Attitudes of Palestinian Refugees towards Right of Return: A Field Study in West Bank and Gaza Strip

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the attitudes of the Palestinian refugees

living in the West Bank and Gaza towards the right of return. The researcher

used the descriptive approach of refugees in the West Bank and Gaza camps

which included the following main question: what are the attitudes of the

Palestinian refugees living in the West Bank and Gaza camps towards the

right of return? This main question was then subdivided into various questions

to measure the impact of the independent variable, the place of residence, on

the refugeesʼ attitudes towards the following topics:

1. The world general attitude and its impact on the right of return.

2. The ways that can be used to achieve the return.

3. The suggested solutions for the refugee cause.

4. The Israeli Palestinian negotiations and their impact on the right of

return.

5. Refugee settlement.

The results of the study showed that there were no statistical differences

at (α = 0.05) towards the above mentioned topics related to the refugees’

attitudes towards the right of return in relation to the place of residence. The

present study confirmed the following recommendations:

1. preserving the status of the camps and not trying to allow them to be

integrated into cities.

2. Working on constructing a communication network among the refugees in

all the places all over the world.

3. Assuring that the refugee issue is a political one in the first place and that

it is part of the Palestinian cause.

4. Formulating a social national program in all the Palestinian refugee areas

which will be based on the right of return and the struggle to confirm it.

5. Refusal of all the refugees’ settlement projects.