RAMALLAH, 28 Oct (JMCC) - Today the director of Jordan's Palestinian Affairs Department Wajih Azaizeh called remarks made by
United Nations Relief and Works Agency head Andrew Whitley last week irresponsible.
Whitley said the Palestinian desire to resettle in
Israel was unfounded and they should seek integration with Arab countries like Jordan - whose population is currently over 30 percent Palestinian.
The right of return is unlikely to be exercised to the territory of
Israel to any significant or meaningful extent,” Whitley said at the National Council for US-Arab Relations in New York. “It’s not a politically palatable issue, it’s not one that UNRWA
publicly advocates, but nevertheless it’s a known contour to the
issue.”
[Whitley] said that Palestinian refugees needed to start debating their own role in the societies where they are rather than being left in a state of limbo where they are helpless.
The UN official added that the Palestinian refugees must not be allowed to preserve the cruel illusions that perhaps they will return one day to their homes.
Read more at
Haaretz...