{"id":211916,"date":"1949-03-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T20:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=211916"},"modified":"2019-03-12T20:15:42","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T20:15:42","slug":"auto-insert-211916","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-211916\/","title":{"rendered":"Numbers of Palestine refugees per location\/Capital and land required for their resettlement – Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµCCP – Working paper"},"content":{"rendered":"
Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµITED NATIONS CONCILIATION COMMISSION FOR PALESTINE<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n OBSERVATIONS ON SOME OF THE PROBLEMS RELATING TO PALESTINE REFUGEES<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n I. Number of Refugees to be Repatriated or Resettled<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>After conferring with the three organizations which distribute United Nations relief (League of Red Cross Societies, which distributes in the Lebanon, Syria and Transjordan; International Committee of the Red Cross, which distributes in Palestine with the exception of the Gaza area; and the Quakers, who distribute in the Gaza area), Mr. Griffis, Director of the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees, found that the probable figure for refugees receiving relief is 910,000. The distributing organizations stated that they had done their best to exclude "phony" refugees. This figure, which was established as a result of a count taken by the three organizations, does not include the refugees in Iraq (apparently 4,000), for whom the Government of Iraq takes sole responsibility.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>The above figure can be broken down as follows:<\/p><\/div>\n \n Lebanon<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 130,000<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Syria<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 85,000<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Transjordan<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 100,000<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Palestine (except the Gaza area)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 385,000<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Gaza area<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 210,000<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n _______<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Total<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 910,000<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>The figure given by the Government of Israel, in its memorandum is 530,000. It is obvious, however, that it is in the interest of that Government to underestimate the number of refugees.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>Pending the possibility of undertaking a detailed and accurate inquiry, the Commission could safely assume that the number of refugees to be repatriated or resettled (in Palestine or elsewhere), amounts to approximately 650,000. In my view, it should be recognized that “refugees” considered as such by the relief organizations, include persons whose homes are in Arab areas occupied by the Arab forces and in particular in all the villages near the military lines.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>Further, a certain number of refugees are already progressively filtering into the life and economy of the countries in which they are now living, and this tendency will certainly increase as time goes on.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>I do not need to stress that this is only a rough and provisional estimate, but it will suffice to give the Commission a preliminary idea of the scope of the problems to be solved, and in particular of the amount of land and capital needed for the economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees, above all of the rural settlers.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>It will be shown later in this paper that the Arab population of Palestine was divided as follows:<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Urban \t\t<\/span>36%<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Rural\t\t\t<\/span>64%<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>The 650,000 refugees to be repatriated or resettled would therefore fall into the following two groups:<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Urban refugees\t<\/span>235,000<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Rural refugees\t<\/span>415,000<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>_______<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Total number of\t<\/span>650,000<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\t<\/span> refugees\t\t<\/span>_______<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>It is interesting to compare these figures with the following estimates drawn up on 31 December 1946 and published in June 1947 by the Government of Palestine in the “Supplement to the Survey of Palestine.”<\/p><\/div>\n Arab Population of Palestine<\/p><\/div>\n \n Moslems<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Christians<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Total<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Towns<\/p>\n Country<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 329,000<\/p>\n 748,000<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 116,000<\/p>\n 29,000<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 445,000<\/p>\n 777,000<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Total<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1,077,000<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 145,000<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1,222,000<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>(The 60,000 nomadic Arabs are not included in these figures)<\/p><\/div>\n \t<\/span>The following figures, quoted from the same source, show the Arab population (Moslems and Christians) of the various sub-districts of Palestine.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t\t<\/span>1) Sub-districts occupied by Israel<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Safad\t\t\t<\/span> 48,940<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Acre\t\t\t<\/span> 62,930<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Tiberias\t\t<\/span> 26,410<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Beisan\t\t<\/span> 17,340<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Nazareth\t\t<\/span> 41,930<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Haifa\t<\/span> \t\t<\/span>129,680<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Jaffa \t\t<\/span>113,770<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Beersheba\t<\/span> \t<\/span> 7,210<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/span>Total Arab \t\t\t<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t<\/span>population of<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t<\/span>these sub-districts\t<\/span>448,210<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t\t<\/span>2) Sub-districts entirely occupied by the Arabs<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Jenin\t\t\t<\/span> 61,210<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Nablus\t\t<\/span> 94,370<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Ramallah\t\t<\/span> 48,930<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/span>Total Arab<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t<\/span>population of<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t<\/span>these\t<\/span>sub-districts\t<\/span>204,510<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t\t<\/span>3) Sub-districts occupied partly by Israel<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t<\/span> and partly by the Arabs <\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Tulkarm\t<\/span> \t<\/span> 77,020<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Jerusalem\t\t<\/span>150,590<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Hebron\t<\/span> \t<\/span> 92,810<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Ramleh\t\t<\/span>113,770<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t\t<\/span>Gaza\t\t\t<\/span>147,000<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/span>Total Arab<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t<\/span>population of<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t<\/span>these sub-districts\t<\/span>581,190<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>If one looks at the map showing the present military position, it will be seen that it is not considerably wrong to say that the population of these sub-districts is almost equally distributed between the areas occupied by Israel and the areas occupied by the Arabs. This being so, there would be approximately 290,000 Arabs whose homes are in Arab-occupied areas in these sub-districts.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>Finally, there would be 448,000 plus 290,000 Arabs whose homes are in Israeli-occupied areas of Palestine, making a total of 738,000.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>Compared with this total, the figure of 650,000 Arab refugees to be repatriated to Israel or to be resettled elsewhere would seem to be a reasonable estimate.<\/p><\/div>\n \t<\/span>Of these 650,000 refugees, 64% that is 410,000, are in all probability rural settlers. The problem of land must therefore be solved (in Israel or elsewhere) in respect to approximately 400,000 rural settlers<\/u>.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>It is doubtless impossible at present to ask the refugees which of them wish and which do not wish to return home. Such a question would be superfluous as regards those coming from the parts of Palestine which will remain Arab, and therefore a “plebiscite” of this kind could only be thought of after the delimitation of frontiers, and the Commission cannot officially prejudge the frontiers. Furthermore, if one visits the refugee camps and interrogates the refugees, they all declare that they wish to return home, an attitude which can be explained by the following factors:-<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>– the innate feelings of every human being;<\/p><\/div>\n \t<\/span>– the wretched position, both material and moral, of the refugees;<\/p><\/div>\n \t<\/span>– the moral and political pressure that is being put on them owing to their collective existence;<\/p><\/div>\n \t<\/span>– their ignorance (or pretended ignorance) of the changes that have taken place in Israel since their departure;<\/p><\/div>\n \t<\/span>– their conviction that they can always ultimately give up the idea of returning, when and if another solution is offered to them.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>II. Approximate Amount of Land and Capital Necessary for the<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n Resettlement of 400,000 Rural Settlers<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>The study outlined below is made without prejudice to the question whether all or some of the 400,000 Arab refugee rural settlers coming from the parts of Palestine under Israeli occupation will or will not go home.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>The purpose of this study is merely to calculate what the resettlement of 400,000 rural settlers in Middle Eastern countries means in terms of land and money. It need not be stressed that the estimates given are approximate ones.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span>In order to clarify the position, let us first take some statistics relating to Syria, a country whose agricultural conditions are obviously far inferior to those of Egypt but much superior to those of Transjordan: these statistics therefore give a sort of average picture of present conditions in the Arab Middle East:<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Syria<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t\t<\/span>Total population\t\t\t<\/span>2,880,000 inhabitants<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t<\/span>Agricultural population \t<\/span>2,000,000 "<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t<\/span>Cultivable area\t\t\t<\/span>53,000 square kilometres<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t<\/span>Cultivated area\t\t\t<\/span>15,000 "\t\t<\/span>"<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t<\/span>Irrigable area\t\t\t<\/span> 6,000 "\t\t<\/span>"<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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