A day after the State of Israel marked 62 years of independence in the Land of Israel, the Palestine-Israel Journal held a conference dealing with the will of those defined as "Palestinian refugees" to resettle in the land. The participants, leftist Israelis and Arab representatives, debated the fate of Arabs who used to live in Israel but left after Israel conquered the land during the war waged by the Arab League. See video below.
While the Israeli representatives tried to present a scenario in which the issue would be solved without the return of the Arabs in question to the Land of Israel, the Arabs made clear that they believe in the "Right of Return." The issue of Jewish national rights was actually presented by the Israeli leftists, including one from the audience who found herself countering the Arab opinion and expressing the nationalist idea of Israel as the Jewish homeland.
One of the Arab participants proposed that the amount of Jewish settlers who will stay in the "Arab areas" would be the number of Arab refugees who will be allowed to regain control over properties in the state of Israel.
Israel Resource News Agency director David Bedein also attended the conference. Bedein's research center, the Center for Near East Policy Research, has produced more than a dozen investigative reports on UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Bedein raised the issue of intense Arab education in schools, including those of UNRWA, towards the aspiration to re-conquer the entire Land of Israel.
Bedein, who is now preparing a comprehensive report on UNRWA for submission in June to the U.S. Congress and the Canadian Parliament, raised another question during the conference: "Why is everyone blaming Israel for the refugee problem? What about the Arab states who waged the war that resulted in these refugees?"