Madam, - In his letter of January 31st, Senator David Norris chooses to support his assertions about the historical roots of the Palestinian refugee issue by the use of one selective source. I would draw his attention to the fact that many other primary sources exist from that time which contradict his argument.
For example, the Economist stated with regard to the Palestinian refugees that "various factors influenced their decision to seek safety in flight. There is but little doubt that the most potent of the factors were the announcements made over the air by the Higher Arab Executive, urging the Arabs to quit. . .It was clearly intimated that those Arabs who remained in Haifa and accepted Jewish protection would be regarded as renegades" (October 2nd, 1948).
It is not only Western sources that reported on the role of Arab and Palestinian leaders in persuading the Palestinians to flee. As Haled al Azm, the Syrian Prime Minister in 1948-49, admitted in his memoirs:
"Since 1948 we have been demanding the return of the refugees to their homes. But we ourselves are the ones who encouraged them to leave" (The Memoirs of Haled al-Azm, Beirut, 1973).
Even Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas commented on this issue, saying that the Arab armies "abandoned them [ Palestinians], forced them to emigrate and to leave their homeland, and threw them into prisons similar to the ghettos in which the Jews used to live" (Falastin a-Thaura, March 1976).
Since its foundation Israel has longed for peace with its neighbours, including the Palestinians. This is why it supported the two-state solution in 1947 and continues to do so. Most recently at Annapolis, Israelis and Palestinians agreed to discuss all the outstanding issues ranging from borders to refugees.
Israel is committed to the establishment of a viable independent Palestinian state as the homeland for the Palestinian people, including the refugees, living side by side in peace with the state of Israel. - Yours, etc,
NADAV COHEN, Counsellor, Embassy of Israel, Dublin.