The Palestinian Refugees and the Right of Return in the American Policies from the Cold War to Clinton’s Initiatives

Abstract

This research aims at introducing and then analyzing American policies vis-à-vis the Palestinion Question in general and the Palestinian refugees in particular. The research begins with a brief and general introduction that deals with the determinants of the U.S policy towards the Palestinians as embodied in the primary and secondary literatures and resources. Along with that, the introduction covers the research problem,its objectives, importance, methodology and literature review. The research includes a short historical background which tackles the actual causes and reasons behind the American presence in the Middle East and the American strategy of balancing these conflicting and contradicting objectives. The research goes into depthin analyzeing various American peace initiatives and examines the place of the Palestinian refugees in these initiatives starting from Harry Truman Administration in the post Second World War till Clinton Proposals in 2000.What is distinguished about this research is the historical and critical reading of different American positions and stands embodied in the statements issued by the White House and the Congress, along with diverse scholarly and academic themes that came from research centers close the American decision-makers. One of the results expected is that the American position on the issue of the Palestinian refugees has taken three possibilities: settlement, compensation and rehabilitation.