J U M E D I A L A B REFUGEES BEFORE YOU BEGIN Print/Copy: Guided Notes Supplies: Note Cards GOALS Understand the origins of the Palestinian refugee problem. Appreciate the complexity of the Palestinian refugee problem today. Learn about Jewish refugees from Arab countries after the 1948 War. OBJECTIVES Students will compare between Palestinian refugees and other refugee groups. Students will talk about the factors that worsen the Palestinian refugee problem today. Students will tell the story of Jewish refugees from Arab countries. INTRO (1 MINUTE) The Palestinian refugee problem is one of the most controversial issues associated with the Arab-Israeli conflict today. It takes center stage in Israel s peace talks with the Palestinians, alongside the issues of borders, security and control over Jerusalem. In this lesson we will learn how Palestinians became refugees, what is perpetuating their suffering, and what may be necessary to solve or at least alleviate their current predicament. We will also compare their story to that of other refugee groups in the world, and to the story of former Jewish refugees from the Middle East. STEP UP FOR ISRAEL 1 A project of JerusalemU
PRE-FILM PREP (1 MINUTE) Give the Guided Notes to the students. Ask them to read the handout before beginning the film and to fill it out as the film is playing. PLAY REFUGEES (13 MINUTES) POST-FILM RECAP (10 MINUTES) After the film, ask the students to complete the Guided Notes. Review the answers with the students using the Answer Key. Students are not expected to provide the Answer Key s exact language. NOTE TO TEACHER Please refer to the Teacher Resource provided and expand the Guides Notes exercise into a discussion. If you re using the flipped classroom model and students have watched the film at home, you will have more time for the following Post-Film Activity. STEP UP FOR ISRAEL 2
POST-FILM ACTIVITY THE THINK TANK (25 MINUTES) GOAL For the students to understand the complexity of the Palestinian refugee crisis. INSTRUCTIONS 1 2 3 4 Divide the class into three groups, and give each group the Handout. Explain to the students that the Handout lists three potential solutions to the Palestinian refugee crisis. Assign each group one of the three solutions to debate. Allow 10 minutes for group discussion, and then invite a representative from each team to explain why their proposed solution makes the most sense. Assign three students one from each group to be student judges and pick the winner the team with the most persuasive solution. CLASS CONCLUSION If we want to deepen our understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today, it is helpful to look back at the 1948 war, understand how Palestinians became refugees, and realize what is perpetuating their suffering. As we learned today, the political reality is complex and there are several key players involved in this debate: Palestinian and Arab leadership, the State of Israel, the international community and UNRWA. Finding a solution to the problem is no simple task, but a good starting point is to have an open and candid conversation about past events and present realities. STEP UP FOR ISRAEL 3
OPTIONAL MATERIALS OPTIONAL ACTIVITY In class, or at home, have students view the film Forgotten Refugees, regarding the plight of Jewish refugees from Arab countries: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh8rl2xrr48. After the film, discuss ways to raise awareness about the forgotten refugees in the community. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES The Forgotten Refugees www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh8rl2xrr48-1948, Israel, and the Palestinians www.commentarymagazine.com/article/1948-israel-and-the-palestinians-annotated-text/ - Fact, Fiction & Propaganda About 1948 (Benny Morris) jeffweintraub.blogspot.co.il/2008/02/benny-morris-on-fact-fiction-propaganda.html - United Nations Relief and Works Agency www.unrwa.org - Jewish Refugee s Story at the UN www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/video?id=114
GUIDED NOTES REFUGEES The main difference between UNRWA s definition of a Palestinian refugee and the UNHCR s definition for all other refugees is that the UNRWA definition still regards as refugees today, while the UNHCR does not. UNRWA is charged with providing basic necessities for the Palestinian refugees, not with them. Today there are approximately registered Palestinian refugees. Most of them live in the, Gaza,,, and Jordan. Another group of refugees discussed in the film is the approximately 800,000 refugees who fled Arab countries during and after the 1948 war. Most of these refugees fled to.
ANSWER KEY REFUGEES The main difference between UNRWA s definition of a Palestinian refugee and the UNHCR s definition for all other refugees is that the UNRWA definition still regards as refugees today, while the UNHCR does not. male descendents UNRWA is charged with providing basic necessities for the Palestinian refugees, not with them. Today there are approximately registered Palestinian refugees. Most of them live in the, Lebanon resettling 5 million Syria West Bank Gaza,,, and Jordan. Another group of refugees discussed in the film is the approximately Jewish 800,000 refugees who fled Arab countries during and after the 1948 war. Israel Most of these refugees fled to.
HANDOUT THE THINK TANK Imagine that you are part of a Washington think tank, assigned with the challenging task of finding a solution to the Palestinian refugee crisis. The think tank comes up with three possible solutions. Choose a representative from your team to make the case for the solution you were assigned, and convince the other teams why your solution makes the most sense. In your briefing, make sure to address why the other alternatives are less viable. 1 Settle Palestinian Refugees in the West Bank, Gaza and Arab Countries ANALYSIS: After the 1948 war, there were roughly 700,000 refugees. Today, over 5 million registered Palestinian refugees live in the West Bank, Gaza and Arab countries, such as Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Arab leaders need to take ownership of the refugee crisis a crisis they originally created when they attacked Israel in 1948. Rather than relocating Palestinian refugees and their descendants once again, it only makes sense for Arab countries to absorb Palestinian refugees and grant them citizenship. Arab governments, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, can start by dismantling UNRWA s refugee camps. Refugee crises have been resolved in this fashion all over the world. Millions of European refugees were barred from returning to their original homes after World War II, but they were resettled in their new countries. Over 10 million refugees migrated across borders upon the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. Some 800,000 Jewish refugees who fled Muslim-majority countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, Libya and Yemen after 1948 all found new homes in Israel, Europe and the US. For over 65 years, Palestinian refugees have been living in a state of limbo in their host countries. Asking Israel to take them in is not feasible as it would essentially mean the end of the Jewish state (Jews will no longer be a majority in Israel). Arab countries, with the help of the international community, should correct past injustices and provide Palestinian refugees with a fresh opportunity to build a hopeful and dignified future.
HANDOUT THE THINK TANK 2 Settle Palestinian Refugees in a Palestinian State ANALYSIS: The two-state solution remains the only viable solution for the Palestinian people. At present, some 2 million registered Palestinian refugees live in the West Bank and Gaza, the territories that will ultimately make up the Palestinian State. The remaining refugees (some 3 million), from Arab countries such as Lebanon, Syria and Jordan should be granted citizenship in the new Palestinian state. The Palestinian government, a unity government between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, should dismantle refugee camps in Gaza and the West Bank and build new homes for the refugees. The international community (including Israel) can help facilitate the two-state solution. Instead of funding UNRWA (the UN agency accountable for Palestinian refugees), the US, the European Union and other countries should invest in the infrastructure, agriculture and trade of a future Palestinian state. As a token of goodwill, the Israeli government will allow several thousand refugees to reunite with their brethren in Israel. Under special circumstances, the US and some European countries (that already have a track record of helping Syrian refugees escape a brutal civil war), will also absorb and grant citizenship to several thousand Palestinian refugees.
HANDOUT THE THINK TANK 3 Settle Palestinian Refugees in Israel ANALYSIS: Israel should absorb all, or most, of the Palestinian refugees that are currently living in the West Bank, Gaza and surrounding Arab countries. It goes without saying that most of these refugees and their descendants may not be able to return to their original homes, which are now populated by Jewish families. They should at least receive compensation for their loss, and be permitted to live in their original neighborhoods. True, with the migration of 5 million (even 4 million) Palestinian refugees, Israel will very soon lose its Jewish majority and character. It will become a binational state with new symbols representing all of its people. For example, the Star of David on Israel s flag and the national anthem of Hatikva would need to be changed or replaced. But a binational state is far better than the current statelessness of the Palestinian refugees. Globalization is an inevitable outcome in today s world. With the rise of the European Union, Europe s borders are gradually fading out. In the US, 50 states and over 300 million people find themselves united under one flag. Surely Israel can follow this global trend and allow 5 million refugees to return to their homes. As a token of goodwill, the US, the European Union and some European countries will substitute the enormous contributions they have made to UNRWA (the UN agency accountable for Palestinian refugees), with financial grants and incentives to the State of Israel. As a token of goodwill, most Arab governments, which have thus far rejected Israel as a Jewish State, will normalize their relations with the State of Israel and its people.
TEACHER RESOURCE Primary Sources UNDERSTANDING THE REFUGEE CRISIS The information in the Refugees video is based on primary sources such as Israel s Declaration of Independence or UNRWA s definition of Palestine refugees, or on primary sources such as the historian Benny Morris book accounting the war (titled 1948 ), or historian Efraim Karsh s 2014 article 1948, Israel, and the Palestinians: Annotated Text. We encourage you to look up these sources as well as others relating to the war, and to come up with your own understanding of these events. Palestinian vs Zionist Narratives The conventional Palestinian narrative holds that Zionist forces expelled Palestinian Arabs to ensure a decisive Jewish majority in the future state of Israel, and Arab armies intervened. Israel is at fault. The conventional Zionist narrative holds that after the UN recommended the establishment of the state of Israel alongside an Arab state, the Arabs rejected the proposal and declared war, encouraging Palestinian civilians to vacate their homes to make way for the oncoming Arab armies. The Arabs are at fault. As we have learned in the Refugees video, both of these narratives on their own do not provide an accurate, comprehensive understanding of the origins of the refugees. To summarize, Arabs became refugees in 1 of 4 ways: 1. Some of the wealthy Arabs left in the early stages of the war. 2. Some were encouraged to leave by the invading Arab armies. 3. Some were expelled once the war began. 4. Most of them fled the conflict zone looking for a safe haven. Policy and Attitude A hint to a possible solution for the refugee problem can be found in Mike Wallace s 1958 interview of Abba Eban, Israel s former Ambassador to the U.S and the United Nations, and later Israel s Minister of Foreign Affairs: But the refugee problem, Mr. Wallace, isn t the cause of tension. The refugee problem is the result of an Arab policy. An Arab policy which created the problem by the invasion of Israel, which perpetuates it by refusing to accommodate them into their expanding labor market, and which refuses to solve the problem which they have the full capacity to solve. There is, I think, a basic immorality in this attitude of Arab governments to their own kinsmen whose plight they could relieve immediately, once the will to relieve it existed. All world opinion admits that the problem can only be solved on a regional basis by opening the vast resources of the Arab world to this Arab refugee population, and if there were such an effort on their part to approach a regional settlement, Israel would make its due and just contribution.