A 56-page booklet promoting the \"return\" of Arab refugees to the homes they left in 1948 has been published and distributed by the Canadian Government. David Bedein of Israel Resource News Agency reports that the booklet features an introduction by PLO spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi, which calls for the right of the Arabs to repossess the 531 villages they lost in 1948, even though these have since been totally incorporated into Israel.
The booklet was published and distributed by the \"Canadian Representative Office in Ramallah\", as is stated within. Replete with pictures of suffering refugees, it condemns what it calls Israel\'s \"denial of the right of return.\" Bedein notes that the booklet implies that Israel\'s purpose in its 1948 War of Independence was to kick out the Arabs, and that it never mentions that seven Arab armies, with the support of local Arabs, invaded the new Jewish state. \"By publishing [the booklet,]\" concludes Bedein, \"Canada has adopted a partisan pro-PLO position that will forever compromise any role that Canada may endeavor to play in the future\" in solving the refugee issue in the Middle East.
The booklet was published and distributed by the \"Canadian Representative Office in Ramallah\", as is stated within. Replete with pictures of suffering refugees, it condemns what it calls Israel\'s \"denial of the right of return.\" Bedein notes that the booklet implies that Israel\'s purpose in its 1948 War of Independence was to kick out the Arabs, and that it never mentions that seven Arab armies, with the support of local Arabs, invaded the new Jewish state. \"By publishing [the booklet,]\" concludes Bedein, \"Canada has adopted a partisan pro-PLO position that will forever compromise any role that Canada may endeavor to play in the future\" in solving the refugee issue in the Middle East.