Internal federal government documents obtained by CBS News reveal that the Biden administration is contemplating the possibility of admitting some specific Gaza Arabs to the United States as refugees (White House considers welcoming some Palestinians from war-torn Gaza as refugees). This potential American action aims to provide a lasting sanctuary for individuals escaping the conflict-ridden Gaza.
According to UNRWA figures, as of January 2015, there are 8 UNRWA refugee camps in the Gaza Strip with 1,276,929 registered “refugees” out of a population of 1,816,379.
The reason for the quotation marks around the term “refugees” is the fact that the vast majority of them were born and raised in Gaza, and never experienced relocation as the result of war, whether in 1948 or 1967. Indeed, UNRWA is the only UN agency dealing with refugees whose goal is not to chart a new future in different countries for people who fled war-torn countries, but instead to preserve their status as refugees, often living in squalor.
In recent weeks, the CBS documents show, senior officials across several federal agencies have discussed the practicality of different options to resettle Arabs from Gaza who have immediate family members who are American citizens or permanent residents.
According to documents from inter-agency planning, one proposal suggests leveraging the long-standing United States Refugee Admissions Program to provide refuge to Arab individuals with ties to the US who have escaped Gaza and entered neighboring Egypt. Additionally, senior US officials have explored options to evacuate more Gazans, processing them as refugees if they have American relatives. However, such plans would necessitate coordination with Egypt, which has thus far been reluctant to accept significant numbers of Gazans.
Those who successfully pass a series of eligibility, medical, and security screenings would be eligible to travel to the US under refugee status. This status grants them permanent residency along with resettlement benefits such as housing assistance and a pathway to American citizenship.
Although the anticipated number of eligible individuals is relatively modest, these discussions among US officials could serve as a vital opportunity for some Gazans fleeing the conflict, as thousands have lost their lives and hundreds of thousands have been displaced in the Strip.
IT’S ABOUT RAFAH, STUPID
On Tuesday, State Dept. Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters regarding the anticipated IDF attack in Rafah:
“Rafah is a region with more than 1 million people seeking refuge, so that is an area that continues to be an important conduit for humanitarian aid as well as the safe departure of foreign nationals. And so, any kind of operation that does not address some of these key concerns would certainly be opposed by us.
“I’m not going to get into any hypotheticals, but this is something we’re continuing to engage with our partners in Israel. Conversations continue to be happening at all levels, and we continue to press forward on those conversations and ask for what their plans may or may not be as it pertains to Rafah.”
A White House spokesperson told CBS News that the US “has helped more than 1,800 American citizens and their families leave Gaza, many of whom have come to the United States. At President Biden’s direction, we have also helped, and will continue to help, some particularly vulnerable individuals, such as children with serious health problems and children who were receiving treatment for cancer, get out of harm’s way and receive care at nearby hospitals in the region.”
The spokesperson then clarified that the US “categorically rejects any actions leading to the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank or the redrawing of the borders of Gaza. The best path forward is to achieve a sustainable cease-fire through a hostage deal that will stabilize the situation and pave the way to a two-state solution.”
In other words, the Mantra.
NOBODY WANTS THE ‘PALESTINIANS’
Here’s an interesting tidbit cited by the CBS report: State Department statistics indicate that over the last ten years, while the United States has provided resettlement to over 400,000 refugees escaping conflict and violence worldwide, fewer than 600 of them were “Palestinian.” In 2023, the US admitted 56 “Palestinian” refugees, comprising only 0.09% of the total of over 60,000 refugees resettled during that period.
India in March 2006 agreed to take in 165 “Palestinian” refugees, but most of them were unable to find work because they spoke only Arabic. Of the 165 refugees, 137 later resettled in Sweden, where the government’s liberal immigration policy has given rise to neo-Nazi groups. In November 2006, 54 “Palestinian” refugees were granted asylum in Canada, and in 2007, 200 more were accepted in Sweden and Iceland. Brazil agreed to take 100.
In 2009, more than 1,000 were accepted by various countries in Europe and South America, and an additional 1,350 were cleared for resettlement in the United States. Another 68 were allowed to resettle in Australia.
ARAB POLITICIANS FIGHT ‘REFUGEE’ RELOCATION
However, the majority of “Palestine refugees” strongly oppose resettlement and much rather want to return. As described by Forced Migration Review (FMR), a forum dedicated to the regular exchange of practical experience, information, and ideas between researchers, refugees, internally displaced people, and those who work with them (Issue 54, February 2017, p. 58ff):
Over their seven decades as a large-scale refugee population, the Palestinians have been remarkably consistent in collectively opposing resettlement as a durable solution to their plight. Both the grassroots and later the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) have repudiated any suggestion of third-country resettlement on the grounds that it would undermine the Palestinians’ political and national rights as a people. Host-country integration was similarly spurned.
The Palestinian refugees’ vehement opposition to resettlement is explained by their equally vehement attachment to repatriation. The right of return has been a central tenet of the Palestinian nationalist movement since 1948 when many Palestinian refugees left their homes believing that they would return shortly, as a result often taking only a few belongings with them. While events on the ground put paid to these immediate plans, they did not destroy the hope of eventual return in the future. On the contrary, the collective Palestinian desire for repatriation remained strong, buoyed by the United Nations’ (UN’s) formal endorsement of the right of return in Resolution 194. Calls for the realization of this right became central to Palestinian political discourse, and Resolution 194 remains a popular and effective rallying cry today. When Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in 2012 that he was willing to forgo his right to return to his hometown of Safad, his comments provoked outrage across the diaspora.
Palestinian opposition to resettlement must be understood within this context. Resettlement as a durable solution is by implication mutually exclusive with return. Many Palestinian refugees have feared, sometimes with good reason, that resettlement schemes are politically motivated and designed to undermine their political cause by ‘solving’ their problem once and for all. Resettlement was thus never seen as a purely humanitarian solution but was always politically tainted.
The PLO institutionalized this widespread hostility to the idea by formally opposing any international plans for either host-state integration or third-country resettlement.
There you have it: the PA Arab leadership, combined with UN endorsements, have contributed to a stalemate in which Arabs are unable to move on as rehabilitated refugees in prosperous countries, trapped forever in a dream of returning to Israel to replace the Jews who have resettled there. Hamas merely stretched this dilemma to the point of actually trying to murder the Jews who live in Israel.
Should the Biden administration declare an official change of policy regarding the resettlement of Arabs from Gaza in the US, it is likely to face pushback from Republicans who are generally hostile to immigration, and certainly won’t agree to folks from Gaza settling down near their home towns. Democrats are not likely to be much friendlier to the idea, especially since the Squad members of Congress push the idea of resettling the Gaza Arabs around Tel Aviv.
