| The Arab-Israeli wars of 1948 and 1967 uprooted over a million Palestinian Arabs and turned them into a fast-growing refugee population residing in crowded camps in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Over the years, the political discontent of the refugees has intensified and they have become politically mobilized. The issue of the Palestinian refugees has moved from being primarily a humanitarian problem to a primarily political issue, dominating the Middle East peace process and, on occasion, world politics. In terms of its political impact, the problem of the Palestinian refugees is unique among refugee problems. In October 1991, the Middle East Peace Process resumed its momentum on the Madrid Conference, which aimed at inaugurating direct peace talks between disputing parties. Subsequently, bilateral negotiations have been conducted between Israel and Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians, as well as multilateral talks on key regional issues such as the issue of Palestinian Refugees. To date, these negotiations have resulted in a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, and a series of interim agreements with the Palestinians. However, due to Israel's advantageous position during the peace talks and the traditionally biased Middle East policy in favor of Israel implemented by U.S., though the long-drawn peace talks continually produced some substantial fruits in purpose of solving the issue of Palestinian Refugees, both Israel and the Palestinians failed to find the solution to this sticking point haunting the peace process. Unless there would exist some necessary compromise from Israeli administrations and the unprejudiced reorientation of American Middle East policy, the delicate issue of Palestinian refugees would continue to obstruct the peaceful reconciliation efforts between Israel and the Palestinians, erode the social stability and economic development in the Middle East region and even threaten the peace around the world as a whole. |
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