----- Original Message -----

From: Ismail Zayid

To: letters@thecitizen.canwest.com

Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 4:48 PM

Subject: Right of Return ia an inalienable right.

Feb. 9, 2007

The Editor,

The Ottawa Citizen.

Dear Editor:

Ami Farkas, in her letter, {"Beyond Palestinian refugees rights" Feb. 9} evidently has no room for legality or justice.

The Palestinan refugees were systematically, cleansed from their homeland, as deliberately planned by Zionist and Israeli leaders. Their right of return to their homes is sacred and legal. It is enshrined in international law and repeated UN resolutions. Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to leave any
country including his own, and to return to his country”. On December 11, 1948, The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted resolution #194, of which paragraph 11 states that the General Assembly:

“Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for the loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made
good by the governments or authorities responsible …."

In the context of Resolution #194, the international community felt a deep responsibility for this tragedy, as expressed by the UN Mediator in Palestine, Count Folke Bernadotte, who stated, “It would be an offence against the principles of elemental justice if these innocent victims of the conflict were denied the right of return to their homes” (UN Doc. A. 648,1948). Tragically, Count Bernadotte, a man of nobility and honour, whose humanitarian work in saving the lives of Jews in Sweden from Nazi crimes, paid dearly for making this point of elemental justice. He was assassinated on September 17, 1948 in Jerusalem, by the terrorist “Stern gang”, on the orders of its leader (and later prime minister of Israel) Yitzhak Shamir.

It is interesting to note that Resolution #194 has been reaffirmed by the UN over a hundred times, but “the earliest practicable date” has not yet arrived, 59 years later. The Palestinian refugees are now in millions because Israel continues to defy international law and deny them the right to return to their homes. The new generations of Paleestinans born in the refugee camps have, too, a perfect right to return to their homes.

It is of relevance to point out that the implementation of Resolution #194, as well as the Partition Resolution #181, was a condition stipulated in the admission of Israel to the UN, as per Resolution #273, of May 11, 1949. Thus. it can be reasonably argued that Israel’s UN membership is illegitimate, given its refusal to implement these conditions.

As to the Jewish refugees from Arab countries, Israel's apologists appear to forget the facts. Many of those were deliberately intimidated by Israeli agents to force them to go to Israel. Mordechai Ben Porat, an Iraqi-born Israeli politician, was proud to claim that ,in response to his unconditional support for Moshe dayan, he went with other secret agents to Iraq to encourage Jews to "come home to Israel". He was responsible for numerous deaths when he tossed hand grenades into the crowded Masauda Shem-Tov Synagogue, killing a number of innocent worshippers, so as to blame it on the Iraqi Arabs and intimidate other Jews to flee. Regardless of this, it remains a right for these refugees and their offspring to claim the right to return to their homes, if they so wish. A number of Arab countries have allowed them this free choice.

Yours sincerely,

Ismail Zayid, MD.