Ban Ki-Moon: Problem of Palestinian refugees should be solved

Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

Thursday May 08, 2008 11:47 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, said yesterday that it is unacceptable that the problem of Palestinian refugees remain unsolved.

During an inauguration ceremony of photo exhibition, marking the 60th anniversary of the Palestinian people's catastrophe (NAKBA) at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Ki-Moon added that he was impressed deeply of the situation of Palestinian refugees, especially children, when he visited the occupied Palestinian territories last year.

Palestine's permanent observer to the UN, Mansour Mansour, maintained that the question of Palestine has multiple dimensions, including political, legal, historical, regional, humanitarian, religious and security.

" the humanitarian perspective of the question is the most neglected part , particularly during discussions. The images of refugee children are a reminder of the Palestinian people's disaster, which involves displacement and deprivation of human rights and the right to self-determination", Mansour explained.

He criticized what he described the 'Israeli policy of collective punishment' against the Palestinian people in Gaza for the past 11 months, calling on the international community to intervene immediately for ending the suffering of Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip.

According to United Nations General Assembly resolution 194 of 1949, Palestinians, who were displaced in 1948, have the right to return to their homeland , as well as the right to proper compensation for the trauma.

In 1948, Israel displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from historical Palestine, scattering them into the Gaza Strip, West Bank, East Jerusalem and some other neighboring Arab countries, including Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

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