugee Curse

Submitted by Mladen Temelkovski (Australia), Sep 7, 2003 at 12:47

Ms Kerin, what you refer to as "Pipes' statue of limitation philosophy" certainly need not "also apply to Israelis who claim a "right of return".

Whilst it may offend some (especially US) liberals' sensitivities -- that's a given -- Israel, as a sovereign state, actually has -- believe it or not -- the right to regulate its own internal affairs. So if Israel wishes to grant a "right of return" or a "right to reside" to Jews, journalists, rock stars or golf instructors, it is entirely within its rights to do so.

The plight of the Palestinian refugees has certainly been tragic, there's little doubt about that, but then the plight of refugees is always tragic. I can see no inherent reason for extending a 'bonus' definition of "refugee" to Palestinians, as if their attachement to the "homeland" is any greater or of a "more special" variety than any other refugee groups'; slavic Macedonians of even western or EU citizenship, with even one slavic Macedonian parent, are to this day denied entry into their parents' birthplace in northern Greece (so are their parents, for that matter), being a good example.

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