Speech #900104740

Mr. Speaker. when Israel occupied substantial segments of territory previously held by Jordan. Egypt. and Syria during the war last June. many of us who were familiar with conditions in the Middle East felt a deep CXIII1406--Part 17 foreboding about the problem of the Arab refugees. Ever since the 1948 war. the refugee problem had been one of the principal contributing factors to instability in the Middle East. During these 19 long years. the Arab States did nothing to resolve the problem and Israel. perhaps. did less than it might have done. But while Israel accepted hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees from Arab lands. it. at least. made overtures to solve simultaneously the problem of the displaced Arabs. The Arab states. however. responded to none of these overtures and refused to hear of a settlement. In seeking to perpetuate the suffering of the refugees for their own political purposes. I believe the Arab States have borne the burden of responsibility for this misfortune. But we have all paid the price. Of the 1.300.000 refugees that were under UNWRA care. some 700.000 have now come under Israel jurisdiction. More refugees have since joined them. perhaps hundreds of thousands. victims of the war last June. The number Is uncertain. for there has been a consistent pattern of dissembling to inflate the refugee rolls. But Israel. a country of only 21/2 million itself. obviously cannot absorb them. whether there are a million or 2 million. Not only are its resources inadequate. but it would be politically absurd for Israel to try to give homes to millions of people who have vowed their eternal enmity to Israels existence. In a framework of peace and security Israel may be satisfied to negotiate the return of all or part of the land on which the refugees are currently settled. but since the Arab governments refuse to negotiate a peace. Israel has no choice but to maintain its jurisdiction. Arab leaders recognize that the presence of the refugees suits their purposes by making life difficult for Israel. As for the refugees themselves. the Arab States seem to consider them political pawns to be manipulated as policy demands. They have not treated the refugees as human beings. so it has been impossible to appeal to a humanitarian impulse within the Arab world. Within the past few days. Mr. Speaker. it has become increasingly clear that the Arab chiefs who look upon the refugees as a source of turmoil have assessed the situation with some accuracy. Arab propagandists are again at work with their messages of hate and destruction. The shock of the first days of war has worn off and the troublemakers again find receptive ears.