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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34480-2003Aug22.html
Recognize Israel's Right to Exist
(Washington Post) Ambassador Daniel Ayalon - The Palestinian demand to return the refugees to Israel is without legal or moral basis. The Palestinian refugee problem resulted from an Arab-Palestinian war of aggression launched against the newborn Jewish state. The Arab leadership refused to accept the UN partition and refused to accept Israel. Israel's War of Independence in 1948 created the ensuing flow of refugees. Surely the Arab leadership has primary moral responsibility for these individuals. In a deliberate perpetuation of this tragedy, UN General Assembly Resolution 194 has been repeatedly misused, misread, and misrepresented as the legal basis to oppose practical steps designed to help the refugees. Contrary to the myth that surrounds it, that resolution does not proclaim a "right of return." The Arab bloc at the UN actually voted against the resolution. The Palestinian leadership rejected it precisely because it called for peace and reconciliation with Israel.