Palestinian right of return

The Palestinian right of return is the political position or principle that Palestinian refugees, both first-generation refugees (c. 30,000 to 50,000 people still alive as of 2012), as well as their descendants (c. 5 million people as of 2012), have a right to return and a right to the property they themselves or their forebears left behind or were forced to leave in what is now Israel and the Palestinian territories (both formerly part of the British Mandate of Palestine), as part of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight, a result of the 1948 Palestine war, and due to the 1967 Six-Day War.

Formulated for the first time on 27 June 1948 by United Nations mediator Folke Bernadotte, proponents of the right of return hold that it is a human right, whose applicability both generally and specifically to the Palestinians is protected under international law. This view holds that those who opt not to return, or for whom return is not feasible, should receive compensation in lieu. Proponents argue that Israel's opposition stands in contrast with its Law of Return that grants all Jews the right to settle permanently, while withholding any comparable right from Palestinians.

Opponents of the right of return hold that it is an unrealistic demand with no basis for it in international law and that Israel absorbing approximately five million Palestinians with an already existing large Arab population would lead to the demise of the Jewish state. The government of Israel does not view the admission of Palestinian refugees to their former homes in Israel as a right, but rather as a political issue to be resolved as part of a final peace settlement.