Letters to the Editor
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Except that according the UN the term diaspora as applied to Palestinians has a very distinct meaning
It means every self defined Palestinian everywhere on the planet forever unto infinity. Literally yes it does. 10 x 10 generations from now, anyone can claim they are a Palestinian refugee, even if their grandparents grandparents grandparents grandparents went to Canada became citizens, lost their Arab name, forgot their ancestry, didn't know jack from squat.
Would that I could reclaim my Belarussia, Italian, Irish, Polish and German homeland. Would that the hillbillies in NC could go back to Scotland and declare themselves long lost Scotts. Would that all the Russians could declare themselves ancient Mongols entitled to the Mongolian homeland.
In the UN there are two different, parallel and separate refugee organizations. UNWRA - for the Palestinians and another agency, for everyone else in the world. UNWRA was established specifically and only for the Palestinians. Moreover their definition of who even is a Palestinian constitutes anyone who can or wishes to demonstrate with little or no documentation, that their family lived generally in the area of the British Mandate in 2 of the 3 years 1947-49. And once that is granted then every single descendant unto the day the sun explodes, forever and forever on is deemed a 'refugee'. Any Palestinian American in the US today, for perhaps 4 generations could, if they wanted to, apply to the UN for refugee status and get their names added to the roster of people the UN wants to see forcibly repatriated to Israel.
So the notion of diaspora takes on a different meaning for Palestinians than it does for anyone else. Check your law books next time. Or just call me names, that works too.