Part One Historical and Legal Foundations, III On the Application of International Law to Palestinian Refugees

Abstract

This chapter explores the legal foundations of the Palestinian refugee question, reviewing their status under various branches of international law – as refugees, stateless persons, civilians protected under international humanitarian law, internally displaced persons, or, simply, as human beings entitled to human rights. International law as it stood in the early twentieth century, is relevant to the Palestinian refugee question. Since 1948, the evolution of its various branches – notably international humanitarian law (IHL), international human rights law (IHRL), international refugee law (IRL), and the frameworks to address statelessness and prevent internal displacement – have consolidated and evolved in ways that should benefit Palestinian refugees. IRL determines the foundation of the legal status of Palestinians as refugees and the standards of treatment specific to that status. IHRL, as the body of international law with the widest application, has the potential to improve significantly the status and conditions of Palestinian refugees. Meanwhile, IHL remains an important, composite protection framework whenever humanity fails. Thus, the failure to bring a just resolution to the plight of Palestinian refugees is ultimately attributable to the protracted lack of political will, rather than inadequacy of the legal framework and the persistence to treat their plight in political terms, as an outcome of war, a humanitarian crisis, and an issue for negotiation.