Between the Temporary and Permanent: The International Red Cross and the Palestinian Refugee Camps, 1948–1950

Abstract

Abstract This article focuses on the formation and transformation of the first Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank from late 1948 to early 1950. It analyzes this process as a product of an uneven interaction between Palestinian refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). It demonstrates how experts’ design, ICRC delegates’ plans, refugees’ expectations, and challenges posed by climate and the terrain shaped the camp’s physical and social space. In this early period, an imminent return seemed feasible to all actors involved, and solutions on the ground oscillated between temporary and permanent. For the refugees, a long-term solution helped them survive the winter but pushed away the prospects of return. Localized ad hoc solutions were devised during this period and, moreover, consolidated into established routines and permanent camps. This article complements existing works on the history of refugees’ relationships with other aid organizations, particularly the Quakers and the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA), and traces early beginnings of processes historians have examined in later periods. This article builds on a combined reading of the ICRC archive and the contemporary Palestinian press to reconstruct the negotiation between aid workers and the refugees over the formation of the camps.