It will be necessary to go further and define the extent of its territorial boundaries. Other important questions. too. must be settled. For instance. 1 million Palestinian refugees. the original victims of the ArabIsrael conflict. are well into the third decade of refugee camp existence. with their future no more certain now than it was 10 years ago. or even 20 years ago. These people have multiplied. The population has grown. and these unfortunate persons have become pawns in international politics while. at the same time. certainly in some areas. becoming dominant political forces in domestic politics. After visiting the Palestinian refugee camps nearly 10 years ago as chairman of an investigating subcommittee. I reported to the Senate that the refugee camps were spawning extremism and hatred that would surely threaten the stability of governments in the area and would certainly be a source of strife and war danger. I proposed an amendment to the foreign aid bill in 1960 which would have terminated U.S. financial support of the ration program after January 1. 1961. except for those refugees whose eligibility and need for relief had been certified after July 1. 1960. Both the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate approved this amendment. Unfortunately. the House of Representatives declined to accept the amendment. I did not suggest that this amendment would have solved the refugee problem or the problems of the Middle East. but I believed then and I believe yet that such an action on the part of the United States would have set in motion events which would have contributed to a solution. As we have seen. continuation of the refugee camps has continued to build a dangerous source of extremism. and it is precisely this force that poses a grave threat today in both Jordan and Lebanon. Jordan appears to be teetering on the brink of chaos or worse. The guerrilla movement constitutes somewhat of a third force in the area. and. as I have indicated. its leaders have vowed that they will accept no peace formula whatever aid that they will pursue their mission of the complete destruction of Israel.
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refugee refugees