Prohibition of Palestine Arab Return to Israel as a Crime Against Humanity

Abstract

A displaced population of Palestine Arabs, numbering over seven million, is dispersed around the world, with major concentrations in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Palestine itself. This population is prohibited from entry for renewed residence in home areas situated in Israel. In international law a right of return to one’s country is guaranteed as a matter of fundamental rights. Severe deprivation of internationally defined rights victimizing a civilian population based on ethnicity or nationality constitutes the crime of persecution, a sub-category of crimes against humanity, prosecutable at the International Criminal Court. With respect to a major portion of the displaced Palestine Arabs, jurisdictional prerequisites obtain for the opening of an investigation that might lead to charges against Israeli officials responsible for denying return to the Palestine Arabs.

Keywords: displaced population, right of return, crime against humanity, persecution, war crime, International Criminal Court, repatriation, inhumane acts